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What can we do to attract kids other than those who already have a goal in STEM?
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You don't need to. You've mentioned that you're afraid that there won't be enough STEM related jobs for your teammates. So so what if there aren't? Is it so bad if these students don't go into STEM?
Every student that becomes involved in FIRST helps FIRST's goals... even if they've never touched a robot.
This made me think about something that happened to me recently. I was wearing my old team sweater and a stranger came up to me and started talking about FIRST. One of the first things she asked me was where was my purple jacket (at my university, almost all the engineering students get leather jackets and dye them purple). When I said that I don't have one because I'm studying Film and English, she was confused. "But you were in FIRST!"
This in turn made me think: am I a "failed FIRST student" because I wasn't "inspired" enough to become an engineer? I would say no.
I got into FIRST because I was a member of my elementary school's LEGO robotics club. I had fun. So I joined FRC in grade 9. I decided the next year to forgo working on the robot in order to work on awards and scouting. I decided building wasn't my thing, so I did something else. And now I'm studying Film.
This quote sums up what FIRST is all about
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"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."
Dean Kamen, Founder
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I may not have chosen engineering as a career, but I definitely still celebrate science and technology. I'm still involved in FIRST, mentoring a local team. If anyone gives me the chance, I talk about FIRST for hours. And in my mind, that's just as important as creating lots and lots of engineers.
Only a select part of the population can be employed as engineers, just like only a select part of the team can work on the robot. But these people who aren't working on the robot are just as if not more important to changing the culture than the students who become engineers are.
Just because a student can't work on a robot and therefore doesn't become inspired to become an engineer (or turn away from STEM) doesn't mean that they have failed FIRST. Instead, they are spreading it into areas that otherwise wouldn't be concerned with FIRST at all (like Film and English students
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