Three Girls Win Intel Science Fair
wayofthewoo.blogspot.com
wayofthewoo.blogspot.com
Winning the Intel competition depends heavily on a high-school student's (rather privileged) access to university-level research. It's no secret that universities are invested in youth outreach for women and minorities in science. In other words, there's a huge, not-so-hidden selection bias going on here.
A far more interesting question: what happens to these women after 8+ years of post-secondary education? (Hint: they don't tend to stick around to gather more awards)
I won several awards at ISEF many years ago, including a few full-ride college scholarships. That was before Intel took it over completely. I also won awards at Westinghouse and some of the DoD science competitions. My Dad was a truck driver and my Mom was a waitress at the time. They are 'normal' - for the most part ;-) I also went to a small, rural high school that was definitely NOT known for its science programs. Despite this contrary anecdotal evidence, I'll have to mostly agree with you about the background of the people that win at these competitions...although I can't speak directly to the gender issue. (I do remember quite a few female competitors...?)
I was definitely the odd guy out at most of the competitions because I didn't go to a private school and/or come from a very wealthy and educated family. I was also a little lower on the...uh...Asperger's scale that most of my competitors, to put it diplomatically. While I was a geek at my high school, I seemed like an extroverted uber-jock at most of the competitions because it turns out that everything IS relative. It was a very weird (but nice) change in roles.
They have some great awards at these competitions. I won a trip to MITI City in Japan, for example. It's also fun...the practical jokes that come about with that many geeks hanging out are amazing! ;-)
I think what's interesting about your story is not so much that you did these things, but that you were able to do them. In particular, what happened that allowed you (rural high school kid with blue-collar parents) to do Westinghouse-caliber work? Did someone approach you with a great opportunity, was it the result of tenaciousness and single-minded dedication, did you have a Homer-Hickam-style, one-in-a-million series of fortunate events...all of the above?
The fact that you're agreeing with us about the overall competitor pool in these contests suggests that your experience was a pretty rare event.