[Becca334]

I have read through all of these posts and was unsure on my stance on this topic until after I read many of your ideas.

I have been involved with FIRST for around the past 5 years. I was on FLL for all of my time in middle school where the environment was very encouraging. I would say our team was even 50-50 in terms of gender. I went on to learn the "programming" on that team and truly enjoyed it because of all the support and how much I learned. I can truly say being involved in FIRST during middle school is what makes me so interested in the STEM field today.

I am now a sophomore in high school and have been part of Team 334 since the first week of my freshman year. After learning about programming from FLL, I went on to learn Java from a fellow teammate and become one of the team's 2 programmers. My team consists of around 50 students, and I'd say we have around 4-6 female members, with only 2 actually working with the robot. I've had many of the boys on my team talk to me and try to convince me that because I am a girl I can not do as well as they are. That actually made me want to do more and I am now the only one on my team who does electrical. Not only that but I also run the team's website and also edited the chairman's video. This year I went on to be one of the first female drivers our team has ever had, and yes there were a lot of sexist comments about me driving the robot.

The two different FIRST teams I've been on have had two completely different environments. I can say that in the end we should not be worrying about the gender make-up of a team, we should be more focused on making sure that students are encouraged to continue being involved in STEM. I've talked with other girls in my school and some have straight out told me that they do not want to join robotics because they feel like they would be pushed aside because of our 40+ male members.

I do agree though that female engineers are not as common as male engineers, but I'm not sure if FIRST is the right place to be debating wether or not it's 'right' or 'wrong' for these teams to exist. There are organizations such as SWE(Society of Women Engineers) and AWIS (Association for Women in Science) that solely support the advancements of more women entering into the STEM field. I personally started a SWE club in my school to hopefully get more girls to realize that STEM fields are not just for guys.

In short summary: Girls are often discouraged on co-ed teams, and I've been the victim of that first hand; too many times to count. Never being a part of an all-girls team, I can not comment on what it's like for them. But no matter what your team make-up is, FIRST should be more focused on an environment that is encouraging you to learn more in the STEM field. Some may say that an all-girl team is a better environment, some may disagree. In the end, it's your own personal opinion on the pros and cons on these types of teams.