Are you asking about getting girls specifically to join the team or getting them involved in the mechanical/design/STEM etc facets of the team?
In terms of specifically joining a team, I think this thread is a great example of showing why some girls on CD initially joined:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...=Girls+Joining
The funny part is, my response in the thread is only half the truth. I honestly joined mostly because I had a crush on a boy...yeah that's right I said it. I'm partially still involved because I have a crush on a boy...but that's a different story.
I think having a girl at the recruitment events is certainly key. I remember attending one a few years ago and meeting two of the greatest and brightest high school students I know. They told me the first year on the team seeing me at the robotics table was enough to take the "intimidation" factor away.
Whatever my reason for joining or sticking around, that is not the reason why I am obtaining a degree in Mechanical Engineering in May and working as an intern at Walt Disney World's show control engineering department. What got me engaged was the environment created by my mentors. I came up with projects on my own that I had ownership of, regardless of what else was going on with the team. Because I had that internal drive to lead a team of students to do something mechanical, like build a drive train in the off season, and work on the robot's end effecter my senior year, because there was a particular
ownership of the project I felt like my contribution was valued. I think there is a 50/50 balance between individual and the culture of the team.
A few years ago myself and another ME student from my school attended a "girls night out" at a local school where only the girls from the team attended, and they got a chance to learn about drive trains, the design process, what its like being a female in "the real world" and they got to take turns driving the robot. Having one night just to themselves was enough to ask questions without feeling stupid or intimidated.
This thread, although started for a different reason, about all girls teams, has A LOT of good insight about women on FIRST teams, all girls or not. I learned a lot from many people I look up to, and you could certainly gain insight:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ll+Girls+first
I know not a lot of teams have the capacity to do this, but I think 842's example a few years ago regarding "leaving the boys at home" was a great way to let the girls take the reigns and get more involved with less "pressure"
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=56504
I might be biting my words soon here, but I think one of the most detrimental things to engaging new girls on a team is...well...other girls. I remember being a freshman and being openly bullied by the senior girls on the team. It was bad. Instead of there being an open and encouraging environment, it was territorial because we girls wanted to be "the girl" and not just "one of the girls"...If that makes any sense please bear with me.
Ultimately I think its about the culture that we foster. Find a skill that a girl is particularly interested in or good at, give her
her own project and let her run with it. If shes genuinely inspired, she will succeed. That can be said about any new student though.
