They call themselves the “Build a Dream Amazon Warriors.” The half dozen teenage girls from Canada were among thousands of overwhelmingly male young people from nearly four dozen countries competing in Detroit in April. Their challenge? Building wheeled robots capable of maneuvering in an enclosed arena and transporting a specific cargo.
The challenge this year was called “Power Up.” It was part of the FIRST Championship competition held annually to promote innovative thinking among young people in areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.”
What’s unique about the Amazon Warriors? The team members bill themselves as Canada’s only all-female high school robotics team, mentored and advised by only women.
STEM careers are largely dominated by men. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women make up about 48% of the U.S. workforce. But in STEM careers specifically, women fill slightly less than 24% of those jobs. In the last 25 years, educators have made intentional efforts to encourage girls to explore and excel in math and sciences. And as girls are encouraged to participate in the same educational opportunities as boys, more and more are taking on the technological challenges. Trends are changing.
FIRST founder Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway and the insulin pump, wants to encourage equally all “tech nerds” to put their ideas to the test and develop STEM skills. He started FIRST nearly 30 years ago for that purpose. “I will be totally satisfied when the day comes that the number of girls on teams and the number of boys on teams is randomly, statistically identical,” he said way back in 1989.
This year’s challenge addressed industry in the next decade. Kamen predicts that factories will need workers who are capable of operating and troubleshooting computer-directed machinery—including robots. He wants high schoolers today to build robotics teams as preparation for those job opportunities in their young adulthood.
“Every kid [on a robotics team] can turn pro,” Kamen says—meaning that there will be paying jobs for them in the future.
Canada isn’t the only country with a girl-powered team though. Several U.S. teams that competed this year also featured all-female lineups. Natasha Stamler was team captain of the Fe Maidens (pronounced “Iron Maidens,” playing off the chemical symbol for iron). Stamler heads to MIT to continue advanced STEM studies soon. She advises other teens to “try to build things. It can be wood. It can be metal. It doesn’t matter. You’re learning real-world skills.”
