{"id":12815,"date":"2026-08-11T11:43:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T09:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.imt.fr\/?p=12815"},"modified":"2026-10-02T17:13:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T15:13:19","slug":"ctrl-f-where-did-the-female-engineers-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imt.fr\/en\/ctrl-f-where-did-the-female-engineers-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Ctrl + F: Where did the female engineers go?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article is from a ctrl +, the big challenges newsletter issue: <\/em>‘L\u2019ing\u00e9nierie fran\u00e7aise, d\u00e9sert de talents ?<\/a>‘<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half of the talent pool remains largely untapped<\/strong>. In addition to exacerbating inequalities, this imbalance deprives France of an extraordinary pool of talent and a wealth of creativity, innovation and skills<\/strong>, which are essential for its industrial and ecological transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the very essence of IMT\u2019s commitment: the ‘Ambassadrices’ programme, mentoring, actions in middle and high schools and plans for a more inclusive learning environment… At the start of the French ‘Year of Engineering<\/a>‘, we want to remind everyone that science and technology need all talents, regardless of gender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From primary school to doctorate, the slow decline of female vocations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Although women make up more than half of all students (56%), the 2025 Key Figures on Gender Equality brochure once again highlights their under-representation in selective training courses, in scientific training and, in particular, in future-oriented sectors such as computer science and mathematics. Many challenges remain to be overcome in order to improve the representation of women in science.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It is on this basis that Philippe BAPTISTE, French Minister for Higher Education and Research, introduces the brochure Vers l’\u00e9galit\u00e9 femmes-hommes ? Chiffres cl\u00e9s 2025<\/em><\/a>, (Towards gender equality? Key figures 2025) published by the statistical service of his ministry in March 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The numbers speak for themselves: despite decades of effort, gender parity remains a distant dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government report “Filles et math\u00e9matiques<\/em><\/strong><\/a>” <\/strong>(Girls and Mathematics) shows how the proportion of girls in science studies declines as they progress through school. This is the \u2018leaky pipeline\u2019 phenomenon: at each stage of education, the proportion of young women choosing STEM studies decreases<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, after a steady increase until the end of the 2000s, the proportion of women in STEM studies has plateaued for the last decade, and now represents less than a quarter of first-year STEM students<\/strong>. The proportion of women in industry-related specialisations (engineering of transformation and production) is declining at all levels of education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important to remember that the impact of these gaps on the economy is very real \u2013 the estimated effects on growth are in the order of \u20ac10 billion per year \u2013 and that they are the cause of persistent wage inequalities, since women are under-represented in the most highly paid sectors, where there is a 13% wage gap at the start of a career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These biases are here to stay<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So how do we explain that young women, who excel in science subjects, continue to turn away from STEM?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Today, we need to fight less against norms and more against representations and narratives that assign a gender to professions, when there are only skills and ambitions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Sylvie Retailleau<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, former French Minister of Higher Education and Research<\/em>, in Newstank: ‘Femmes et sciences : \u00ab Lutter contre des repr\u00e9sentations et des r\u00e9cits \u00bb’ (Women and science: \u2018Fighting against representations and narratives\u2019<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The barriers are well identified and go far beyond the simple notions of attraction or desire \u2013 and far beyond those of ability. They are rooted in deep-seated cultural barriers: gender stereotypes, lack of role models, bias in guidance, and sometimes even dissuasive comments from peers or teachers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2018Although social science research shows that taste and ability in science are not innate, beliefs in natural differences between the sexes persist and hinder girls\u2019 scientific ambitions. Contrary to popular belief, girls do not \u2018self-censor\u2019 in science: they are socially censored. Lack of interest or self-confidence is never the starting point of their situation: it is the result of their repeated experience of stereotypes and discrimination<\/strong>.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Cl\u00e9mence Perronnet<\/em><\/strong><\/a>,<\/em><\/strong><\/a> <\/em><\/strong>sociologist of culture, science and social inequalities<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest Gender Scan 2025 survey<\/a> highlights the persistent, and even growing, influence of negative role models: 40% of female STEM students report having been discouraged, including \u2013 and this is new \u2013 by their friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2024 report by the French Acad\u00e9mie des sciences<\/strong><\/a>, ‘Sciences : o\u00f9 sont les femmes ?<\/em><\/strong><\/a>‘<\/em> (Sciences: Where are the women?) highlights how these stereotypes take root very early on: school textbooks continue to portray scientists as male, while the low proportion of female researchers and female teachers in disciplines such as mathematics, physics or computer science reinforces the invisibility of women and fuels the feeling that they do not belong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems that the Matilda effect<\/strong>, this well-documented mechanism of invisibility of women\u2019s contributions to research, is still at work, despite the growing efforts to combat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decisive role played by female engineers and scientists as role models for young people cannot be emphasised enough. And beyond the few exceptional trajectories that are so exceptional that they become the exception and therefore unattainable for most young women, we must not forget the trajectories of the \u2018ordinary\u2019 female engineering students and young graduates, which allow young women to identify with them, to be inspired by them, and above all, to take action<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initiatives to change trajectories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mobilisation is accelerating and initiatives are multiplying<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At IMT, we have placed inclusion and gender equality at the heart of our strategy through collective actions and within our technological universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n