I take issue with the idea posted earlier that encouraging girls to participate in FIRST is somehow an example of reverse discrimination. As other posters have pointed out, girls have, at least in the past, received the message that the science and engineering fields are not appropriate for them. Even recently, we heard the president of a prestigious university state that he believes women are innately less capable of achievement in math, science, and technology.
What does this message mean for today's girls? It means that the effects of the decades of continued discouragement linger, and that the attitudes still linger, are expressed, and probably even acted upon by certain individuals. It is only really in this generation that we start to see an increase in terms of girls participating in events such as FIRST robotics and studying math, science, and engineering in college. This increase speaks of a genuine interest among many girls to pursue careers in science and engineering, and it is necessary, now, to sustain this interest.
Accordingly, I feel that organization such as SWE and RCU have an important place in our society. These are not incapable, unmotivated women asking for special privileges or for success to be handed to them. These are like-minded, motivated, capable individuals who see a real issue and are actively working towards improvement and development. This is not dissimilar to people combining their strengths and resources to attain the right to vote, for example. While we would all like to believe that equality is a right granted at birth, we have seen from history, society, culture, and circumstance that for some groups equality becomes a right that must be fought for and earned.
Organizations who further this message surely have a legitimate place in society.
As a young woman who has been involved in FIRST for 6 years, who is a junior in aero/astro at MIT, who has worked for the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Aurora Flight Sciences, MIT's mechanical engineering fluid dynamics lab, and who is currently a co-op at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, I would like to make clear that I have received a great deal of positive, helpful encouragement from both male engineers and professionals and have had great experiences in the workplace. However, I have also spoken with women for whom this has not been the case, and even for me this has not always been the case.
For example, when I first joined FIRST in high school, I had a difficult time getting some male engineers to listen to me and afford me the same respect that they freely granted to male students of similar age and experience. It was only through continued efforts for several years that I was able to achieve this goal, eventually becoming the driver from sophomore to senior year and being heavily involved in the mechanical side of things. At the same time, I had female friends who were genuinely interested in engineering and really wanted to make a contribution, but were discouraged and eventually turned away from engineering because of the continued discouraging messages they received. The discouragement can sometimes be insidious and very subtle.
Now, I'm a staunch proponent of equality. Let's stop discouraging girls from science and engineering. Let's get rid of affirmative action, but while we're at it let's get rid of societal constructs such as legacy admissions, which allow certain parties to hold onto their power by bestowing extra advantages upon their own group. Let's think about the people who get jobs and internships because their parents or relatives know so-and-so. Let's think about the person who doesn't have these advantages and has to overcome these significant barriers to entry. Let's base admissions and jobs on ability, and at the same time think about those who never have the opportunity to demonstrate what they can do. Let's think about all the ways privilege manifests itself. Now let's really level the playing field.
Will all of this happen overnight? No. This, I think, is the real point. Society is changing for the better, but not rapidly and thoroughly enough that the lingering effects of the past are wiped clean. Girls need to understand that they are capable of achievement in math and science. I once volunteered at a robotics event at the University of Rhode Island which involved programming Lego Mindstorms. I helped a group of three girls who were interested, but also very intimidated and didn't think they "could do it." They just didn't know where to start. With a little bit of basic explanation, they realized that they did understand what was going on and started thinking of some great ideas and got their robot to work. Sometimes all it takes is to get someone started.
Clearly, we are not done yet. If girls don't want to join FIRST or don't want to be mathematicians, scientists, and engineers, obviously that's okay. The point isn't to force anyone to be something they don't want to be. The point is that there are girls who are genuinely interested in science and engineering, but still may face discouragement or have internalized the message that they can't do it.
Compared to the past, we have it good. I realize this and am grateful. However, we still have a ways to go. I consider myself very fortunate to have always had great parents, teachers, and mentors who have supported me. We owe a debt to the trailblazers and to those who support us. It is their encouragement that keeps us (at least me!) going through various challenges I have faced, and I really feel that extending this encouragement to interested girls and guys will have a great benefit not only to them, but to society as well.
I apologize for the length of this post, but this is an issue that is very important to me. Thanks for reading.
