Does robotics attract the right students?

[gblake]

There is more to the STEM robotics domain than FRC. FIRST has more programs and there are other completely separate programs.

If anyone connected to an FRC team wants to attract a more diverse set of students, or wants to influence students who aren't already pointed toward a STEM career; I recommend either finding some way to get them onto that FRC team, or convincing them to try a semi-relaxed 3-month stint on a VRC team, or try coding up a good BotBall entry, or....

The question, as it is posed is really an ill-formed question. It mashes together an assumption that FRC is the only program under discussion, that it is the FRC program's job to attract the "right" students, and that the influence of local circumstances is less important than the program's features.

I do agree that David raises an important point, but the topic is so tangled up in program-type, and local circumstances that useful answers (instead of useful suggestions) are very hard to come by if the questions and ensuing discussions aren't carefully structured. There are way too many variables involved for a broadly framed question to have an answer other than "It depends."

On the other hand, the door is wide open for plenty of useful suggestions for ways to attract many types of students into whatever STEM program is right for the students in question. Some folks have already posted them. Personally I'm a fan of using the lower-cost and highly-accessible VRC and FTC sorts of programs to involve/attract as many students as possible, and then building bigger-budget (assuming the "community" is engaged and supportive) programs on top of the solid foundation created by them.

To David's point, and speaking broadly and in metaphors; I think a walk, then trot, then run approach; will wind up attacting more students of all stripes than trying to start off running. Pyramids are more stable, and enclose more volume, than towers.

Blake