"Robogals" a new international organization for girls interested in electronics  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2017, 03:37:13 am
content: While surfing Archive.org I stumbled across an old article .. and that led me here..https://robogals.org/the web site of "Robogals"Aninternational organizationthathas taught thousands of girls robotics as an entry into engineering.The organization was started in Australia by Marita Cheng. They have chapters all around the globe now. This is really a great idea.

author: hermit
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2017, 04:44:51 pm
content: The school system my granddaughters will attend when they get older always seems to have a good robotics team, but I never see a girl on it. Thanks for the link.

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2017, 07:39:15 pm
content: Quote from: hermit on December 15, 2017, 04:44:51 pmI was an informal mentor when my daughter was in 1st year high-school. The national robotics group her school participated in is probably what your grand daughter's school belongs also:"First Robotics"https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frcI attended every competition and all but one robot building session. During the competitions, I got a good look at other teams as well. There was a good number of girls on the teams - trouble is, not all of them are really working on the robotics. Some of them are "cheerers" (as some boys are too) - they just want to be on the team roster.When I was actually mentoring the robotics building, I can see that some girls are reluctant to get "down and dirty." (Some boys are too) I was showing a task team how to file down a particular piece of part. One girl (on her first session attendance) reluctantly followed instruction and did some useful work - but that first time was also the last time she attended. Some other girls stayed on the building effort. In competitions, she and just a couple other girls are the few I have seen literally with back on the ground fixing things. Perhaps the opportunity did not occur, or perhaps they rather let the boys do the dirty work. I would be guessing if I propose any answer.The robotics team at her first high-school (she transferred after 1st year) claimed a high rate (100%) of scholarship. But having many friends and relatives of college age, I know that it is not so much getting some scholarship but it is how much - we know small amounts are given out to a large number of kids. We know (unrelated to robotics) one who got merely a few hundred dollars over 4 years which basically is nothing when tuition+room&board is over $100K in 4 years. So 100% is impressive, but I don't know how much they actually get. My daughter transferred to a different school after year one. I was unimpressed by that team (same competition) and we left after a month or so into it.I would say (about my daughter's experience): she did most of the soldering, most of the battery connectors (heavy gauge - propane torch soldering) and most of the riveting for the team. Beside those, she also did average amount of work for other tasks. Having done all that, I can see it was a very beneficial experience for her. Her participation also get her invited to other "woman in engineering" kind of events at other places.It is a good opportunity for your grand-daughter to learn something. Since it is a volunteer thing, how much she learns is entirely her own initiative.