Faced with sectors neglected by female students, the Lycée de Foix and the Ariège vocational training center are innovating and offering meetings with professionals to shatter certain received ideas.
The conclusion is clear. Shared by both faculty and industry professionals. The sciences, and in particular the engineering sciences, attract less and less. Especially young women. At the Gabriel-Fauré high school, in Foix, Magali Herreros, a physical science teacher has been fighting for several years so that high school students see in this matter a real career choice. But now, the reform of the baccalaureate imposed to make choices earlier. And it is clear that the engineering sciences were the first to have been abandoned. “It was true for several years, but it is even more so since the reform, she admits. The high school students find that it is hard, that it requires too many skills. For young women, we also understand that there is a lot of self-censorship. “
Professionals to talk about it concretely
In an attempt to shatter certain received ideas and promote the feminization of this field of activity, Laurence Lorda, engineer in space mechanics at Cnes, made the trip this Thursday to meet interested young people from Fuxens. Passionate about the solar system and space for 8 years, the engineer confides that she has never hesitated about her choice of orientation. However, she says that nothing has been easy. “We have to persevere, of course, but we are getting there. This is what the Cnes wants to show by sending its ambassadors to intervene with young people. In our region, there are 38% of women and we want to strive for equality. let’s pay attention and it plays out from an early age. ” UPSTI, the union of industrial science and technology teachers, is also aware of this. It has just launched the first edition of “First” – Women and engineers: succeeding in science and technology – an operation aimed at making young high school and college girls aware of scientific professions. “We realize that there are still brakes, confirms Sébastien Gergadier, president of UPSTI. On the one hand, because we see that from childhood we maintain received ideas such that girls are less strong in sciences. On the other hand, we see that families, which play a preponderant role in career choices, do not encourage young girls to take up these careers. ” So many barriers that teachers and professionals are working to break down.
Automotive trades: there is still work to be done
This Thursday, another awareness campaign took place. Here, around the automotive industry. Within the walls of the Ariège vocational training center (CFM), a group of high school students from Pamiers came to meet apprentices and adults in the process of retraining. On the program: participation in various workshops around mechanics but also bodywork. Here too, the finding is clear. The automobile remains a predominantly male profession. In the ranks of college students, only one girl agreed to make the trip. And she doesn’t hide it, the mechanics don’t attract her. “I’m more interested in selling, especially parts from a dealership.” However, the sector is recruiting more and more. “We are banking on the future, notes Gerald Sgobbo, president of the national federation of automobile craftsmanship of Ariège. With the apprenticeship, we are on training jobs, and we would be happy to welcome them in our businesses. ” If the doors are open to them, it remains to let them know about the different courses. That was the goal of the day.
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