[FRC Blog] Something New - SWE Grant

[Arpan]

I would argue that this is an issue that needs to be fought culturally on a larger scale with stronger role models and legislation that prohibits or punishes gender-bent marketing and merchandising- but not within FIRST.

I'm a firm believer in a team that does not discriminate based on gender. Our team has had (brief) issues with mentors discriminating against women on the team and made sure that it would not happen again. That said, affirmative action - which is what providing financial incentives for teams that have specific roles (e.g driver) filled by women is- replaces one form of discrimination with another.

During the Summer of 2013, I worked at NASA's goddard spaceflight center as an intern. One engineering intern I knew had been contacted for her role specifically because of her gender to keep her project in a 50/50 split. Knowing this made her feel like an impostor in her field- she was just as qualified as the men, but knowing that she had been picked for her gender made her feel otherwise.

Working actively against active discrimination by making females feel welcome is excellent. Working against stereotypes is even better. Providing a financial incentive for teams to achieve gender equality (by cutting male members or recruiting more females) or for teams to promote females to positions of authority is, in my eyes, just plain wrong.