[prettycolors91]

I suppose that I will add my bit about females and FIRST as well.

I began my experience with FLL in middle school, working on a co-ed team with both female and male mentors. We were all encouraged to work on all parts of the team, and for a time I worked in "programming" (well, it felt like programming to a seventh grader). Personally, I took to the research portion of the team. Working on Mission: Mars provided a unique opportunity to hone scientific research skills as well as presentation/communication abilities.

I moved onto the HOT team, and was there for my entire high school career. I moved on to become the Scouting Captain, and worked heavily in the Chairman's subgroup. As a female, I have caught some flack from other female students to "defaulting" to these positions, and falling into female "stereotypes". I find it unfortunate that these aspects of the team are regarded as easier, or below the harder engineering roles. FIRST has taught me that there are many aspects to a successful team of people. You can have a fantastic robot, but without proper scouting and communication skills, it's very difficult succeed (especially in Michigan).

I'm currently and Environmental Science major at Michigan Technological University. If any of you know of MTU, you'll know that to begin with, the ratio of males to females is currently about 3:1. This gap widens once you move into the harder STEM fields of the university. Being in FIRST gave me the ability to look at people's abilities, rather than their gender. I have also found that being confident in your abilities can go a long way in terms of respect. If you approach a group situation comfortable with what you can do, then you'll have a much different experience than if you go in doubting yourself. FIRST teaches girls that they ARE smart and that they CAN do these things.

I'm taking over the Robotic Systems Enterprise next academic year, as one of the few girls in the group. We run three FRC teams in the area (857, 2586, 3771), a few FLL teams, support a SailBOT collegiate level team, and hope to be involved in the FIRST collegiate pilot program next year. FIRST gave me the leadership experience needed to take over a position like this, and I am SO grateful to the program for that.

As a result of my experience in FIRST and the Robotic Systems Enterprise, I've been offered an internship from General Motors this summer. I'll be working on reducing the environmental impact of my assigned plant. STEM careers emerge in all sorts of places...

In closing, I guess it doesn't matter if there are exclusive teams or not. As long as students are all given an opportunity in an area to participate, then an all girls or all boys team can sometimes be the best solution for an individual.