[karomata]

I feel that the push to get women into STEM is a great cause, however the methodology being used is wrong.

By excluding males from teams or team activities, you are only creating a split within the entirety of the team. While it is great to get women involved in STEM, pushing out the guys is not fair nor gracious professional.

Another issue I personally have faced, being a high school senior this year and applying for WPI FIRST scholarships, I have found that they are female preferred. As a 9 year FIRST student who has put much time and effort into contributing to FIRST, learning about science and technology, and embodying the values of gracious professionalism, it really grinds my gears at times to know that I am disadvantaged because of who I am.

We as FIRST participants often speak of rising above the opponent instead of dragging them down, however in a competative setting for scholarships, isn't having a bias towards women dragging down the guys in FIRST? Is it gracious and professional to distribute these scholarships with a preferance?

I'm not saying I only got into FIRST for the scholarships, but for how often FIRST speakers talk about having 16+ million dollars in scholarships, I don't think it reflects well on FIRST that some of these scholarships are bias. FIRST preaches gracious professionalism, a belief in the FIRST culture that has allowed all of us to thrive, but I believe these preferences on the scholarships to not embody the FIRST spirit. Even if the colleges are determining the criteria, as FIRST students we are entering a world where not everyone is always gracious and professional, and at times having some influence from a higher power (FIRST) even the odds would be very helpful.