I’d like to preface this post by saying that calling a robotics competition a sport is a long stretch for most people but for this post lets just assume it is one.
Lego was, and still could be for some people, a big part of a healthy imaginative childhood. Building fantasy palaces, machines and starships crafted our imagination at a young age, they was quite literally the building blocks of our budding minds. And as a result of their immense beneficial nature Legos have been adopted by many schools, ranging from elementary all the way up to the college level to help teach basics in engineering and computer science. At my middle school we had an after school competition using Lego mindstorms to compete in an end of the year event to show off what the teams had made and win proves from local science groups. Being somewhat of the nerdy type naturally i loved this sort of competition and competed with my team for three years while i went to the school. Looking back on my experience there now I realize there was almost no girls playing in these games or leading them.
STEM subjects have made amazing strides in promoting female involvement in recent years but I would bet that just even ten years ago this was not the case just based off my experience in the lego competitions. I remember fathers bringing their sons in to work on the projects after school, male science teachers guiding us through the design and build process of the robots, and even retired engineers coming in to watch the final competition at the end of the year. The club was dominated by men and I don’t think I ever really took notice when I was in middle school. Now i’m not saying I thought that no women in this sort of club was normal, I was just young and never looked around at the people and noticed how divided this really was. The club should have actively encouraged girls to join and to promote the subjects learned to the female members of the school. It seems strange to me know looking back at that club to where I am now in university studying a STEM subject. The push for women in STEM subjects has been fantastic in every way for the fields.
darealdreamteam 