Breaking the Geek-FIRST Bias

[av11d]

If you want to get a diverse group of students to join, read this. It works. If you are too lazy (like me, sometimes) to read the entire post, I've bolded the important statements in my post.

I attend a really typical suburban multicultural public school. From what I observe (and feel personally), people are no longer trying to be cool, they're trying to be 'individuals.'

Therefore, the hard part is not trying to lobby the 'coolness' factor, but the 'this team won't make people stereotype you' factor. In previous years, we had really focused, constant recruiting. It didn't work.

As captain this year, I decided to abandon all of the old recruiting techniques. We no longer do a demonstration of the robot in the school. We no longer make the word "robotics" prominent in our posters. It's not because we don't want those so-called geeks; it's because the geeks will find a way to join the team no matter what. I don't feel it's necessary to campaign hard to get those kids to join. If they enjoy robotics, they will join.

Our team focused all of it's recruiting effort on word of mouth this year. The result was the most diverse turnout of students in our club's history. It was also the largest show of females. Yes, we got the 'geeks.' But we also got the PR people, the artistic people, and the athletic people. This sets a base for future years, because now all these different groups of people can reach out to their PR-driven, artistic, and athletic friends in the future.

Hey, and I know this sounds corny, but it's alright to say: "This club isn't just for geeks." Don't trust the facial reactions of the the high schoolers when you say this. They may roll their eyes, but in their heart they are listening.

Perhaps the most important step in getting people to join is approaching them in a one-on-one setting. Students are much more willing to listen and consider what you have to say in a one-on-one setting as opposed to a group setting.

As for females... word of mouth is THE only way to get them to join. At least in my experience. We had the sister of one of our previous members get all of her friends to join this year. They're already hooked after a few meetings!

Someone also mentioned this earlier... have an attitude. Act confident. Don't give into the preconceived judgments. Consistently say: "Hey! Robotics is pretty cool." I know this sounds corny, but it's effective.

Yeah, geeks are cool!!!! So are jocks :-P