I first want to say this is a great thread, and some really great comments on it.
Wow, its a lot to digest too. We did come to the hypothesis that it is too late to interest girls in science & technology in high school (at least in terms of recruiting). That it must be done in that pre-teen phase discussed earlier, where girls are influenced by what other girls are doing. So we started an all girls lego league team.
I also do know of a girl who was told by her teacher that he wanted her to "help with the spirit and organizing the team" and to not work on the robot. That completely disgusted me. I tell everyone on our team that they can work on or try anything they want. We havent come far enough to enforce that EVERYONE try everything, but last year, every other team meeting was a sort of seminar on either, electrical, mechanical, CAD, programming, etc... so everyone got a little exposure to a lot of it.
The cool thing on our team is that last year, the ENTIRE leadership team of mentors was female. I was the team leader, our teacher was a female and past industrial engineer, our second in command was a female electrical engineer like myself. So I think we formed some pretty good role models
However, I will take the other side of the fence for a minute, and say that
most females are more creative and more organized than the guys. (Im NOT saying guys arent creative or organized, its just both a genetic & environmentally induced thing). And in the real world of engineering/business most top executives are male... this is generally from the motherly instinct. Society & nature has deamed the mothers the caregivers and the fathers the breadwinners. Its the same in many animals as well.
The other thing that females have to deal with is that once out of high school it is much easier to get into college & to get a job as female engineers. However, once they start taking classes or working, its often the reverse that happens. Many people will think they either "just got in because they are girls" or "don't belong in the profession." Ive dealt with both situations. Both are incredibly discouraging.
Even with me, while I love engineering, getting hands on and knowing the technical, I also tend to be better at organizing things than many guys in my department. That is why they asked me to be key recruiter (not because HR is a girl thing, but because my boss called me "the most organized person he had ever met" *if he could only see my office right now! lol*).
I guess in the end, my thought would be that we should ALWAYS encourage the girls (and new students) to try everything. Even if they dont like it, at least they tried it. I wont ever physically drag a girl away from the spirit team because girls should "do more than spirit," though. Because in the end, the FIRST experience isnt just about the robot. Inspiration can be in many areas, it can be in engineering, but it can also be in leadership, organization, finance, business, etc! FIRST builds "the leaders of tomorrow" not just the "engineers of tomorrow."
So every girl should have the same opportunities and encouragement as every guy does.