Girls on FIRST teams

[Beth Sweet]

Honestly, my view on this is the same as my view on most differentiation: I'll give the job to whoever's competant.

I love to see girls pursuing careers that have not historically been available or encouraged for them, if that's what the enjoy and want to do. But I'm not going to shove a woman into a career that she doesn't want, or tell her that she can't do something that she wants to do, just because she is female.

As many people probably know, I am the queen of defying the "can't be done's". I have done everything in my power never to take extra scholarships, etc, just because I am a woman. I don't believe in it. We are all humans. When a job needs to be done, then the best human for the job should take it (yes, I am discriminating against bears, dogs and other animals).

If the situation exists where you are being told that you are not allowed to do something because you are female, then obviously you need to fight the system. But I find that to be very infrequent these days. A woman in engineering is unexpected, but not out of the ordinary. People may be surprised, but most won't fight it.

So congratulations to all of the humans, male and female, who are pursuing careers in and enjoy doing engineering.