Girls on Teams

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by QuietOne

In my school girls walk into our room as they pass by at lunch, they ask whats going on. They seem interested but once they see the number of guys they run for they get intimidated and we never see them again.

If they are coming by at lunch, that is a positive, they are showing interest. Use that to your advantage. Think about going to find them during lunch or before school and ask them to come help with a specific job. Have one in mind.

Something like, 'hey, I saw you stop by and wondered if you would be interested in helping with this, this, or this?' Give them a job that you need done but that won't make a big demand on them or their time - just something to catch their interest.

Or - if you have a part of your robot working that you guys are excited about, ask them if they would like to stop by and see what the team has just been working on. Explain what it does and what you did to help.

If they don't show interest or don't want to, at least you have made an effort to show them that they are welcome. Some times it is very small steps that lead up to achievement.

[Miner]

We started an all girls team this year. We ended up having 3 girls on the team and us guys have taught them alot. Now they are pretty much doing it all on their own!

[ManicMechanic]

Originally Posted by QuietOne

In my school girls walk into our room as they pass by at lunch, they ask whats going on. They seem interested but once they see the number of guys they run for they get intimidated and we never see them again.

Is there some simple robotic task (~15-20 minutes) like a simple model to build (with easy step-by-step instructions) or something on the computer that could captivate their attention and keep them in the room? They're more likely to forget their discomfort of being outnumbered if they feel successful in doing a task.

Our one girl was snagged when she came to my house & was captivated by my son's LEGO RIS kit. She started the tutorial, 2 hours later, convinced her mom to start an FLL team, and has now graduated to our HS Vex team.

[Tiix]

I am the only girl on the team... Half the guys are Jerks and do squat... They sit and watch as I carry all the supplies and the robot back and forth... but then again... I am the one who is always knowing what is going on and get to tell them what they should do ^_^ so I guess it all evens out in the end...

[Zultraranger]

Originally Posted by batbotcrewfrosh

Since we are an all-girls team, we have lately been interested in the roles of girls on co-ed teams. Some members of my team were doing a survey of the number of girls on teams and their jobs at the Buckeye Regional. We were very disappointed to discover that on some teams, girls were given only the job of cheerleader, or publicist. Continuing that, just please give the number of girls on your team, along w/ the number of students on your team, and what the girls usually do. Thanks a lot!

Is your team successful in competition?

[ManicMechanic]

Originally Posted by Water Bandit23

I'm one of only technically 3 or 4 girls on my team.

Water Bandit23, I got your PM with questions, but your account is blocked for PM's or e-mail. E-mail me, and I'll send a reply.

Yolande

[iTHOS=awesome]

We have three girls that are all Juniors in HS. Two of them are on a marketing team trying to raise money, the other one tries to do stuff to help with the hardware ... but usually (no offense to girls in general) gets in the way and slows us down when others are trying to work.

[Mike Schreiber]

Team RUSH is a great advocate of women in engineering. We have 32 members and approximately 1/3 are girls (not sure of the exact #). They have a variety of roles and do things just like the guys. Although there are some interested in business oriented skills, we have many females interested (and quite capable) of mechanical work.

As of now, engineering is a man's world (not to be sexist), but I know FIRST has had an impact and definitely inspired many women to become engineers, I just hope that all teams can gain the interest by girls that Team RUSH has been able to generate.

[Blue_Mist]

Originally Posted by ICanCountTo19

Team RUSH is a great advocate of women in engineering. Although there are some interested in business oriented skills, we have many females interested (and quite capable) of mechanical work.

Good job! I'm certain that leads to a better team and better people in general. Women are just as capable, but usually not as loud about it as men.

Originally Posted by ICanCountTo19

As of now, engineering is a man's world (not to be sexist), but I know FIRST has had an impact and definitely inspired many women to become engineers, I just hope that all teams can gain the interest by girls that Team RUSH has been able to generate.

Well, then, let's make it an equal opportunity field and remove the glass ceiling! M. Krass said excellently in a post earlier this thread that as an unspoken rule, men are able to try and try again without ridicule, while women tend to be discouraged from trying again after failing. Let's all make sure that women have the same opportunities to try and try again, since no one likes being pushed down for not being perfect on the first attempt.

[J-me]

we have 4 girls on our team, including me. 2 of the girls are doing design and two are on PR and Manufacturing team. this is out of about 37 kids. It's hard to get the guys to let you do something...but they're getting better at it.

[Eye-gor]

i am one of 5 girls on a team of 30-some-odd kids. last year there was only two girls and about as many boys as this year. i had to drag my two best friends here to ensure is wouldn't be the only one, and it turns out they like it. but i'm stil the only girl in the shop.

[Team2441]

Well we are a rookie team and we have four girls who participate actively everyday. At first we were kind of hesitant to get involved with the building because the guys would get snappy under stress but we have proven our worth. I was designated team captain for strategy and scouting. The other three captains are guys. We learn from our mentors and our fellow teammates every day and two of the girls are currently active in electrical and programming/building. Because there are more guys then girls we sometmes clash. It's fun though, in the end we realize we are an important part of the team and when any of us are missing they notice. Honestly, almost everyone on our team is basically learning from scratch, and only one guy on our team has experience with using tools. However when it comes to doing some tasks we girls have learned we have an easier time doing it then the guys.

[Mr MOE]

MOE 365 has 32 students and 11 of them are girls. The breakdown...

Mechanical - 6: Kirsten, Lan, Ashli, Cassandra, Erin, Shannon
Electrical - 2: Bethany, Ilana
Programming - 2: Laura, Mercedes
Web - 1: Rai (Webmaster)

I am pleased to say that we have very capable young women on our team. This was not always the case. As was stated previously here, it takes work to create an environment where women can thrive on en engineering project.

We have two women technical mentors - Lucie and Kirstin, and a number of non-technical female mentors. It is very important to have role models for the female students to go to if they are feeling underappreciated or under utilized in the robot build aspects of the team.

I am glad to hear the comments of the growth of the number of women on established and new FIRST teams. And hats off to the all-female teams. We know you are as competitive and capable as any team out there!

To all, good luck getting that bot in the box and in your upcoming competition season.

[waiakea2024]

Well, there are four of us...well four who actually do anything. Out of 10 or 12 people on our travel team. We do a lot of work though. put together we do pretty much everything. I personally, am pneumatics, mechanical, programmer, spirit, and a whole bunch of other things on the team. We are ounumberd, but we do let the guys know that we are there and we are there to work. Fortunatly we are not the typical "cheerleader" type girls. We are not afraid to get our hands dirty or to break a nail. we are "one of the guys" i guess you could say.

[ManicMechanic]

Originally Posted by Blue_Mist

Well, then, let's make it an equal opportunity field and remove the glass ceiling! M. Krass said excellently in a post earlier this thread that as an unspoken rule, men are able to try and try again without ridicule, while women tend to be discouraged from trying again after failing.

I don't know what your situation is like, but from what I've seen, men seem to get their share of ridicule for failing. In fact, if anything, I feel that they have shown restraint in their criticism of me (probably because I'm a woman) when they have shown no mercy in ripping each other apart.

Originally Posted by Blue_Mist

Let's all make sure that women have the same opportunities to try and try again, since no one likes being pushed down for not being perfect on the first attempt.

In an ideal world, everyone would be encouraged for effort, leading to success. While we should never give up on trying to reach this ideal, the reality is that I don't have control over my environment, and expecting it to change will only frustrate me when it doesn't happen. But, I do have control over how I respond to the environment. When pushed down, I can choose to leave, or I can choose to stay and try again. I can't force the people around me behave more fairly, but I can make myself more determined to succeed despite the circumstances, fair or not. The choice is mine: to become a bitter victim or a better person.

I'd like to share a story related to a girl on a team in the FLL region I oversee. Her first year, she, 2 other rookie guys, and a veteran guy who owned the team robot kit were on a team, and the coach was also a rookie. Not surprisingly, the veteran guy was the "dominant" team member, having the most say in the building and programming of the robot. The next year, the 2 new guys didn't return, but the girl decided that even in her limited experience, she liked robotics enough to buy her own RIS kit. She practiced during off-season, developed good building and programming skills, and the following year, SHE was the "dominant" team member.

Like this girl, I have found that our team's "dominant" members (head builder and programmer) of both genders typically hone their skills on their own time and their own dime -- they buy their own kits and spend hundreds of hours on robotics on their own. (Sometimes this purchase requires great sacrifice --I know one kid who saved for 2 years on a $2/week allowance, plus birthday money for a robot kit.) The students who come to our once-a-week meeting as their sole robotics experience have a tendency to end up on the sidelines. I have tried to rectify this by inviting kids to my home in pairs during off-season and in between regular team meetings so that they can have the whole robot kit to just themselves and one other person for 2-3 hours. This works for an FTC team of 7, but I don't know how this could work for a larger team with a more expensive robot, like FRC.