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Women in STEM are extremely important to the world. Some of the greatest inventions in the world were made by women, like the first dishwasher, coffee filters, frequency hopping, which is a precursor to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. STEM is science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. These fields are strongly male-dominated, but this needs to change. We need to work together to equalize the ratio between men and women. While traditionally it has been a male-dominated field in the past, women are equally suited for robotics and STEM-based jobs. Women deserve equal representation and opportunity in these fields. In order to support women in STEM, Team Hazmat went to the TWIST tech challenge on June 21, 2025, at Mukwonago High School. This event centers around girls in FIRST, to support women. During the competition, all drivers were girls, and our team’s female drivers had one practice session before they had to compete. From only being able to pick up one specimen to picking up 13 in only six rounds, the girls on team Hazmat performed well, showing how women can do anything when they set their minds to it. Beyond the win, the event offered a meaningful and empowering experience for the girls who participated. The girls who had attended had an enriching journey, getting the chance to drive and compete. The judges did a great job of making sure the girls were engaged: one of our drivers said that the experience made her more engaged both on and off the field. From this experience, our members noticed that very few teams participated. We would like to see more support in the coming years. We will always reinforce ladies in STEM, but we all need to bind together and help support girls who are in and/or interested in STEM. In order to help fix the errors in the opportunity for women in STEM, we all should support women and recode the general public's perspective on women in STEM. We can begin to fix the imbalance in STEM by actively supporting women and changing how society perceives their role in these fields. Help us build a world where women are the formula of STEM. Let’s stop short-circuiting opportunities—women belong in STEM just as much as men do. 
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Girls in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and pageantry may seem like two completely different worlds, but for Vikas Sankar, they have complemented each other in inspiring ways. Vikas entered the STEM field at the remarkable age of six. She has actively participated in the World Robotics Competition and has been a member of the FIRST LEGO League Junior Team in St. Louis twice. When she began building and coding metal robots in middle school, she was the only girl on her team, but she thrived. Her contributions helped her FIRST TECH Challenge Team win the Judges Award, showing that passion and skill know no gender. In recent years, efforts to inspire girls to enter STEM have increased through programs and initiatives aimed at providing opportunities and support. Yet Vikas has been breaking stereotypes long before these efforts became mainstream. As a junior in high school, Vikas stepped out of her comfort zone to participate in high school pageantry. The experience provided a platform to showcase not only her talents but also her STEM skills. For the talent portion, she creatively danced with robots on stage, merging technology and artistry. During the interview portion, she confidently discussed her STEM achievements and knowledge. Pageantry also allowed Vikas to promote STEM to a wider audience, inspiring those who might not have considered it as a career path. She has received the Aspiration in Computing Award from the National Center for Women in Technology and serves as a paid intern through the Mayor’s Youth at Work Partnership in Jacksonville. In this role, she engages with children at the Ronald McDonald House, encouraging curiosity and learning. Her pageant experience has become a powerful platform for educating and inspiring others, especially young girls, about the relevance and impact of STEM in everyday life. She was also honored with the Miss Stanton Award at Stanton College Preparatory School. Today, Vikas is pursuing Biomedical Sciences on a Pre-Med Track at the University of Central Florida, continuing to merge her passions for science, technology, and community impact. Her journey shows that girls in STEM and pageantry can complement each other, promoting gender equality and encouraging young women to pursue their passions, whether on the stage or in the lab. In a student-led robotics team, what does effective leadership look like, and how does it grow? To answer this question, we interviewed 1072’s Executive President, Brenna Ren. Ascending to executive presidency in her senior year, Brenna continues the long-running pattern of female executive presidents on the team. She began her leadership journey early, beginning as a software lead during her freshman year and becoming a director by the middle of her sophomore year. She explained that although her motivation to ascend the ranks came partly from necessity, it also stemmed from a personal desire to understand how the team functioned at a broader level. “I was ready to take on a larger role,” she said, adding that she wanted to see how decisions were made across subteams, how different parts of the team worked together, and whether there were better ways to improve inter-team communication and collaboration. Reflecting on 1072’s environment, she pointed to the friendliness and passion that define our team’s culture. Because membership is voluntary, she noted, everybody participates out of genuine interest in robotics, which reduces pressure and creates a community built on shared enthusiasm. “Everyone in leadership is basically your friend. It's really nice,” she says, referring to how accessible leadership feels and how it helps the team overate as a cohesive, collaborative group rather than a strictly hierarchical structure. She also emphasized the importance of diversity—across grades, perspectives, and gender—in shaping this environment: “We try to have leadership across grade levels...it's a lot of different perspectives. Even newer members get to share their opinions.” Ultimately, Brenna’s journey and insights attest to the importance of diversity in both culture and leadership. The range of viewpoints on our team contribute to thoughtful decision-making and fosters an inclusive environment: one that grows with each additional member and becomes a space where everyone feels comfortable sharing their opinions, thoughts, and ideas. It is this supportive environment and sense of community that continue to shape 1072’s identity as a team.  Since 2021, Team 1072 has been organizing “Wonderbots”, a program to empower girls in STEM. The 7-week course, open to all middle school girls in the Bay Area, covers a variety of programming topics students are able to put into practice through SpikePrime robots. After the program ends, they take the skills they learn and the passions they discover and apply them to future projects - the curriculum is meant to pave the way for real-world application. Wonderbots opens the gates of STEM and robotics and serves as a space for girls to exercise their creativity to follow their own direction.
With Wonderbots, our goal was to create a space where girls’ voices could be heard and their ideas could be both recognized and utilized in competition. In a space where women are often overlooked, allowing younger students to gain the confidence and knowledge, as well as the ability to adapt and experiment, is of the utmost importance. In our co-ed robotics programs such as FLL, we noticed that there were significantly fewer girls who signed up, and even fewer who ended up staying. We talked to some of the girls who left, and many expressed that they felt stifled by the large majority of boys; and the girls were frequently talked over by and dismissed by the boys. We already started seeing the impacts in our FLL classes, where some of the girls withdrew from discussions after being discouraged from participating earlier in the program. For every four boys, there was just one girl, and the ratio only became more extreme as more girls left. Hence, we felt motivated to create a safe space to innovate and explore, where every girl could feel like they belonged.  I had the privilege of witnessing the continued journey of a girl that I taught in FLL when she joined Wonderbots the next year. In FLL, she appeared reserved and generally went along with her group mates’ ideas. Though she never had any problems with her group members, she seemed to struggle with speaking up. When I began mentoring Wonderbots, I got the opportunity to teach her again. As the program went on, she really broke out of her shell and blossomed into a confident and outspoken young girl. Not only did she lead her team in the programming process, she seemed more passionate and invested in coding, often staying a couple minutes after class to share the progress of her team and propose future plans.  Hello FIRST Ladies readers, We are the members of Failing Formally out of Lexington, KY. We are here to introduce our robot, Botty White, to you. “Why Botty White,” some people ask. Our philosophy as a team is that everyone has a seat at our table; at the end of the day, FTC is “more than robots.” FTC is an organization that prides itself on Gracious Professionalism (GP). To us, some attributes of showing Gracious Professionalism are kindness, friendship, and support. Really, when we think of GP, as a human our first thoughts immediately went to the incomparable, late, Betty White. As a team, we hope that when you feel lost you know you can come directly to our table for support. You need a spare part, we’ve got you covered because we are all in this together. We may be your alliance partners one round and your opponents the second but already remember, Failing Formally is always cheering each and every one of you on. We want to see everyone be successful. We were able to honor the great Betty White this past year by orchestrating our first non-FTC outreach event. Our small team was able to collect a trunk full of shelter donations and present a check to our local animal shelter for what would have been Betty White’s 103rd Birthday. Thank you for reading our blog and “thank you for being a friend.”
Failing Formally (Team 21623) Hello FIRST Ladies readers, we are Failing Formally, an FTC team out of Lexington, KY. We just ended our third season and already are gearing up for our fourth. As a homeschool community team, we are unique in that we have the flexibility of creating an environment where both homeschoolers and public schoolers are welcome. We are currently a team of eleven and have learned the true meaning of teamwork over the past three years. Our main focus as an FTC team has always been inclusivity and helping to promote gender inclusion within the field of STEM. When we say we have the most supportive males on our team, we truly mean it. Our girls are both active within FIRST Ladies and First Like a Girl and help promote both wonderful organizations everywhere we go.
We currently have two active members who are on the Student Board of Directors in KY and are excited to showcase FIRST Ladies at the upcoming Run for the Robots event in June. Additional experiences where our team has been able to successfully promote FIRST Ladies have been at E-Day at the University of Kentucky and various outreach events. Our outreach members are currently working with various Girl Scout troops to organize STEM events with local chapters. As a team, we meet weekly during the season and have found great success in working with three separate teams. We have a programming team, a build team, and a design team. We have a lot of crossover between the two and hope that each member leaves our team with the capability to accomplish each task. We look forward to continuing our regional partnership with FIRST Ladies and hope to continue to see more local teams join this fantastic organization. Thank you for allowing us to be here and for taking the time to read our blog. Failing Formally FTC 21623 Hello FIRST Ladies readers! We are FRC Team 8717 Cyber Vipers from Las Vegas, Nevada. In the past we have made many contributions to help support Women In STEM, but this year we have accomplished an incredibly notable event. Science Lab Day This month we partnered with our school's lead Chemistry Teacher, Ms. Blockovich, to hold a science day where students can participate in fun labs. We started this initiative with hopes to give more girls within our school a chance to participate in STEM based activities without the pressure a classroom environment introduces! Our school's chemistry teacher has always been willing to help out with women in STEAM events and to promote inclusion. Last month, she was featured on our school's news program during Women's History Month where she was interviewed on how women can promote equality and what she thinks are some of the most important issues that women currently face. We are incredibly grateful to have a teacher within our school that cares so much about helping make STEAM a more inclusive and accessible environment. Why are events like these important? Although these kinds of events may seem small, hosting events within your school or community like this can start a snowball effect that begins to bring awareness to the importance of promoting a more inclusive environment. How can you run events like these? Events never have to be run alone. It is always incredibly beneficial to get help from organizations or community leaders within your school, community, or other teams. Start by forming contact and establishing a relationship, prioritize an in person introduction to introduce yourself, your team and FIRST! Then, always make sure to send a follow up email reminding them of what was discussed, sharing any necessary resources such as your team contacts or business plan, and sending them a full plan of the event(s) you plan to run with them. Make sure you are both in agreement on the dates, times, location and substance of the event! As the event approaches make sure to work out the last few kinks and send reminder emails. The last thing is to finally run the event. Don't forget to document by taking photos, keeping track of how many people joined, and how this impacted those that participated! Team LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/cybervipers8717 Instagram: www.instagram.com/frc_8717_cybervipers/ Team Website: sites.google.com/view/cyber-vipers/home?authuser=0 Submitted by Cyber Vipers, FRC Team 8717  Balancing robotics, school, and life is no easy job. Late-night practices, high expectations, and crammed schedules push us to our limits—but that’s what makes it all worth it. In this blog, I sat down with two incredible LadyTalons members to hear firsthand about their experiences juggling STEM, academics, and friendships. Let’s dive in and see how they make it all work! How does the robotics team help each other maintain a good balance? Let's hear it from Erin (11th grade), our current Electrical Captain for 9492 "Many of our teammates are taking the same classes and are all really big academic achievers. Whenever we fall behind on schoolwork, we work together as study buddies, and we all understand the academic stress that comes with competition season every year. Whenever we struggle with balancing other responsibilities with robotics, we feel comfortable talking about it with one another and can understand what these experiences are like. Our team shares a close friendship with one another, and we always cheer each other up when we see each other feeling down and remind everyone that we are always there to support one another!" What advice would you give to someone struggling to juggle robotics and academics? Our team captain, Fatemeh (12th grade) answers this question "The advice I would give to someone who is struggling to juggle robotics and academics would be to balance what they prioritize. The misconception is that one must be chosen over the other. While that is true at specific times, I also believe we must put our best faith effort into both activities. With robotics, we have our teammates relying on us and a successful season, and with academics, it’s the recognition. To excel at both doesn’t mean completely losing time for yourself, but really working to balance the two activities, so you feel like you are making an impact both ways." What has been the biggest challenge in balancing robotics with other commitments? Answering this question, we have Jocelyn (10th grade) who is our 9492 driver "Balancing robotics with other commitments is definitely one of the biggest challenges many students face today. Between academic pressures, extracurricular activities, family responsibilities, and trying to maintain some semblance of a social life, it can sometimes feel like there aren't enough hours in the day. I’m sure many students share the same sentiment and find themselves staying late after scheduled meetings or working through weekends when competition deadlines loom. I balance robotics with competitive dance and art classes, and I hold down a part-time weekend job. There are weeks when my schedule is so packed that I'm literally rushing from robotics straight to dance practice, quickly changing in the car. However, when you truly love your activities, you find ways to make them work together. It's not always pretty and there are definitely moments of stress and exhaustion, but the satisfaction of pursuing your interests and doing what you love makes it all worthwhile." 9492 LadyTalons Author: Nandika Nandan Interviewees: Erin Dolores; Fatemeh Fardin; Jocelyn Li  Since joining my current FTC team in 6th grade as a member in training, and now as a junior in high school, I have learned how to do CAD, build a variety of different mechanisms, and organize groups of people. The fact that my team is an all-girls team helps to develop a culture in which everyone's ideas are heard and people are encouraged to take risks. This gave me a space to learn, experiment, and grow in my engineering and design skills. During the pandemic, our mentors provided us with resources to help us learn OnShape, an online CAD software, allowing us to collaborate virtually to design our robot. This skill has been immensely helpful to me on my team, in engineering classes, and in internships. Even when I make mistakes in designs, like forgetting to account for tolerances or making a virtual 4 bar arm that is unnecessarily free spinning, my team members and mentors have always been supportive, providing suggestions for design improvement and alternative ways to accomplish the same task. This environment has helped me feel comfortable with failure, or with designs that don’t quite work out. Without acceptance of the possibility of failure, and the capacity to learn from one’s mistakes, building a robot isn’t possible. Being on an all-girls FTC team also gave me many opportunities to gain hands-on experience with motors, servos, linear slides, mecanum wheels, and a wide variety of mechanisms. By being able to actually use parts myself, experiment with designs, and assemble CAD models I had made, I was able to develop a much better understanding of how parts work together. It has been immensely rewarding to be able to see ideas that my team brainstorms at the beginning of the season come to life in CAD models, and eventually the final robot. The environment created on the team has challenged me to try new things, while providing helpful feedback and suggestions when things don’t work out. I am incredibly grateful for the technical knowledge I have gained and the amazing members and mentors I have met on my FTC team. FTC Team SpiderBits 17219  Breaking Boundaries and Building the Future For centuries, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) were fields dominated by men. But history tells a different story—one of brilliant women who defied expectations, challenged the status quo, and reshaped industries. Today, more than ever, women in STEM are leading innovations, creating solutions, and inspiring future generations. A Legacy of Pioneers Women have played crucial roles in scientific advancements from Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer, to Katherine Johnson, whose calculations helped land a man on the moon. Their contributions are woven into modern technology, medicine, and engineering. Despite systemic barriers, they persevered—paving the way for those who followed. The Challenges Women Face While progress has been made, women in STEM still encounter obstacles. Underrepresentation in leadership roles, gender biases, and a lack of mentorship opportunities often create barriers to success. The statistics speak for themselves—women make up nearly half of the workforce, yet hold only a fraction of STEM jobs. Overcoming these challenges requires structural change, supportive networks, and advocacy for inclusivity. Empowering the Next Generation Representation matters. When young girls see women thriving in STEM, they envision themselves in those roles. That’s why initiatives like coding workshops, STEM mentorship programs, and scholarships aimed at women are essential. By creating an environment where women are encouraged to innovate, the future of STEM becomes more diverse and groundbreaking. The Road Ahead Women in STEM are not just participants; they are pioneers. Their presence strengthens industries, fuels creativity, and ensures progress. The more we encourage their voices, celebrate their achievements, and break barriers, the stronger the STEM community becomes. Are you a woman in STEM or aspiring to be one? What changes do you think can improve representation and inclusion? Let’s keep the conversation going and continue shaping a more equitable future! 9492 LadyTalons Author: Nandika Nandan  |
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