Gender Study About Robotics Teams

[viperred396]

1. What is your team name and number?2240 Brute Force
2. Where is your team from? Denver, CO
3. What is the gender break down of your team? Specifically regarding:
A. Team Leadership: 1 female, 4 male
Students? 4 females, 16 males
Mentors?0 females, 5 males
B. Drive Team:undecided
C. Pit Crew:undecided
4. Have you dealt with or seen a gender bias on your team? Please explain.Gender bias, No i find the whether consciously or not the ladies seem to the the harder workers

Family Life Questions:

1. What is your gender?Male
2. What are your parents’ jobs/careers? Father: Airline Pilot Mother: Insurance Salesman
3. What is your career/your spouse’s career? (If applicable) N/A
4. Do you have brothers and/or sisters? What are their hobbies/jobs?Brother, Hobbies: reading, building legos Sister, hobbies: playing with friends
5. Roughly describe your childhood: (i.e. who did you spend time with, what types of toys did you play with)I spent majority of me time either building things or playing with the computer

Person Specific Questions:

1. Why did you join robotics?I cant remember, I think it was a spur of the moment thing
2. Why do you think that there are so few women working in science and technology fields? Because some women feel as if they are not able to do the "smart stuff"
3. What do you do on your team?logistics and Build
4. What are your post high school aspirations? (Include college majors etc)Get an degree in mechanical engineering going though an Army ROTC program
5. Have you considered going into a science or technology field? Why or why not?Yes and No, If in the military I am able to do something in the science and/or technology field then I will but if not thats oj too
6. Have you ever been discouraged about your career aspirations? By whom? (Relation and gender, no names please)I have been told by many of my friends (both male and female) that the military is a bad idea but I just ignore them remembering that its my life not theirs

[treffk]

Team Specific Questions:

1. What is your team name and number? Team Stealth #1802
2. Where is your team from? Kansas City, KS
3. What is the gender break down of your team? Specifically regarding:
A. Team Leadership: 1 female and 4 male
Students? Total: 16; Female: 2; Male: 14
Mentors? Active mentors(we have some away at college currently) Male: 5; Female: 2
B. Drive Team: Not decided yet but most likely all male
C. Pit Crew: All male, possibility of 1 female
4. Have you dealt with or seen a gender bias on your team? Please explain. We have a difficult time getting students in general which leads to finding females wanting to participate extremely difficult. Our team is very small compared to other local teams.

Family Life Questions:

1. What is your gender? Female
2. What are your parents’ jobs/careers? Admin and Shop Manger(mechanic)
3. What is your career/your spouse’s career? (If applicable) Student
4. Do you have brothers and/or sisters? What are their hobbies/jobs? 1 Brother, he competes in FLL and likes to make replicas of medieval weaponry
5. Roughly describe your childhood: (i.e. who did you spend time with, what types of toys did you play with) I spent time mostly with boys, I grew up outside of a neighborhood and had to entertain myself. I loved my legos(still do), Lincoln logs and my barbies.

Person Specific Questions:

1. Why did you join robotics? Heard all about it from my cousin and wanted to be apart of something so amazing
2. Why do you think that there are so few women working in science and technology fields? Gender roles still playing a major factor in today's society
3. What do you do on your team? Student: Treasury, scrap booking, attendance, safety, public relations, outreach, fundrasing, and basically everything outside of the robot. Mentor: Basically everything I did in high school but now I'm helping coach the students on how to do it
4. What are your post high school aspirations? (Include college majors etc) College and a job with FIRST
5. Have you considered going into a science or technology field? Why or why not? Was originally a ChmE then switched to Secondary Education focus in science.
6. Have you ever been discouraged about your career aspirations? By whom? (Relation and gender, no names please)

[Karibou]

1. What is your team name and number?
Team 1189, the Gearheads
2. Where is your team from?
Grosse Pointe, MI
3. What is the gender break down of your team? Specifically regarding:
A. Team Leadership:
Students?
5 male, 2 female
Mentors?
7 male, 3 female (approximately)
B. Drive Team:
Not determined yet, but it has been all male for the past 3 years
C. Pit Crew:
Not determined for this year yet, but the past three years have been approximately 4 male, 2 female
4. Have you dealt with or seen a gender bias on your team? Please explain.
No. We typically have a low male-female ratio (usually at lesat 5:1), which is reflected in our leadership. However, there WERE members of other teams who gawked when they found out that we had two female co-captains who were also proficient machinists.

Family Life Questions:

1. What is your gender?
Female
2. What are your parents’ jobs/careers?
Father: Marketing manager at GM. Mother: Stay-at-home mom
3. What is your career/your spouse’s career? (If applicable)
N/A
4. Do you have brothers and/or sisters? What are their hobbies/jobs?
Two younger brothers. Their hobbies include band and video games. One is involved in FRC. The other is still in elementary school and it remains to be seen if he follows our footsteps into FIRST.
5. Roughly describe your childhood: (i.e. who did you spend time with, what types of toys did you play with)
I spent a lot of time playing with my toys; not necessarily always other people. I was a huge fan of Beanie Babies, in addition to my doll house and Barbies.

Person Specific Questions:

1. Why did you join robotics?
A friend (female) had a brother on the team, and she convinced me to join, stating clearly that it was a lot of fun, and I didn't have to work on the robot.
2. Why do you think that there are so few women working in science and technology fields?
Media pressure and sexism in the professional world. It's also unintentionally drilled into our brains from a young age that boys build things and girls cook.
3. What do you do on your team?
Last year I served as a team co-captain. This year, I am in charge of training and Safety, as well as being the main operator of our lathe. I have been on pit crew for the past three years.
4. What are your post high school aspirations? (Include college majors etc)
I'm enrolled as a Materials Science and Engineering major at Michigan Tech University for this fall. After graduating, I don't know whether I will pursue grad school or walk right into a career.
5. Have you considered going into a science or technology field? Why or why not?
Well, I'm definitely going into a science and technology field. I didn't consider this possibility until I got involved in robotics, when I was actually exposed to science and technology application.
6. Have you ever been discouraged about your career aspirations? By whom? (Relation and gender, no names please)
No. Most people seem very thrilled that I'm going to be an engineering major and are very supportive, even if they are surprised at first.

[Frenchie461]

Team Specific Questions:

1. What is your team name and number? Westside Boiler Invasion 461
2. Where is your team from? West Lafayette, IN
3. What is the gender break down of your team? Specifically regarding:
A. Team Leadership: 2 Female, 2 Male
Students? 8 Female 40 Male
Mentors? 2 Female 7 Male
B. Drive Team: 3 Male
C. Pit Crew: Not Decided
4. Have you dealt with or seen a gender bias on your team? Please explain.
Not really, one of the primary assemblers for tech is a girl, and one of the primary outreach people is a guy.
Family Life Questions:

1. What is your gender? Male
2. What are your parents’ jobs/careers? Professor and Stay at home
3. What is your career/your spouse’s career? (If applicable) Student
4. Do you have brothers and/or sisters? What are their hobbies/jobs? 1 Sister, stereotypical 13 year old popular girl
5. Roughly describe your childhood: (i.e. who did you spend time with, what types of toys did you play with) I spent time with a lot of my friends that ended up on robotics, and i spent a lot of time messing with computers, audio equipment, and LEGO robots

Person Specific Questions:

1. Why did you join robotics? I got recruited by DUKE461
2. Why do you think that there are so few women working in science and technology fields? a widely accepted idea that women are naturally bad at math
3. What do you do on your team? a little bit of CAD, electronics, and almost all of the CNC work
4. What are your post high school aspirations? (Include college majors etc) Major in econometrics at University of Chicago, with a possible PhD
5. Have you considered going into a science or technology field? Why or why not? Yes, but economics is far more interesting
6. Have you ever been discouraged about your career aspirations? By whom? (Relation and gender, no names please) only when I wondered about a PhD in theoretical math, and that was only because of difficulty

[Carol]

Is there a way to reply for those who don't want the information made public on this forum?

[Chris is me]

I don't think anyone would ever want to publicly identify gender biases on their teams. This survey may not work as well as you intended.

[afowl]

Originally Posted by Carol

Is there a way to reply for those who don't want the information made public on this forum?

You can PM me the information as some people already have.

Originally Posted by Chris is me

I don't think anyone would ever want to publicly identify gender biases on their teams. This survey may not work as well as you intended.

I understand that. I would hope that people would PM me things they wouldn't want across the web but I know that a lot of people wouldn't want to report biases. This isn't our only source.

[Alden94]

Team Specific Questions:

1. What is your team name and number?
Kinetic Knights - Team 781

2. Where is your team from?
Kincardine, Ontario, Canada

3. What is the gender break down of your team? Specifically regarding:
Overall: 72% Male 28% Female
A. Team Leadership: 33% Male 67% Female
Mentors? 67% Male 33% Female
B. Drive Team: All male
C. Pit Crew: Again, all male (due to not enough females to provide a female student room on pit crew)

4. Have you dealt with or seen a gender bias on your team? Please explain.
Not that I can remember. The only bias that I can really comment on is the fact that we don't have enough females on our build team with enough dedication to create the demand for a "female pit crew room" at our hotels that we stay at for competitions. Although the number of females building this year has increased and I'm hoping will continue to increase next year so that our team can offer said females a position on our pit crew.

Family Life Questions:

1. What is your gender? Male
2. What are your parents’ jobs/careers? both were engineers in the Canadian nuclear industry
3. What is your career/your spouse’s career? (If applicable) Student
4. Do you have brothers and/or sisters? What are their hobbies/jobs? I do not (only child)
5. Roughly describe your childhood: (i.e. who did you spend time with, what types of toys did you play with) an assortment of friends, computers, video games and lego

Person Specific Questions:

1. Why did you join robotics? Recruited by a friend when I entered high school
2. Why do you think that there are so few women working in science and technology fields?

Historical impact of Man>Women (not true, but once believed) maybe?

3. What do you do on your team? I do an assortment of tasks on the team, everything from organizing our highschool ROBOTICS COURSE, building the robot, minibot, etc. Basically everything except CAD and Awards. I am head scout this year so that is my primary job (in addition to organizing our team trips)

4. What are your post high school aspirations? (Include college majors etc)
I have narrowed my interests down to the following: Science, Engineering or Aviation (What do you expect from a FIRST student?)

I would like to either major in Physics and further specialize from there or continue my training as a young pilot to further my endorsements and liscenses. (Currently a recreational pilot, might end up as a commercial )

I just recently started considering the option of Engineering. I have not explored it enough but it is becoming increasingly interesting.

5. Have you considered going into a science or technology field? Why or why not?

Haha, read my answer to number 4. Why do I want to go into a field of science? Because a long time ago (grade nine) I discovered it as a interest to which I have unlimited time for. Put simply, I love it and that is why. To answer why I love it would take far too much time though.

6. Have you ever been discouraged about your career aspirations? By whom? (Relation and gender, no names please)

I have many times been discouraged about my aspirations. I feel that the majority of these discouragements were internal to myself and just something I must get past. In terms of being discouraged by other people, many times but, who cares what other people think right? It's what's inside that counts etc. etc.

[kendra21093]

Team Specific Questions:

1. What is your team name and number? REX 1727
2. Where is your team from? Baltimore Maryland
3. What is the gender break down of your team? Specifically regarding:
A. Team Leadership: mainly guys
Students? a mix
Mentors?guys
B. Drive Team:
C. Pit Crew:
4. Have you dealt with or seen a gender bias on your team? Please explain. No

Family Life Questions:

1. What is your gender? Female
2. What are your parents’ jobs/careers? Dad: Accountant Mom: Waitress
3. What is your career/your spouse’s career? (If applicable) Not married
4. Do you have brothers and/or sisters? What are their hobbies/jobs?My brother is 7 but he plays video games if that counts ^^
5. Roughly describe your childhood: (i.e. who did you spend time with, what types of toys did you play with) I was an only child and a loner

Person Specific Questions:

1. Why did you join robotics? I got dragged to a meeting and fell in love w/ robotics
2. Why do you think that there are so few women working in science and technology fields? Because how woment were brought up, people believe women aren't meant to work in this type of field.
3. What do you do on your team? I am Drive Train Leader =)
4. What are your post high school aspirations? (Include college majors etc) Major in engineering, mechanical or computer
5. Have you considered going into a science or technology field? Why or why not?Yes because i find it very interesting and fun
6. Have you ever been discouraged about your career aspirations? By whom? (Relation and gender, no names please) No i have not

[pianogrrl71]

Team Specific Questions:

1. What is your team name and number? Girls of Steel, 3504
2. Where is your team from? Pittsburgh, PA
3. What is the gender break down of your team? Specifically regarding:
A. Team Leadership: All girls
Students? All girls
Mentors? mostly guys, one girl
B. Drive Team: all girls
C. Pit Crew: all girls
4. Have you dealt with or seen a gender bias on your team? Please explain. With the exception of our mentors, we're an all girls team, so we're biased in the opposite way when it comes to letting people on our team, I guess? Nothing bad, just the way our team was set up. It's kind of nice to experience some girl empowerment.

Family Life Questions:

1. What is your gender? Female
2. What are your parents’ jobs/careers? Dad: Nuclear Engineer Mom: Entrepreneur
3. What is your career/your spouse’s career? (If applicable) Not married
4. Do you have brothers and/or sisters? What are their hobbies/jobs? Sister, piano and singing.
5. Roughly describe your childhood: (i.e. who did you spend time with, what types of toys did you play with) Homeschooled, had a few really really good friends but I'm totally a nerd and always played with legos, building forts, stuff like that.

Person Specific Questions:

1. Why did you join robotics? I started when I saw that CMU was helping a rookie team get off the ground -- I hadn't heard about FIRST before (I wish I did earlier!) and once I started going to the meetings, I knew this was exactly the kind of "hard fun" that I wanted to commit to.
2. Why do you think that there are so few women working in science and technology fields? Because
3. What do you do on your team? Team Leader, I work with manipulator most often but I bounce around a lot.
4. What are your post high school aspirations? (Include college majors etc) Major in mechanical engineering, masters/phD in robotics, hopefully work with NASA
5. Have you considered going into a science or technology field? Why or why not? Yes -- I can't think of doing anything else
6. Have you ever been discouraged about your career aspirations? By whom? (Relation and gender, no names please) No, not really.
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