Hispanics in FIRST and Engineering

[GabrielaH]

I’ve been spending quite some time trying to find ways to increase the amount of Hispanic and Latino students in FIRST (especially FRC). There just don’t seem to be many Hispanics in FIRST, and the fact that there are few Hispanics in the engineering community doesn’t help.

Of course, we also need to work on being more inclusive to other minority students, but each minority community has their own unique reasons as to why many are not in FIRST, and I’d like to hear some ideas for getting the Hispanic community more involved in FIRST and engineering.

Thanks for helping.

[Gravity]

Originally Posted by GabrielaH

I’ve been spending quite some time trying to find ways to increase the amount of Hispanic and Latino students in FIRST (especially FRC). There just don’t seem to be many Hispanics in FIRST, and the fact that there are few Hispanics in the engineering community doesn’t help.

Of course, we also need to work on being more inclusive to other minority students, but each minority community has their own unique reasons as to why many are not in FIRST, and I’d like to hear some ideas for getting the Hispanic community more involved in FIRST and engineering.

Thanks for helping.

You make a very good point, which reminded me of this article posted a couple years ago on these four Mexican students that created a robot that crushed MIT's.

One of the easiest ways we found on recruiting members in general was doing demonstrations and presentations during our weekly school assembly. This raised the club to 38 students from 15 in around a month.

[tab1a]

You might want to consider doing demos at middle schools in predominantly hispanic neighborhoods and communities, if your team recruits from area schools. It's difficult for people to feel comfortable if they are coming to a team that recruits from only a single type of community and seems to be predominantly non-diverse, which is an issue my team has had in the past and still faces to an extent.

[indieFan]

You might want to contact the local chapter of SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers). They may be able to offer you some insight into how to recruit, as well as how many engineers are Hispanic at this time.

[smitikshah]

Maybe try getting world out there on Spanish media. Univision came to the NYC regional and I'm sure that sort of media exposure couldn't have hurt. It can be very beneficial if you play your cards right. Try inviting your local Spanish news (if you have) to regionals/events.

[macman828]

Originally Posted by indieFan

You might want to contact the local chapter of SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers). They may be able to offer you some insight into how to recruit, as well as how many engineers are Hispanic at this time.

I am a SHPE Detroit Professional Chapter member.

Five years ago my chapter hosted a Noche de Ciencias at a predominately Hispanic high school in Detroit (Cesar Chavez Academy) and that night the school asked if we could mentor their robotics team they wanted to start. I never left after that. I had done FRC when I was in High school, and I work at volunteered at event so I had the experience needed.

I am much closer both at work and at home to some of the FRC powerhouses but I rather drive 50 mins to be with my school for this exact reason. To increase the number of Hispanics like myself in Engineering and STEM and general.

I agree with indieFan that SHPE is a key way to bring those professional members to mentor teams and bring more Hispanics into FIRST.

PM me if you like more details on all of the ways we in the Detroit area are doing this. We now have 6 teams in the area with the highest Hispanic concentration population. 4680, 5577, 5756, 5901, 5068, 5915

CD in Pontiac is another great example as well as Team 66.

I wish we did more in Michigan, especially in Grand Rapids but there is no SHPE chapter there I can lean on.

FIRST is trying to partner at a national level with SHPE and the other minority organization.

[GabrielaH]

I may not know 100% for sure, but I'm thinking some of the reasons as to why Hispanics are not joining FIRST and becoming engineering majors is often the language barrier, general lack of access to exposure and activities surrounding engineering, and lack of Hispanic engineer role models. Again, this is a generalization, and I'd like to know other people's thoughts on why there are not many Hispanics in FIRST or majoring in engineering.


So some solutions I've been thinking which those who replied have mentioned are below:

1. Showing the robot at predominantly Hispanic high schools (or middle schools)

2. Contacting Hispanic Organizations (such as SHPE) and helping at their events and conferences, and getting help and support from them, or partner to create an event

3. Contacting a nearby university Hispanic organization and help them at their events and conferences, get help and support from them, or partner to create an event

3. Showing the robot at Hispanics in engineering/STEM/etc... conferences

4. Spanish Media (newspapers and Univision)

5. Show the robot at Spanish-English bilingual preschools and coordinate activities with the students and their families

6. Summer camps

Thoughts? More ideas? Advice for how my team can accomplish these tasks? Great ideas so far, they are greatly appreciated. Couldn't find anything concerning this on any previous posts on CD.

[Shrub]

I have had the pleasure of meeting many Latino FRC/FIRST alumni, albeit all from the same team (or related to me). I think partnering with SHPE would be amazing, as I didn't even know SHPE was an organization until my senior year of high school. I also think a lot of work has to come from inside the teams - creating an environment where students of color feel safe. More often than not, I was in situations where people were surprised I was Latinx and immediately went to talking about how "amazing" my English is (which is a common microagression for people who know a language other than English) or more recently, politics. It's frustrating, especially if one is a high school student, for their identity to suddenly be a controversial topic when they are there to participate in FIRST. Creating positive team environments from within makes students who are marginalized want to stay because they know their teammates accept them.

I also noticed someone mentioned a language gap. In my experience, explaining FIRST to my family has always been difficult. I do not know if a language gap does play into Latino people and participation in STEM, but in my experience it has not inhibited participation in FIRST. I think if there are team materials given out to the public at regionals/events it would not hurt to translate them into Spanish or other languages commonly spoken in one's area. I am available to help translate into Spanish.

I know Univision might have a local channel if you live in an urban area, radio stations are also a great way to reach out. If you need any advice or help, don't hesitate to contact me.