The French High Council for Equality between Women and Men (HCE) has highlighted a crucial issue: the invisibility of women and the persistence of sexism in the digital sector. As a partner of Elles Bougent, ESILV wants to encourage more young girls to become engineers in transport, energy, chemistry, robotics, defence, space, digital, construction, and agri-food.
Under the evocative title “La Femme Invisible dans le numérique – le cercle vicieux du sexisme”, this report, drawn up by the HCE commissions, highlights an alarming reality: the representation and participation of women are still in the minority and often stereotyped in the digital world.
The under-representation of women in digital media
Behind the omnipresence of technology and its promises of progress, an alarming reality persists: whether in terms of the content broadcast or the professions practised, women are under-represented, invisible, caricatured or attacked in the first case, insufficiently trained or recruited in the other.
Some of the report’s findings:
- Women hold 29% of digital jobs in France.
- 68% of content on Instagram conveys gender stereotypes.
- Only 8% of the most viewed YouTube videos are created by women..
These figures are just part of the alarming picture of the under-representation of women in the digital media and the sector’s professional streams, which are marked by a deeply rooted sexist culture.
Faced with these inequalities, the High Council for Equality between Women and Men calls for concrete action to reduce the gender digital divide and promote an inclusive environment. The responsibility of platforms in perpetuating inequality and violence online is also being questioned.
Echoing these efforts, Elles Bougent, whose ambition is to strengthen gender diversity in companies in the industrial and technological sectors, is working actively with its partners, including ESILV, to promote the digital industry and careers to women by combating stereotypes and highlighting inspiring female role models in the sector.
Combining these initiatives is crucial to pave the way for accurate equity in the digital sector and ensure that female talent is recognised and valued.
ESILV and Elles Bougent initiatives
As a partner of Elles Bougent, ESILV wants to encourage more young girls to become engineers in transport, energy, chemistry, robotics, defence, space, digital technology, construction, and food processing.
Through this partnership, ESILV is committed to helping female students discover the sectors, the professions and how to train for them.
Evidence of this commitment is ESILV’s events with Elles Bougent, where young girls are invited to ESILV’s facilities to discover the diversity of possible careers the school offers.
This event gave girls a chance to experience the daily life of a student at ESILV, to talk with passionate and exciting ESILV students and graduates, to break down the stereotype that the engineering profession is reserved for boys, and to realise that girls have a real place in the engineering professions.
Women at ESILV
In addition, the ESILV website has a section dedicated to women engineers, intending to highlight and raise the profile of women studying in fields often considered masculine.
Recruiting more women engineers
The story of Elles bougent began in 2005 when two industrial groups expressed their need to recruit more women engineers to Marie-Sophie PAWLAK, then director of external relations at an engineering school, and herself an engineer by training.
To attract more young girls to these professions, which they were often unfamiliar with, the obvious idea was to introduce them to women engineers. The association’s mission was defined, and Elles Bougent was officially created in 2006.
Many industrial groups and companies without female scientific talent soon joined the venture. First in the transport sector (Airbus, PSA, Dassault Aviation, SNCF, etc.), then in the energy, digital, and construction sectors.
Engineering schools also got involved, and several ministries sponsored the association (the Ministry of Industry in 2006, followed by the Ministries of National Education, Higher Education and Research, Labour, and finally, Women’s Rights).
The first major Elles Bougent events made their mark right from the start, with 100 girls invited to the Paris Motor Show, the Paris Air Show, and the Ecomobility Rally.
Become an engineer, thanks to what other female engineers have to say
In the form of forums, visits to specialised sites and trade fairs, challenges, rallies, conferences and visits to secondary schools, Elles Bougent places the meeting between its female sponsors and today’s young girls at the heart of all its events. To do this, it brings together almost 5080 mentors throughout France. The aim?
The aim was to introduce secondary school girls and students to the exciting careers of engineers and technicians, to prove that these professions (often referred to as “masculine”) are accessible to girls, and to enable teenage girls to identify with and project themselves through the testimonies of female engineers, technicians and students.
Since then, more than 400 actions of all kinds have been carried out annually throughout France, thanks in particular to the Elles Bougent delegations, launched in 2012 in several regions and since 2016 in Spain.
