Are all girl FIRST team counterproductive to the philosophy of FIRST?

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by Molten

I just wanted to bring to light that not everything bad that happens to a woman is sexism, nor everything that happens to a minority is racism. I found she had many good points, but being ignored and not trusted is kind of a part of being new to lab groups. I suppose I should have said "This isn't necessarily sexism." Its true that in her circumstance that particular school might be completely trusting of anyone but women. Its true I couldn't know whether or not that is true and if that is the case I completely retract my statement with full apologies. However, my intended point stands true. This could have just as easily been the fact that they didn't know her. I've been burned many times for trusting a stranger with my grade and am unlikely to let that happen again.

Sorry for the tone I've had a really bad week. I could have definitely worded my thoughts better. However, I do believe that it is often easy to jump to the conclusion that the reason a person is treating "me" a particular way is because of X. Honestly, we can't know why people treat us the way they do unless they tell us. That was the point I was trying to convey. Nothing more or less.

Jason

The thing your missing here Jason is that, in her situation, everyone was new. Taking the general ed/freshman classes, everyone is new to the school and the environment. Given that, why should she be excluded any more than others in her class?

I can tell you from my experiences in college... even in my first semester physics lab, my lab partners never excluded me or ignored me. But, we were all guys (seriously, have you tried to find a girl in an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department?). We were all new to the school, no one knew anyone else... it was a perfect environment to be open to others ideas without the baggage of past experiences and expectations.

I can tell you, without a doubt, Rachael is one of the Robettes all stars. She was the first person on the team who really "got it", and by far the most dedicated. She has personally inspired and drawn in quite a bit of the team, and she's one we still talk about when we're trying to inspire the girls. Anyone in her labs would really have to be foolish not to listen to her.

Finally, a closing thought from working with an all-girls team for 5 years. Our drive team is most often ignored by other drive teams. Not because we don't have something valuable to say, or because our students are timid or shy, or because we've done poorly in the past (highest seeded rookie team, finalist the next 3 years, and winning at North Star this year). Can you explain why that is if it's not gender based?