Shame that the organizers chose to make this a gender issue. I’m sure both boys *and* girls would enjoy participating.

African American men are also under-represented in STEM(http://www.usnews.com/news/stem-solutions/articles/2015/05/07/african-american-men-the-other-stem-minority).

Can we also have a competition just for black boys please? It would read like this: “SEEKING CREATIVE, DIY BLACK BOYS WHO ARE LOOKING TO FIND THEIR INNER SUPERHEROES” and “we’re looking throughout the United States for black boys ages 14-18 in grades 9-12”. I think it would be a winner.

Because girls have often absorbed stereotypes about boys being better suited to STEM, they may not feel inclined to compete, or even participate, in related activities alongside boys, despite the fact that they actually outperform boys in many STEM subjects at school. Girls-only activities are one way to mitigate the effects of this damaging stereotype. It isn’t that the organisers have “[made] this a gender issue”; it already is a gender issue, and the organisers are trying to address that.

I have two sons too, and I’m entirely happy that these sorts of activity aren’t open to them; after all, plenty are, and it’s unlikely that it will ever occur to them that computing isn’t for boys, so they won’t need particular support to overcome that misperception.

These kinds of events aim to provide additional support for girls in an attempt to address the damage done by inequality and stereotypes and level things up a bit. There’s no suggestion that they should replace activities open to both genders.

I live less than 15 mins. from disneyland in California. Can I come and meet some Raspberry Pi people even though I’m a middle school boy, and ineligible for competition? Would love to share about the project I’m working on in using the Raspberry Pi in police shooting training targets (maybe enter it in a future competition for BOYS).

As an older, successful male in a STEM field I think this is a great idea. Simply because of the gender disparity in STEM nearly all competitions that are gender neutral are effectively male only. Studies show that girls do far better in STEM when they are in female only environments–anecdotes aside. It is sad when a member of the majority who does not see himself as member of the majority has to complain about a an event that is designed to increase opportunities for the minority. Falling back on the tired argument that favoring the minority is doing them a disservice is being disingenuous. The world IS the way it is. While ideally it should be better to give both genders equal opportunity the fact is there are other social factors that reduce situations that the majority see as equal to situations that actually repress the minority. Complaining about attempts to entice females into STEM using female-only contests shows either an ignorance of social reality or just plain sour grapes. Personally, I find the fact that Disney whose long track record of female suppressive social programming is a part of this to be somewhat comical yet at the same time impressive. This is exactly what I expect from the Pi Foundation and I am happy that some of my money goes to help make things like this possible.

While it’s great that you are trying to get more females involved with computing I feel that inclusion through exclusion isn’t productive.

It’s like inviting an unpopular kid to a party and no one else turns up because he’s been excluded before.

I was in the library on Sunday with my son and daughter and they came across this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Boys-Activity-Book-Usborne-Activities/dp/1409535703

Instead of questioning why only boys might like robots and rockets and making stuff they didn’t bat an eyelid. And that’s why we need more empowering competitions and events like this.

Only 2 weeks to create and complete the competition entry, including a video of the result? That sounds a bit tight.
Also the kind of multi-skilled requirements better suited to group entry from schools?.
I’m probably ‘out of date’ for thinking that suitable video production facilities are also out of the reach of many – unless the entry is to be made on a suitable mobile phone system, whicb apparently so many have now 8-)

At least here in America, the times have changed. If you looked at the various class rosters for college STEM inclusive classes, you would find that most enrolled persons are female, as well as those those teaching the classes themselves. Does that mean that we foot-stamping males are not attending college, or that females here are getting MORE exposure to STEM than males? Males seem the more interested in these types of projects privately, however females are getting the most exposure. This stereotype of females being uninterested was the standing 15 years ago, hence the lack of the gender in STEM jobs, but the age group you are targeting here is more involved than ever! This is also why parents discourage the robot building, because they were raised within this stereotype! (Enter foot stamp here) We are not telling you to exclude females, but to merely include us males, because the bonds of stereotypes have been broken!!!!! We are not receiving these types of incentives merely because we are more interested in the subject, while you target the more exposed sex. I respect your ideals, but please, re-examine your motives.

Really? So equality means boys and girls should always be able to share the same activities and be allowed to enter the same contests?

Have you ever complained because there are no women playing on the world cup? What about NBA games? What about men participating in Miss Universe (as idiotic I find that contest)?

Maybe all this ranting isn´t really about unequality, but about (some) guys feeling they´re too important to be left out of the picture.

Me? My only problem is living too far away from the real world and being unable to have my daughter enter the contest. Maybe I should start one locally…

Sad… the response to this excellent project is unbelievable. I’ve worked in embedded engineering for over 40 years and worked with dozens of fine engineers and programmers – all but 2 were male. Here’s a positive effort to help more women get into STEM and the resultant bitching from the various people who replied is just disgusting.

What are you afraid of?

I think the issue here is that eventually the girls are going to have to be in the workplace with boys. Separating them doesn’t fix the problem. If you shelter them, the problems just get worse later. The boys haven’t been taught to accept the girls as peers. You have merely enforced the idea that they can’t perform on an equal footing. Teaching the boys and girls to work together and appreciate the difference in how they approach problems is the key… That and getting girls to stop bullying each other into not liking math and science. There are other underrepresented groups this could also be said about too.

Too bad everyone is fussing about the girls-only aspect of this. Sort of a narrow reaction.
I am bummed in the short deadlines for it. I just sat down with my 15 year old to talk about this contest. Too soon for her to come up with anything. This is a missed opportunity to motivate girls for the summer vacation.

Perhaps the whole thing is a little late? Certainly an afterthought. Of the described proportions. Quite frankly the girls probably are not well served. However maybe Stan Lee can be shamed into going the extra mile. His heart is generally in the right place!

Write to “Amy Farah Fowler” to see if she will back stop it. She is an astute person who does have the credentials for real.

Reminds me of a certain Big Bang episode. Just where is the ex-prof from Moscow U? Go Polar Bears!