GREENSBORO, N.C. — Guilford County Schools has its first-ever all-girl robotics team.
According to US Census data women make up half of our workforce but only 27% of women work in STEM.
Southern Guilford High School is one of only three schools in the state of North Carolina to offer this type of club to young ladies. Sisters of the Mother Board and Code Sisters out of Salem Academy are the only other female-run clubs.
Southern Guilford has had a robotics team for years but it's always been a mixed bunch of boys and girls.
But this year the school formed its all-girls club called the Storm Bots.
In the professional realm, robotics is male-dominated. Seven percent of robotics engineers are women while 93% are men.
Ayesha Konwal said being a part of the Storm Bots makes her feel like she belongs.
“I didn't expect to fit in because I feel like it's male-dominated but I saw there were a lot of other girls and it made me feel like I could be a part of the club, Konwal said. “It sets a good example for other females out there and makes them feel like I'm capable of doing that."
This year the girls are making a robot scoring game. They’ll build and code the bot all on their own.
Lindsy Duran is a senior on the team. She said If all goes well, it'll move and lift cones across a playing field to score.
“Currently we only have the base and the motors,” Duran said. “We've had a lot of problems not having parts not agreeing but I like how we come together and accomplish our goal.”
Mark Case oversees the club.
He said the skills the girls are learning could put them in a position to land very rare and unique jobs.
“They could be robotic surgeons where they're using robots to perform heart surgery,” Case said. “You can become an astronaut and be here on earth and operate a robotic part of the ISS.”
Some of the girls on the team are unsure if they want to make a career out of robotic engineering, but they are certain they want to be role models for other girls who want to pursue careers in STEM.
This extracurricular activity is getting the attention of state leaders. The girls will go before state representatives in December to talk about the robot they’re building and what it's like being an all-girl team.
They'll head to their first tournament in January.