Louise Sallé with AFP / Photo credits: Pixabay 2:28 p.m., February 20, 2024
The Gender Scan 2023 study published this Tuesday highlights parity still struggling in the fields of engineering and digital technology in France. Women represent 32% of engineering school students and only 19% of information and communication technology specialists.
In France, women represent 32% of engineering school students and only 19% of information and communication technology specialists: the Gender Scan 2023 study published Tuesday attempts to identify avenues to encourage parity . Striking figure: technological professions even continued to lose female jobs between 2013 and 2020 in France (-6%), latest available statistics, while this figure increased by 19% on average in the European Union.
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The proposal for a four-pronged action plan
To encourage young girls to pursue a technological career, the authors of the study recommend an action plan broken down into four axes. First, promote the successes of women in the industry and carry out awareness-raising actions for teachers, to counter dissuasive messages. According to the study, nearly four in ten young women say they have been discouraged by those around them or their teachers from undertaking studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics as well as in digital technology.
Then, develop targeted educational activities in primary school and middle school, to arouse the interest of young girls from an early age. 20% of the boys surveyed traced their interest in technology to nursery school, compared to 12% of girls. Also, review the organization of studies in order to reduce the level of stress, by setting up mentoring and academic support programs to remedy sources of dissatisfaction. Finally, they suggest further improving the recognition, reporting and treatment of cases of sexism and harassment.
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Nearly 30% of female students surveyed have experienced sexist behavior and more than one in eight say they have been victims of sexual harassment. The Gender Scan study is based on a survey carried out online from April to July 2023 among 1,436 students in technical, scientific and digital fields by the firm Global Contact, in partnership with the Conference of Directors of French Engineering Schools. as well as Orange, FDJ (Française des Jeux), Sopra Steria and Bpi France. It also relays Eurostat statistics on the employment of women in industry.