The Digital Lives of African American Tweens, Teens, and Parents: Innovating and Learning with Technology.

Funded by the Gates Foundation, this study surveyed a nationally representative sample of more than 1,000 African-American teen-parent dyads, on attitudes toward and use of computers and other digital technology.  Our conclusion?  "The shortage of young African Americans going into tech or STEM fields does not appear to be due to a lack of interest in, enjoyment of, or confidence about using computers.  African American youth enjoy learning about new technology, they enjoy using computers, and they have done a lot with computers.  But they have a great unmet interest in learning more about computers.  There is no lack of aspiration on young people's parts - but the adults, educators, and policymakers in their lives now need to do their part to build the environments that will catalyze those aspirations." 

Read about the study in Ebony and Education Week.  Also, check out the full report for data on parents' and teens' computer confidence, encounters with racist or sexist content online, and interest or experience in coding - and it's all broken out by age, gender, and socio-economic status.