Quote:
Originally Posted by HelloRobot
To recruit more girls, I think you should have a girl in a leadership position on your team. Logically, team leaders run recruitment events, and if students see girls being leaders, they will be likely to join. Remember, robotics isn't a "boy thing" unless you make it one.
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I definitely agree. While we have never pushed any students into leadership who was not ready, the coach and mentors intentionally spend a bit of extra effort looking for girls with leadership qualities in an attempt to compensate for any unintended bias. Last year, one of our co-captains and our drive coach were female. Last year's drive captain is back and will probably be captain or co-captain, we have a female head of programming, and a few more rookies and underclassmen who are likely to land lieutenant jobs by the end of build season. (We do not have a fixed command structure so much as we recognize de facto leadership with rank. For example, some years we have a single captain, some years two co-captains.) Even more than recruitment, retention of girls has definitely improved in years when girls shared the leadership roles.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HelloRobot
Even though I am against separating roles by gender, typically girls do slightly better than boys in business/graphics-related things that the team needs. You may want to recruit for that first since it will be easier. At the very least, invite people from your schools to see your competition. I also suggest asking teachers (primarily STEM- or business-related) to recommend people for the team.
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We actually take some pains to discourage separation of roles within the team by gender. One of the simpler (hard, but simple) things we do is to not do business and technical things at the same time, forcing people to choose. We set aside certain hours and even whole meetings to business functions, and it is understood that contributing to business functions is a requirement for those wishing to be named to a leadership role.