We Roll Deep: Appalachian Girls Fight for Their Lives.

This paper chronicles the experiences of nine adolescent girls who participated in a 3-year science, mathematics, and technology program for Appalachian girls. The girls lived in two West Virginia communities (one rural, one urban). Most of the girls were poor; six were African American. Descriptions of the girls' neighborhoods and local communities show how these contexts provided serious obstacles and challenges to the girls' aspirations and at the same time were sources of powerful support and encouragement. All of the girls aspired to higher education and professional careers and aimed to realize those goals by deferring marriage and family commitments. Turning directly to issues of gender identity and voice, girls' perceptions of gender bias in school and community are examined, along with the extent to which the bias informed their developing sense of themselves. Both Black and White girls often spoke about their personal identities with confidence and did not hesitate to express frustration and indignation about gender unfairness in their families and schools. In contrast, some African American girls were unwilling to acknowledge or confront racial injustices. This inconsistency is discussed in terms of schools' intolerance of confrontation and adults' advice to pursue strategies of "resistance for survival" over "resistance for liberation." Programs targeting underserved populations must anticipate how they will address justice issues, which inevitably will arise. (Contains 34 references.) (SV) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. We Roll Deep: Appalachian Girls Fight For Their Lives Linda Spatig Marshall University Laurel Parrott Ohio Public Schools Carolyn Carter AEL, Inc. Patricia Kusimo AEL, Inc. Marian Keyes AEL, Inc. 1 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. O Minor Changes have been made to improve reproduction duality. Points of view or opinions stated in this dOCU. ment do not necessarily represent ofticiai OERI position or policy. Paper presented at American Education Studies Association Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1998 "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY L; 1,del Six+ TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." Correspondence concerning the manuscript should be addressed and Urban to Linda Spati Voices of Girls in g. This material is based on work conducted by the Rural Images: the National Science Foundation under grant Science, Math, and Technology program supported by number HRD-9453110. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations in this material are those of the author and do not reflect the views of the National Foundation.