All female team- students AND mentors

[Marie]

I am a mentor on a rookie team.
(the students for the team haven't been selected (that's going on now)).

We are an all female team, where students are from all girls high school, and all the mentors are female too.

I know there are other FIRST teams that are all female, specifically all female students. Are there other teams out there that are all female students and all female mentors??

[1527Michiru]

Not that I know of. In fact, I'm the ONLY girl on Team 1527. (Bionic Battalion). I know of all girl teams, like you said, I guess I simply assumed they had women mentors as well.

What's your team name?

[Chuck Glick]

There are 2 teams that I know who come to the Philly regional each year that are made up of all female students. These teams are 433, The Firebirds, and 709, Femme Tech Fatale. However I do think both of these teams have some male and female mentors, not just females like you were asking.

So yes there are some all girls teams out there, but that may not include their mentors.

-Chuck

[rees2001]

I am a mentor on a rookie team.
(the students for the team haven't been selected (that's going on now)).

We are an all female team, where students are from all girls high school, and all the mentors are female too.

I know there are other FIRST teams that are all female, specifically all female students. Are there other teams out there that are all female students and all female mentors??

Welcome to FIRST, the other all girls team is Where's Waldo. They are a team of Canadian girls and they won the Rookie Inspiration Award at FLR in 2005.

By the way, I love your team number.

[EricH]

Welcome to FIRST, the other all girls team is Where's Waldo. They are a team of Canadian girls and they won the Rookie Inspiration Award at FLR in 2005.

By the way, I love your team number.Out on the West Coast, we have team 362 (Muses) and 692 (Fembots). I think the Muses have (or had) a male mentor; not sure about the Fembots.

[Kate00]

Just a question, what is your reasoning behind having all female mentors?

As a former member of an all-girls team, with a mix of male and female mentors one year, and mostly female mentors the next, I wouldn't recommend a team that was all-female, both mentors and students. As I have mentioned in this post, (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=615150&postcount=8) males and females think differently, and having both types of mental processing in a room is very beneficial to the solving of problems, including the ones we get posed in FIRST.

An all-girls team is a very good idea, but that doesn't in my mind extend to mentors. All-girls teams encourage more types of girls to be exposed to FIRST, because they removes the element of girls not wanting to scare off guys by joining something that is stereotypically "nerdy." Personally, I would not have joined a FIRST team if I were not at an all-girls school, and I am very glad I did. Male mentors would not have acted as a deterrent. Male students would have. Another benefit to the male mentors is that, if your school is an all girls school, it gives them a set of social skills (interacting with males on a less formal basis than with teachers) that they may or may not have. I know this was one of the benefits to having male mentors on my team.

My recommendation for the whole situation is that if you're really set on the all female program, go for it. See how it works for you. Every program is different, and I'll be very interested to see how you progress. It's certainly a unique situation. I hope you have a great rookie year, and no matter what happens, I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun and inspiration. :)

[sheltie234]

We helped start an all girls team this summer. Their team name is Flower POWER (Preparing Outstanding Women for Engineering Roles) Bots 2160. Not all of their mentors are girls, but several of them are.

[Koko Ed]

I am a mentor on a rookie team.
(the students for the team haven't been selected (that's going on now)).

We are an all female team, where students are from all girls high school, and all the mentors are female too.

I know there are other FIRST teams that are all female, specifically all female students. Are there other teams out there that are all female students and all female mentors??

Hi. I'm Ed Patterson. I approached you and your teammates after the Xerox robotics meeting last month and invited you to come to the Ruckus.
We talked about you guys at the Ruckus meeting tonight. We want you to come and play with us. It's free for pre rookies. I'm sure one of the teams can provide you with a bot (we are currently in the process of moving into our new home this weekend and may be able to provide you with our practice bot). If we can't get you the bot in time I'm sure Rolling Thunder can.
Oh and welcome to the Xerox FIRST family.

[GaryVoshol]

2048 was an all-girls team from Detroit last year; I believe they are registered again this year. But they have a male mentor.

[Royalpride1070]

I'm from team 1070, and we are an all girls team, our mentors are not all female though, and most of the all girls teams i know hav both male and femals mentors.

[RoboMom]

Western High in Baltimore will have an all-girls team this year. They have not received their number yet. However mentors are both male and female.

[JesseK]

I agree that having both male and female mentors on a team due to different thought processes -- historically males are spacial/visual and females are analytical, imo.

It also simply brings another brain into the mix. If you haven't had a male mentor respond asking if he can help that's something you can't help -- but specifically excluding a mentor just because he's male is ... well, whatever P.C. term you want to call it but it also eliminates possibilities that could very well help your team.

[JaneYoung]

From reading Marie's post, she is asking if there are any FIRST teams that are made up of female students and mentors. It would be my guess that there may be a few but not many.

It would be my suggestion that the discussion regarding having a mix of male and female mentors on a FIRST team is very interesting and it might be something that could be further discussed in separate thread. I'm not understanding why we should tell a team to change something that doesn't appear to need changing. Instead, I would encourage this new team to keep a journal of what they are learning this year and look at what they want to keep/what they want to change next year and in the years following. That's the cool thing about FIRST teams - they are full of surprises and on-going change.

[Elgin Clock]

I am a mentor on a rookie team.
(the students for the team haven't been selected (that's going on now)).

We are an all female team, where students are from all girls high school, and all the mentors are female too.

I know there are other FIRST teams that are all female, specifically all female students. Are there other teams out there that are all female students and all female mentors??

Welcome to FIRST. I think you may have stumbled on a first in the program.

I don't know of any other all girls team who has all female mentors as well.

The one I knoW about a little in depth is the one Reese mentioned earlier.

the other all girls team is Where's Waldo. They are a team of Canadian girls and they won the Rookie Inspiration Award at FLR in 2005.

Team 1547 is also from an all girls school, yet they have male and female mentors consisting of parents, teachers, and a few technical engineers outside of the school itself from GM I believe.


As far as your status to having only female mentors, I would like to know if that is your choice, or just how it happened?

[ChrisH]

In the Los Angeles area we have five all-girl teams. Archer (362), Louisville (1070), Ramona Convent, Marymount (974), and returning this year after a several year break, Immaculate Heart (not sure if they will get old number or not).

Last year I only saw female mentors around Archer's pit but I'm not sure about the whole situation. They had a new leader last year and we haven't talked much. They had male mentors in the past but I did not see them last year.

Louisville's team leader is male and Marymount has at least one male mentor.

I don't think I've ever seen male mentors with Ramona Convent and they have been around for several years.

Immaculate Heart will have at least one male mentor.

So there are two teams from the LA area that might be all-female. However my observations are only what I have seen at competitions so there might be behind the scenes help I am not aware of.

The Space Cookies ( a girl scout team ) from the San Jose area have at least one female mentor. They were at the Championship last year and I don't remember any guys in their pit, at least not as mentors.

Here's a story for girls that think that robotics is "too nerdy". When I was in high school we had electives for PE. One of them was folk dancing and I was the only guy that signed up for it. I took a lot of ribbing until somebody figured out that I was the only guy in a room of 40 girls and that I had to put my arm around them on a regular basis. Then they decided maybe I was smarter than I looked. It works both ways...just saying

[1527Michiru]

I recently found out about a new all-girls team call ed hte Roboetts
I thought it was a cute name.

I don't know what, if any, regional they're going to, but I'm glad there are so many All-Girls teams. I start to feel rather alone in the Female Engineer Field being the only girl in Boinic Battalion.
:]

I hope you guys do well this year!
~Casey

[JudyVandy]

If you allow parents to be a part of it, and who wouldn't want them, you're bound to get some dads involved.

My 2 cents says parents are a great asset! Attract all you can, moms and dads.

[Marie]

Some background info, that will answer some of the questions in the thread.

Thanks to all for adding their messages to this thread.
I'm was surprised to learn there are so many all female student teams.

Our team does not have a name. Heck it's barely a team, the student applications are due back today, and interviews next week.

This is the 4th team sponsored by Xerox in the Rochester NY area, and it was requested that this be all Xerox female mentors.

In reality, as this team gets up and running, I believe male influence will come from the parents as well as other FIRST teams, etc.

[Koko Ed]

Some background info, that will answer some of the questions in the thread.

Thanks to all for adding their messages to this thread.
I'm was surprised to learn there are so many all female student teams.

Our team does not have a name. Heck it's barely a team, the student applications are due back today, and interviews next week.

This is the 4th team sponsored by Xerox in the Rochester NY area, and it was requested that this be all Xerox female mentors.

In reality, as this team gets up and running, I believe male influence will come from the parents as well as other FIRST teams, etc.
For the Ruckus can I give your team a name for the competition?

[Scott Carpman]

The only all girls teams that I'm aware of in NYC are Double X 1594 and the Iron Maidens 2265.

[Ellery]

Hi Marie,

I got some very good news for your team today.. some additional donors to the cause. Check your Email if you have not done so yet. By the way I made this temporary logo for your team for Ruckus. See the Ruckus Website link below.

http://www.ruckus.penfieldrobotics.com/teams/

The primary push for the all female team came from Ursula Burns, our Corporate President. I was told it was always a dream of hers to have an all female team... since she is an excellent female engineering role model. Actual if you haven't checked Fortune's 50 Most Powerful Women

Also available on Fortune.com:
The full list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostpowerfulwomen/2007/full_list/index.html);
“Xerox's Dynamic Duo (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/10/15/100536857/index.htm),” an article about how Anne and Ursula share power and manage succession at Xerox.

[macnerad]

Marie,

I know that the build season is just about over, so I am curious to see how the all-female team worked. I would like to hear more after the season is over of course.

I am a founding mentor for Team 692, the Fembots. For my experience, keeping it an all-female team would be quite difficult because the dads really enjoy working with there daughters. Although the school recruited more girls whose moms were engineers because of the robotics program.

Good luck in your endeavors!!
Mary Beth "Sensei MegaByte" Prendergast

[Jon Stratis]

I recently found out about a new all-girls team call ed hte Roboetts
I thought it was a cute name.

I don't know what, if any, regional they're going to, but I'm glad there are so many All-Girls teams. I start to feel rather alone in the Female Engineer Field being the only girl in Boinic Battalion.
:]

I hope you guys do well this year!
~Casey

As a mentor for the Robettes (2177), i can tell you - all the students are females, and almost all the mentors are male (thats just how it worked out... it can be darned hard finding a female engineer that wants to sacrifice this much time!). We'll be at the St. Louis and Minneapolis regionals this year.