Females FIRST: Inspiring the Next Generation of Women in STEM
On Saturday, October 17, MORT hosted its first Females FIRST: Women and Girls in STEM Virtual Conference. Thirty-five students from 5th grade through 12th grade joined us online to explore STEM careers, learn about FIRST, and hear from women who have built successful careers in their fields.
Women are still underrepresented in FIRST and across STEM. We created this conference to help change that by showing girls of all ages where they fit in, and how to take their first step into a FIRST team.
Getting Started with FIRST
We opened the day by walking attendees through the levels of FIRST and how to get involved at each one. Younger students learned about FIRST LEGO League, while older students heard what it takes to join a FIRST Tech Challenge or FIRST Robotics Competition team like MORT.
MORT members also gave a look inside game strategy: how a team studies each year's game, decides what its robot needs to do, and plans for competition. For many attendees, it was their first glimpse of what happens behind the scenes on a robotics team.
Meet the Panel
The heart of the conference was a panel of eight women, each a seasoned professional who has spent years building a career in her field. Our speakers
included a manufacturing business owner, a healthcare researcher, a marketing executive, two software engineers, and an engineer from the Department of Defense.
Students asked the panelists questions such as:
What's something important to know about your field today?
How do you deal with adversity in male-dominated STEM fields?
The panelists answered with honesty and real stories from their own careers. Hearing how they handled challenges, and kept going, showed attendees that there is more than one path into STEM and room for them on every one.
Breakout Rooms
After the panel, attendees split into breakout rooms based on their age group and interests. This let a 5th grader curious about robots and a senior thinking about a career in software or healthcare each get conversations that fit where they are.
The smaller groups gave students the chance to ask their own questions and connect more closely with speakers in the fields that excite them most.
What's Next
This first conference was just the beginning. Going forward, MORT plans to host Females FIRST twice a year: one virtually and once in person.
At our upcoming in-person event, we're aiming to welcome 50 attendees. We'll again offer breakouts by age, this time showing the differences between FIRST LEGO League, FIRST Tech Challenge, and the FIRST Robotics Competition, along with sessions based on students' interests. Stay tuned for the date and details.
A huge thank you to our eight speakers for sharing their time and experience, to every student who joined us, and to the MORT members who made this conference happen. We can't wait to see you at the next one!
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