Girls on Teams

[elvin23]

we have a girls team and a guys team we work together and get things done so im happy we have girls they make life better for everyone

[limeyj]

There are 3 of 25 on our team are girls, and all of the girls are in different sections, i am on the shop team, one girl is on the controls and one girl is on the PR team.

[1073girls]

Team 1073 is lacking in the female department. We have 50 students and 13 mentors. Of all those people we have only 2 female students and 3 female mentors.

The female students on the team do a lot of the business work, as well as building the bumpers. The teacher that runs the team at our school is a female, and she helps with all the different areas of the team.

We're looking for ways to improve our girl:guy ratio. Have any suggestions?

[Molten]

I was at the Buckeye last year and didn't notice this problem. It might have been that I wasn't looking for it, but I certainly didn't notice. I do know 1 girl on our team who did the stereotypical secretary jobs because she knew she was the best for the job. It was not because she was a girl, it was because she was the best person suited to the job.

FYI: It is not the only job she did. She was also one of the main people on our desing team.

[angelc24]

Over the years we've increased our guy:girl ratios.
Our rookie year we had 1 girl; now we have 10.

The software, electrical, drive train and arm team are all led by girls, and our steering committee student members are all female as well. The girls on the team are actually the most dedicated members. I, for example, lead the software team, help write and present chairmans, and show up to most of the off season events.

We really found that encouraging your friends to come to robotics really helps, as well as taking girls to any and all PR events involving younger kids. We also have FLL teams that the girls mentor, which definitly brings in girls.

The best thing is to encourage girls to come and make sure they are familiar with all the machinery. It's a little scary to show up the first day and work with all these guys who seem to have been playing with drills, hammers and saws their entire lives. We tend to float towards sterotypical female jobs because we feel most comfortable there. Make them just as comfortable with the tools as they are with writing, you'll be surprised how much they'll do. Guys are just pushier when it comes to technology and building stuff; we are no less interested.

[PrincessJae]

As a rookie team, there are 10 of us and I, the only girl. I basically am in charge of electronics and help out a lot with programming. I mean, since theres only 10 of us were all key players in the entire project.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by 1073girls

We're looking for ways to improve our girl:guy ratio. Have any suggestions?

Developing the girl/guy ratio on the team can sometimes take a while. The way to help it develop is for the girls that are members on the team to enjoy their experience. They will market and promote the team by expressing their enthusiasm.

Another way is to develop a program of recruitment and orientation at the beginning of the year, working with the school administration and teachers. Visit classes for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on what the teachers will allot you and make a presentation regarding the team and what you do. Don't just visit science and technology classes, visit liberal arts classes. That is where you will find writers and artists that will help in areas like the Chairman's, the Woodie Flowers, promotion and marketing, and spirit.

If you have any questions, PM me and I'll share our recruitment/orientation program with you.

Also, Molten's post is a wise one to think about. I'm not sure there are stereotypical jobs on FIRST teams. There may be teams made up of individuals who have that mindset but as teams develop, it becomes - who is the best person for the job.

If you have 2 or 3 or 5 girls on the team, celebrate that and help it grow. The 2008 team is not the 2007 team and won't be the 2009 team. Every year is a new year and a new opportunity for growth and development as a FIRST team. It's very cool.

[Blue_Mist]

One of our Co-Presidents is a girl who is also in charge of the programming. This year we're about evenly matched in guys vs. girls who lead different sections. However, we only have about twenty people on the member list, and ten or so who show up regularly and work. One girl is really great at PR and loves to do that at competitions. Our entire team scouts when possible, and it helps that some of the parents help scout. Right now, though, we have no women mentors.

To even out the numbers between girls and guys, it helps to have enthusiastic people who aren't too insane. I think I unintentionally scare people away by being too enthusiastic. People just think I'm weird. But I take it as a compliment!

In all seriousness, advertise for spectator-friendly competitions that are nearby, maybe a team-organized off-season match. This means you aren't frantically trying to finish the robot and at the same time trying to teach someone who has trouble telling a nut from a bolt how to build the drive train. People are generally more sympathetic and patient if they aren't under incredible stress, and we've had at least one potential member leave because the (few) veterans were under stress and snapped a few times. Girl or guy, always remember that every team member is valuable.

It also helps if you bring your Robotics advertisements to places where the mainstream of the school will see and notice it. Your marketing flier might be the most awesome and eye-catching, but it will catch no eyes if there are no eyes around for it to catch.

[christina_omg]

my team is broken down into divisions with a vice president for each.

im the vice president of mechanisms and the marshal of common sense =]

[Team Lucky]

sry none but we should my friends are grls and they r geniouses

[sishu7]

30 people, 4 girls.

Girl #1: Team Captain, mechanical team membr.
Girl #2: Marketing team captain, mechanical team member (me!)
Girl #3: marketing team, mechanical team secondary captain
Girl #4: Control systems/electricla team member

So... girls are 4/30 on the team and 3/10 in all leadership roles... not so shabby. And we are all engineers.

[cmonkey99]

We have about 10 students on our team and 2 of them are girls, one of them being our president.
It usually ends up during a meeting with a couple of the guys and the girls working on the robot while everybody else shoots the breeze. \
Then the mentors step in and say all of us haven't done anything.
But the mentors really do TOO much (control everything).

[deejay021]

... sigh... team 2549...2 girs... like 13 total... wanted to be cheerleaders...so basically unneeded distraction...

[Behr]

We only have two on the team, but one is the team leader and I (I'm on my friends account cause we're too lazy to sign out.) really just yell at people to do things and keep everything organized.
Also, I'm gonna paint our robot.

[deejay021]

Originally Posted by deejay021

... sigh... team 2549...2 girs... like 13 total... wanted to be cheerleaders...so basically unneeded distraction...

CORRECTION... theres 4 girls...2 cheerleaders and 2 co safety captains...also one is working on mech and another on electrical...