[mathking]

Our team has (slowly and not without backsliding) increased the number of girls from around 15% (of 50-70 a year) to about 40-45%. Improving the small group team dynamics has been a central part of this. Getting peers involved in the recruiting and even more in retaining team members has been even more important. For the past two years we have had a number of the most important technical leadership roles held by girls. This was part accident (which subteams kids pick early in their careers) and part because of the efforts of some of our boosters to get more girls actively engaged in FLL. In any event, those girls being leaders has helped boys alter their perceptions. This has not been without difficulty. And it takes a lot of work. This coming year we have a small and mostly male senior class, so a good chunk of the leadership will not be female. So I think it is going to take more direct mentor effort. On the other hand the junior class has a lot of really sharp girls so the year after next we may well have more female component team leaders than male again. So mentor efforts hopefully will be more indirect.