Why cant we get girls interested in joining our team?! Advice please!

[rmadsen55]

We have a team that is almost all guys. one girl to be exact. For some reason we just cant get them to join. Now I know it is not because girls aren't interested in FIRST because I see plenty at competiotions on other teams. So what is the problem? Do other teams have a similar problem? does anyone have any advice to solve it? Ladies I would really like to hear your thoughts. (guys are welcome too) I realy would like to see more girls participating from my high school!

Thanks,

-Robin Madsen

[Ashley Weed]

I will think about it more, however one quick thought for the moment. I am the only girl on the build team. I know that our team gets more females for such groups as newspaper/web/photo/scouting, etc. Try to get them involved in such things as business/sponsorship/accounting, too.

[Joe Matt]

Tell them the'll get free A&F posters if they come for a meeting, then use duct tape to trap them....

[Melissa Nute]

Originally posted by JosephM
Tell them the'll get free A&F posters if they come for a meeting, then use duct tape to trap them....

Not all girls are that shallow...

Duct tape in general interests me...

[Andy A.]

I've found that on our team, often one girl will join the team just because she's cool like that. Then she'll bring her friend along, who will eventually start showing up on her own, eventually with one of her friends. It keeps going like this, at least enough to keep a couple girls at a meeting at anyone time. Duct tape has seldom been needed. How ever, if you must duct tape someone, don't tape them to the back of the elevator and forget about them. They probably won't be to happy...

You also may want to include the one girl you have in any demostrations you put on at schools. Seeing a girl in a public and important role may convince others that they can be important on the team to.

-Andy A.

[evulish]

Originally posted by rmadsen55
I realy would like to see more girls participating from my high school!

Heh. I'd like to see more people of either gender participate from my school I'm the only person. It's sad. Almost. I get a free trip to Florida provided no one else joins from my school. Yay for $500 grants

I happen to like the Abercrombie poster and duct tape scheme.

Or get their boyfriends involved. That's how a few girls ended up on our team. (Or tell them it's loaded with hot guys...*cough*...I'm irresitable!)

[Amber H.]

I think Andy A. has the right idea. I got roped into being on the drill team with the marching band before I even started High School because I just went to a practice session with a friend.

Also, we had this group of super smart guys on campus. Some I guess would call them geeks. I personally would have given them the sun and the moon if they had ever gotten over thier shyness to ask me out.
I think the problem here is just getting over your shyness around the girls in general. sometimes that shyness trasnslates as "The cold shoulder" and they feel unwelcome.

CLUE OF THE DAY: Brains are attractive to most girls. Believe it or not. We just don't tell you guys because you never let us get that far. Y'all look like you're about to pass out if we so much as say hi to you.

So just be friendly and they will come.

[Kristina]

I agree with Andy A...go out and recruit, especially from those clubs with already active people who show dedication but don't spread themselves too thin. I have very very little interest in science and engineering but I was recruited solely for organization/management since in was in student gov't. I will admit I learned a thing or two in the whold building process and I loved being on the team.

Girls can fill different niches in the team so its just a matter of going and finding them. There are a lot of girls on my former team's animation team and I really think they're gonna be awesome this year.

Also, if you do find girls interested in the design/construction part of the robot, make sure they feel included. I know a lot of guys on our team unintentionally shoved the girls out of that field or spoke to them in a rather condescending manner (could it be the male ego thing, I don't know!) and it really turned a lot of girls off and they all ended up in management with me. Hopefully this year things will change!

[evulish]

Originally posted by Miss Tree
CLUE OF THE DAY: Brains are attractive to most girls. Believe it or not. We just don't tell you guys because you never let us get that far. Y'all look like you're about to pass out if we so much as say hi to you.

So just be friendly and they will come.

So what if girls don't say hi to me? I think the image scares em away.

[Ryan Foley]

Originally posted by evulish

Or get their boyfriends involved. That's how a few girls ended up on our team

I have found that the girls are usually only there cause their boyfirneds are when you do that, they arent actually interested in the team. There are of course, some exceptions. We recruited the 3 girls we have because they saw us driving the robot around and working on it (actually, thats how we recruited most of the team, although this method also gets you those people who only want to be there to drive the robot, but not to help build, or fix it, so be careful). From my experiences at Timberlane (my school) many girls arent into the whole robotics/ technology/ mechanics/ electronics etc thing. They are more into art, music, fashion, sports or boys (again, not true for all, but thats what most girls at timberlane seem to be like). We've got about 3 girls i know who are actually into robotics and robotics related stuff.

[Dostie350]

About 85% of our team does nothing[/font]

[Harrison]

I think the trick to getting anyone involved is to make it look interesting and TO GET ATTENTION. (sounds so simple it might just work)

For instance, last year when my school was first getting into the competition (after not competing in a good 5 years) we got one of our old robots out and turned it into a little car (which we dubbed the 'Segway 2'). We drove that around the halls between periods, and a ton of people saw it and got interested.

If people are interested, hold a meeting, show some FUN videos (not boring stuff) of competitions and stuff. If you can, make your own videos, put good music to them, show people having fun at the comps. It will get people interested.

Once you get a firm member base (guys or gals) just get them to tell their friends that arent already involved to get involved.

Last year we only had a few girls on the team (5 to be exact). Most of them were on the media team (chairmans award, etc), but a couple helped out w/ fab and all that stuff.

This year those 5 girls are back, plus at least another 5 so far. Once people start to see that this robotics is fun (and "cool") more and more come out - both gals and guys.

[Joe Matt]

Most of the time, girls get top treatment, even if they do nothing. Why? They can fill a four person hotle room. That's especially true if you have 4 girls on you team.

Also, if you show your robot, turn on the spinny light. It attracts throngs of people at a time.

Also, good word of moth always helps. Just say that you can join robotics, have fun, compete, and go to WDW. Do you know a football team that does THAT?

[Harrison]

Originally posted by JosephM
Also, good word of moth always helps. Just say that you can join robotics, have fun, compete, and go to WDW. Do you know a football team that does THAT?

The going to Florida definately helps getting people to come out.

[evulish]

Yeah...especially when they're free
Best plan to enlarge the team:
1. Get a bunch of hot girls on the team by giving them a free trip to florida.
2. Find guys attracted to hot girls and lure them onto the team
3. Force them to build a robot...since if they make it to Florida, they may be able to go to the beach and see the girls in swimwear
4. Sit back and watch your team grow.

Too bad our team failed at the 'find hot girls' part *runs*

(edit: on second thought, maybe 'largen' isn't a word )