[Citrus Dad]

I agree the biggest problem is keeping them. 50% of our travel squad was girls, and about 40% of the overall team, so we feel somewhat successful.

However, the girls we keep generally have a strong personality--no shrinking violets! We have lots of boys who are shy, but I can only think of 1 or 2 girls who fit that description.

I think the issue might be that teenage boys generally don't have a problem asserting themselves in a situation and grabbing all of the time and resources. (The cover story for the latest Atlantic Monthly discusses this type of issue.) We noticed this and tried to control how the boys jumped in without waiting for others to participate. This was a particular issue among our programmers. Teen girls tend to be more concerned about the social situation and to be more deferential to others. Shy boys are more willing to tolerate overly assertive boys (remember that often they are friends) while shy girls may find it too intimidating.

We are going to focus more on allowing more space and time for the girls to get comfortable. It also will be good for the boys to learn better social skills in all settings.