Engineering Equality
Despite French engineering schools' best efforts, a mere 28% of their students are women. Since 2000, this figure has only grown by .5 to 3 percent per year. Should schools switch strategies or double their efforts?
Charlotte Giuria, Head of Communications, Training and Society at the Conference of French Engineering School Presidents, notes : "Schools are changing slowly because this is a cultural problem." Didier Desplanche, Director of the engineering school ECAM Lyon, recalls, "When the first woman graduated in 1976, we had to make big changes. The campus is very old and was designed for men."
Schools reach out to girls via websites, competitions, scholarships and talks at high schools but students start choosing their career paths in middle school. They try to raise girls' awareness and influence their choice of studies. However, explains Charlotte Giuria, "By the time women enter engineering school, they have already chosen their specialization."
Mentoring has been the most effective strategy. In October, French Minister of National Education, Higher Education and Research Najat Vallaud-Belkacem stated, "I believe in the power of role models and sharing personal experiences." For Alexandrine Urbain, Director of Communications at the engineering school Centrale Paris, "Students are more effective role models than professionals because they can relate to girls' concerns."
French businesses also strive to attract more women, whether to embellish their image, reach gender equality targets at the management level or boost their performance. Jean-Louis Carvès, Diversity and Inclusion Program Manager at IBM France, explains, "Although 30% of our staff and 25% of our managers are women, we lack female candidates. All other things being equal, we give preference to women over men."
These efforts have born little fruit. Joël Courtois, Managing Director of the computer science school EPITA, says, "We only seem to reach girls who are already considering these careers. Other girls are resistant. This needs to be addressed farther upstream. Girls should be exposed to programming and coding in middle school." For Didier Desplanche, "This should be publicized at the national level the way we publicize other issues like road safety."
Closing the Wage Gap
According to the 2014 Barometer published by the German research institute trendence, French male and female business and engineering graduates have different job selection criteria. Whereas men tend to prioritize salary, women tend to prioritize factors like company ethics.
When it comes to earnings, blue dominated pink again this year. The average gap between men's and women's first post-graduate salaries was €5,500. Similarly, male engineers' stated expected earnings were €4,000 above those of female graduates.
For Isabelle Germain, founder of Les Nouvelles News, "Rather than teach girls to demand recognition, we teach them to wait around for promotions and acknowledgement from their bosses like they were Prince Charming. They learn to underestimate their abilities and feel out of place at work. This is a deeply ingrained, unconscious mindset." Isabelle Barth, Director of business school EM Strasbourg, agrees. "Some women have the 'Model Student' syndrome. They work hard but look to others for affirmation. Our male students don't question their legitimacy so they have an easier time negotiating salary."
The Barometer echoes this conclusion. Relative to men, women said they wanted to spend less time at work and chose jobs in less lucrative fields. Female business graduates opted for jobs in the luxury, food and agriculture, distribution, communications and media industries whereas male graduates targeted careers in banking, insurance, accountancy and auditing, IT and consulting.
A total of 60% of respondents feel that spending time with their families will not negatively impact their career. Yet plans by Facebook and Apple to freeze female employees' eggs suggest that women can't have both children and careers. Why not take steps so that they don't have to choose?
