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Originally Posted by C.Roberts 1089
They criticize us for 'not knowing enough' yet won't teach us. So all of a sudden it's our fault that we weren't raised with a background in engineering? That we became interested in it along the way and wanted to learn? Well excuse us, we should've known better than to think girls had a place in technology.
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Carli brings up a great point. Too often, girls get left behind on FIRST teams because during the crunch of the 6 week build, people don't have enough time to teach.
Here's the problem. In general, less girls take tech courses in high school. Also, boys are more likely to develop hands on technical skills outside of school then girls are. So, a girl who joins a FIRST team, hoping to learn about engineering, is often pushed aside because she lacks these skills. When it comes to build season, FIRST teams rely on the students who can get things done quickly. So the manufacturing jobs are assigned to those who already have the appropriate skill set. In this case, it happens to be the guys. This is no good for the girls who want to be a part of this process. Now, they've been pushed aside and marginalized.
How do we fix this problem? Well, it's not simple. During the 6 week build, there often isn't time to teach hands on skills. But that's what the other 46 weeks of year are for. FIRST is a year long program. Teams need to concentrate on skills development for those who are lacking, but wanting to learn.
This year, one of our mentors Stephanie Thompson, has developed an action plan to get more girls involved with NiagaraFIRST.org. What I've outlined above are her hypotheses. The main point of action, is to set up a program whereby the girls on the team can develop "shop skills". Basically, it's an all girls program, where the girls can learn the basics about working in the shop. This way, when the build season starts, they'll be much more ready to jump in. By having it be an all girls workshop, the girls can participate and ask questions, without having to worry about being looked down on by more shop-seasoned guys.
I urge all teams to try this approach in these next few months before kickoff. It will ensure better participation, and you'll have that many more skilled workers come build season. We all know how crucial extra sets of skilled hands are for the 6 week crunch.
(BTW, These types of workshops aren't just applicable for girls. There are tonnes of guys out there with keen minds for robot design, who lack shop-skills. These guys are intimidated and pushed out of build roles in the same way girls are. Workshops like these would be great for them as well.)