RFA serves as the external evaluator for a National Science Foundation (NSF) Advancing Information Science Learning (AISL) research study focused on the impact of the longstanding Women in Natural Sciences (WINS) program on Black women’s adult outcomes and life trajectories. WINS is a four-year out-of-school program created to support minoritized women in STEMM (STEM + Medicine). The study, led by investigators from the Drexel University School of Education and Academy of Natural Sciences, is designed as a comparative longitudinal study of the WINS program that includes an intervention group of WINS alumnae and a comparison group of WINS applicants from 1995-2015. RFA provides formative and summative feedback and recommendations that can improve research implementation, identify best practices, and document indicators of success.
This study aims to contribute insights to practitioners in the OST STEMM space on how to support young Black women in a way that validates and builds upon the strengths they bring into programming.