[Joe G.]

Another issue that I face with this grant is that even if a team selects members/leaders/drivers without using the grant as a driving factor, the mere presence of these grant funds will lead others to assume that female leaders would not have their positions without the grant money. Unfortunately, these toxic, negative attitudes will be directed most pointedly at the female leaders themselves.

It's a sad reality, but it's something that I see all the time around things like college admissions for engineering schools trying to improve their gender ratio. If a guy gets in, he gets congratulated. Unfortunately, if a girl gets in, there will be people who tell her "you only got in because you're a girl, it's easier for a girl to get in there." This will be heard no matter how accomplished the girl in question is. This mere suggestion not only cheapens the achievement in her mind, but also can lead people to value the wrong things about themselves.

I want my students, regardless of gender, to know without a doubt that if they earn a prestigious position within my team, that it's because they worked ridiculously hard to get there, and that they've accomplished great things. I want them to recognize the value of hard work, skill, dedication, and inspiration, and I want them to understand that no matter who they are, working at similar attributes will allow them to achieve anything they set their minds to. We will continue to push for increased involvement by all within our team, and continue to be mindful of and react to the unique societal pressures young girls can face when joining a robotics team in our approach to mentoring and supporting them, but we will not compromise the integrity of our team or undermine the hard work of each of our students in order to chase money and create feel-good stories. I want people to congratulate girls on FIRST teams in leadership positions on their technical and leadership accomplishments, and on being the best person for the job, instead of congratulating them for being girls on FIRST teams, and being the best girl for the job.

It's a sad, widespread reality of our culture, which isn't really addressed by throwing money at teams that have already achieved a high level of diversity. These teams are the ones who need the extra influence the least, it's the people who will make derogatory assumptions about female students whose culture we need to work on. I don't really have an answer here besides solid mentoring and more role models, but I don't think cash incentives is it.

I hope that the teams that receive this grant are aware of, and able to react effectively to, the negative attitudes and assumptions that some both outside, and potentially within, their teams will unfairly have towards female leaders who have worked incredibly hard to get where they are.