Quote:
Originally Posted by Molten
My question is why the teams must be separated based on gender? Lets say a school has 2 teams, one historically all-boy and the other historically all-girl. Had I gone to this school, I would have probably fit in better with the all-girl team with respect to prior technical skills. I never learned machining or welding in high school because there were other guys that already could and were eager and waiting. Had I been on a team that had forced me to(as has been suggested the advantage of an all-girls team it) I would have learned these valuable skills. I completely agree with the notion that there could be room for 2 teams in the right area. One that has prior experience and is more assertive, and others that are more passive or lack the experience. I completely reject the notion that they should be separated on gender lines alone. That is where we are having a disagreement. Historical gender lines are becoming more and more fuzzy(which is good), as these lines blur we are going to really going to need a better way of sorting then gender.
In short, I completely agree that people without experience or that are perhaps more passive can benefit from being on a team without the more outright and experienced. I just disagree that this is always as simple as girl/boy. I've known girls that in my prior example would have fit in better with the all-boy team and I personally would have fit in better with the all-girl team. The line just isn't that clear anymore.
Jason
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I know some schools have Varsity and Junior Varsity robotics teams for exactly this purpose, and that's great. All girls teams do, however, still have a place in FIRST. As Dean Kamen put it, FIRST's goal is "To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders." Take a step back for a second, and look at how that applies not only to the members of a team, but also to all those we bring in off the streets to see our competitions. How is a Girl Scout troop inspired when they see 90% boys driving, and 90% boys working in the pits? Frankly, most of them look at that and, instead of coming away inspired towards science and technology, they come away thinking there's no place for them in this male-dominated culture. Only a very small minority will decide they want to fight that culture and try to change it.
That's where an all girls team plays a pivotal role in FIRST. As a team, it sets an example for all the fans, all the randoms off the street, all the Girl Scout troops. It shows all of those girls that there is a place for them - not only that, but it shows them that girls can do it just as well as boys can.
Now, these stats are a little old (it's the best I could find on Google)... only 20% of engineering undergrads in 2004 were Women. How do we fix that? How do we get more girls interested in Engineering? You can't solve that problem by influencing the female members of your team - for most teams the male/female ratio is just as bad as that statistic. You solve it by getting more girls to join a FIRST team. You solve it by inspiring even younger girls to want to be a part of the team. You do it by providing role models for those young girls. That is perhaps the most important thing an all girls team does. Inspiring that younger generation will increase female participation in all teams across the board. The day we see equal participation between males and females both in the pits and on the field is the day we'll no longer need all girls teams.