11 May Girls STEAM’ING Ahead: FIRST Global All-Girls Robotics Teams Lead the Way in Empowering Their Communities

In a world where technology is rapidly advancing, it is imperative that young people are equipped with the necessary skills to succeed in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields. This is the mission of FIRST Global, a nonprofit that aims to inspire the next generation of STEM leaders by bringing together students from around the world to engage with a global issue. For many participants, the FIRST Global Challenge is just the beginning of a life-long journey.

One of the key values of FIRST Global is promoting diversity and inclusion. In 2022, 53 teams were female-majority, including 7 with all girls. For these students, it’s about more than the robotics.

“The incredible thing about the FIRST Global experience is the mark that it leaves on the students,” a member of Team Chile shared. “It teaches them many aspects that are used every day such as teamwork, problem solving, expressing your ideas, etc. This instance showed me everything I can do and that I can really do more than I imagined.”

To expand access to STEM education for girls around the world, FIRST Global works with partners like The Rockefeller Foundation.

After the 2022 event, teams Comoros, Chile, Uganda, and Ghana — all sponsored by The Rockefeller Foundation — were inspired to create community initiatives to pass their knowledge forward and empower more girls through STEM.

Two girls evaluating a map as part of the bootcamp hosted by Team Comoros.

Team Comoros created a 6-month program called “Girls STEAM’ING” to show girls throughout the country that “they too have a seat at the STEAM table.” The program started with 27 students from five schools in remote villages attending a 5-day bootcamp with instruction in leadership, engineering, scratch programming, and nutrition. The participants shared that they really enjoyed the teamwork and ability to experiment with the concepts they learned – something uncommon in the schooling system. Participants then went back to their schools with the vision to create STEAM clubs, teach their classmates the different skills they acquired, and participate in further challenges and mentorship offered by Team Comoros, including a final exhibition and competition to be hosted in the summer. The initiative received the attention of the Ministry of Education, which has invited the team to submit a proposal for support of further efforts.

Meanwhile, Team Chile created a week-long robotics bootcamp for 21 girls, which covered electronics, programming, fabrication, and ended with a small competition where the girls put their work into action.

Team Uganda hosted a 5-day “You Can Build a Robot Bootcamp” with 20 participants. The girls learned about building and coding a robot, and then were posed with challenges in health, the environment, and climate change and tasked with building robots to address them. All students rated the program 5 stars and were more interested in studying STEM after their participation.

One team participating in the Infinity Girls in Space program hosted by Team Ghana.

“I’m so thankful for this opportunity and I know [that] leaving here I’m not the same person that entered these doors a few days ago,” said one attendee. “This program has helped me to think outside the box and learn how to solve problems.”

In Ghana, the team hosted the Infinity Girls in Space project inspired by the 2021 FIRST Global CubeSat Prototype Challenge. Engaging 37 schools and 110+ girls, participants learned and then designed, programmed, built, and launched CubeSat prototypes into the lower atmosphere.

Each of these programs involved FIRST Global student members as mentors, highlighting the importance of peer-to-peer learning and mentorship in STEM education. They not only taught valuable skills, but also built confidence and leadership in the young women who participated.

Investing in youth, especially girls, through STEM education is crucial for the future of our world. By empowering and inspiring young girls to pursue STEM fields, we can create a more diverse and inclusive industry that is better equipped to solve the complex problems of the future. FIRST Global is leading the way in this mission, and with the support of The Rockefeller Foundation, the all-girls teams who created these community initiatives are inspiring examples of the impact that can be made at a local level.