Analyzing Gender Differences in the FIRST® Robotics Challenge by FIRST® Robotics

Abstract

Technological innovation has grown over the years, so there has been a greater demand for the STEM workforce. Thus, many initiatives have been taken to meet this demand. One of these many initiatives is robotics. Over the years, many robotics leagues have been created, the most notable being FIRST Robotics and Vex Robotics. While these initiatives are implemented to bring change, marginalized groups like women have been known to be undermined in the activity. This paper aims to address this issue by studying gender differences, specifically in the FIRST Robotics Challenge (FRC) by FIRST robotics. The study was conducted through online surveys taken by participants of FRC that utilized both quantitative and qualitative data. This data was analyzed to discover how males felt about aspects of the activity versus females. This study finds that females have had a net negative experience within FIRST as they faced less encouragement, more discrimination, comments doubting ability, etc., compared to their male counterparts. With this understanding, more effort should be taken to retain and encourage the future involvement of females in robotics. Future research is needed to address this issue in other male-dominated activities to allow society to meet demands in the STEM workforce and provide equal opportunity to those entering the field.