Why do so very few girls...

[Hiddochi wolf]

In a world that never understands you...

"...enter things that involve machinery? confused That's one thing I still don't understand. I mean, is it still so deeply ingrained in our society that women supposedly aren't meant to be mechanically inclined, that it's strictly a man's job?

I'm one of only two girls on our school's robotics club, and the other girl (my friend) is basically just a cheerleader/social butterfly for the team. I'm the one that truly gets into this activity for it's meant to be; building robots. And after having been in this club for almost a year now and seeing the types of people that seem most interested, I've noticed just how discouraged most girls seem to be from joining our club. Whether it's from their parents nudging them to just keep walking past, their friends pressuring them by saying it's a 'nerds only' club, or even their own self-esteem problems...most girls just appear to feel like they simply cannot do it. confused

It just bugs me in a way, because the most frequent question I get from other girls that are semi-interested is, "Do you have to be smart?"
This question bothers me the most of all. Because it's like they're insulting their own intelligence, like they're trying to fall back into the 1920's ideal that women aren't meant to be smart. And that sure as hell isn't true.
I may not be a genius, but my design concepts and strategies have often been picked to be featured on our robots due to their efficiency. While the boys are merely intent upon slapping something together half-a$$ed, I take my time to analyze the situation and come up with a design that'll actually function properly. Women are needed in fields like robotics, because we can think in ways that men often do not. We see from a different perspective, and don't have huge egos to defend if we're logically proven as wrong.

I just don't understand why so many girls are either uninterested in or discouraged from mechanical hobbies...

((I was recently asked by the principal to write an article for our local newspaper about girls in robotics, and this train of thought just occurred to me today. I want to hear outside opinions. smile )) "

...the machines will always understand your pain.

 

[EarlsGarden]

I hate machinery. I get so mixed up and confused putting all the parts together. It just fustrates me.

 

[Tolora]

Alot [not ALL, but alot] of girls want to stay in the 'girly; stereotypical area', meaning that they don't want to be different , they want to be just like everyone else. They don't want to do something that requires much brain power.

To some girls it's like this:
"If I'm in the robotics club... I'll be weird and I might have to show people that I have an actual brain!! o: Oh nooo!"

So they just choose to stick with the norm.
I used to be like that [I'm not anymore xD] so thats the only reason I know.

Oh, and then there's the girls who genuinely don't understand it/aren't interested in it.  

[Sophisticated Simplicity]

Engineering is not my strongest point, I never even took physics in highschool, not to mention my school didn't have a robotics club, heh. Since I never had any proper education about them, it is impossible to get involved in things like that, but I do have a natural curiosity for things so when I get the chance, I'd find someone who knows about them to explain them to me. And I do enjoy those electronic little gadgets - I guess I inherited that from my dad. I never had dolls when I was growing up, but I did get a few RC cars, which I loved.  

[Moroso]

The voices always come...

Maybe they're afraid of being surrounded by nerdy guys xD Seriously though, I think it's just genuinely uninteresting to most girls. I mean, I study physics at university (partially just to prove that a girl can...bad idea) and it bores the s**t out of me. And I frequently have to deal with annoying, arrogant men with enormous egos and when they're in large groups (as they are in fields such as physics)...well, they can be a bit dickish.

at night...

 

[Hiddochi wolf]

In a world that never understands you...

"SmileUponMyStar: And that's perfectly understandable. smile I've certainly had my moments when I wanted to slaughter my own creation when it refused to follow a straight line... *Glares down at the little VEX robot as it's hitting the wall repeatedly.* >_>

Tolora: Yeah, I've noticed that. And it just makes me wonder what's so appealing about the concept of 'normal'. confused

Literally 97% of our school's female students all wear the same exact kind of clothing, look the same way, act the same way, have the same kind of friends. It's almost disturbing to me, really. Like watching a bunch of clones of the same person, everywhere. And I'm seeing my own friends starting to fall into that cookie-cutter image over time, and we're separating because of it. sad

I understand that my hobbies definitely aren't mainstream for my gender, but I'm just confused as to where individuality has gone. Has the media really indoctrinated this desire to be 'normal' so far within our minds? Is it truly just easier for girls to fit themselves within a pre-determined personality than to create their own and be independent? "

...the machines will always understand your pain.

 

[2A30128]

I believe it's in how we are wired. Pun not intended. Most women use their emotions to make a decision, making things such as mechanics difficult, whereas most men use logic, making it difficult to understand us. xd


Click my Pokemon, please?

 

[Empty Spiral]

[~+~]

Personally, i find the whole mechanical thing fascinating. But i never took Physics because i knew A Level Physics was so difficult, and it wasn't what i wanted to go into.
But anyway.

I think part of the problem is, at least over here, at general schools that sort of stuff isn't offered, and generally, even if it is, it isn't really advertised as such to people, let alone to girls in particular. We aren't really exposed to the stuff that we would find interesting in that aspect, so tend to avoid it.

 

[Skarry Neon Puppeteer]

I love machinery and mechanics, seeing how things tick, taking them apart, putting them back together and all of that wonderful stuff. If I could sit in a big warehouse full of odd things to make, and take apart with a big boom-box to play my favorite music, you couldn't get me to leave.

I love it all. Really, it isn't hard. I have a very odd knack for fixing things, and making things out of small bits and bobs. Mechanisms are just so amazing to me! You don't have to be extremely smart to do it, or great at much except for your imagination, working well with your hands, and putting the pieces together, whether it be mentally or physically.

 

[eccentricanomaly]

I hate physics. I think it's boring, not because I think I'm bad at it. (Seriously. I have 98% in that class.)
There are sooo many other things I'd rather be doing than building a robot or whatever.  

[Angel Essayez]

I would say jippie I"m not the only one xd .
I'm a girl that studies multimedia operator. It's a computer/ websedign/ film/ 3D design,... study and we are with two girls and the rest are boys... and we are with 20 in our class! ninja  

[elusive chaos]

I'm planning on majoring in Computer Science for my bachelors. I want a job that involves computer hardware. I dislike working with software even if I do believe I am capable of handling a job that deals heavily with the software aspect of computers. I just love to work with my hands. I know I'll be happiest getting inside a computer rather than working with the programming.

I don't know why there are very few female in jobs that involve machinery.

Building robots sounds really fun. I'd love to do that if I could.

I don't understand what smart really means, anymore. It bothers me when people tell me I should keep going to school because I'm "smart" and they would go to school too if they had my brains and were "smart." I honestly don't feel that I'm "smart" and I don't think being smart really has anything to do with making it anywhere. I think it's just hard work and everyone learns at a different pace. If you know yourself well enough, you will know how much time you need to dedicate to a subject and if you need to work harder at it than others. It doesn't make anyone any smarter or less smart.  

[Ravynne Sidhe]

`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -

It's not that girls don't want to play around with machines because it's normal. Hell I'm an engineers daughter, I love machines and stuff it's fascinating. However, at least 50% of women cannot do math or science, I am one of those women (the percentage might be higher or lower).

Whether it's biological or not, we're just not meant to do math. Also if I remember correctly from my doctor, the fact that we lose a lot of blood during our menstrual cycle, and because of that many of us develop anemia or iron deficiency also adds to the fact that we just can't do math or science.

I don't think it's sad that woman aren't interested. We've got different things that grasp our attention, for some it's art, others it's writing, etc. You really can't fault them ._.

Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

 

[.Vindicated.Of.Sanity.]

Speaking personally, well... it just doesn't interest me. I know my way around a puzzle or something that needs to be put together/ put back together, and generally I have the patience to sit and make it work, but I hate the fiddly little bits and the tedious work and all that. I'll do it, but those little pieces that don't quite want to go together irritate me to levels that are probably not healthy.
I think if I were good at math (there's another strike against me. XD), then I'd totally study theoretical physics, because I'm researching quantum entanglement theory on my own, and quite honestly it's extremely fascinating, but I couldn't do the math to get me to that point, let alone that kind of work.
I'm moving toward bio-psych combined major so I can study neuroscience later, but also considering double-majoring or changing my major to biochemistry so I can study immunology. I know I definitely want to be in research somewhere.
Also really into languages. Between entanglement and my own study of German, I think if I put this much effort into learning what I actually have to for my real courses, I'd get much better marks .____.;;
Can't help it. This stuff is interesting; course work is not.

 

[Amitia]

I'm also interested in mechanical stuff, but I've stayed away from it because I didn't always used to be.
I only took the physics courses that we /had/ to take to graduate. Now I'm interesting in all kind of sciences, but I'd have to start from square one before advancing into the areas that interest me, and I'm really lazy at self-learning. : (
I suppose gender stereotypes have also sort of kept me from getting all crazy with machinery. Plus it really depends on the machinery. I have absolutely no interest towards cars, I really couldn't care less, but computers (and the robots you mentioned) are sort of fascinating. x3 I took a simple programming course during my exchange year, and I really loved it.
However, I'm going to enter an IT line in a college this year. ò.ó Software though, not hardware. Still, I feel a little scared, since IT field is full of guys who already know everything about it and I don't know anything yet, but I plan to try studying by myself during the summer to understand the basics. I'm very competitive so I don't want to be proven less knowledgeable, but that's something I have to deal with at first.