For the American VC Sequoia Capital, Paris is the second European hub for digital businesses, after London. The French capital is home to more than 74,000 engineers, but only 15% of these talents are women.
However, this low feminization is not specific to France. The share of women in these professions thus reaches 18% in London and 17% in Madrid, another city in the Top 3 compiled by the fund. Initiatives aimed at feminizing the sector in France are however numerous.
10,000 women supported by 2026
The government now also intends to participate in the collective effort to develop the place of women in these trades. Its action takes the form of a new program entitled “Tech for all. »
Its ambition is therefore to “make technology a fully egalitarian sector between women and men. » With a rate of feminization of 15%, equality seems to date a very distant horizon.
The executive, however, draws a distinction between digital and tech. Thus, the digital professions would have more women, 27%. The objective remains the same: feminization with 10,000 young women by 2026 pursuing higher education in digital technology.
The terms of the government program are not set in stone: discovery of trades from college, individual support and coaching, mentoring, support in finding an internship or first job, financial and material aid, etc.
The Inria Foundation at the helm
Elisabeth Borne promises an adaptation to the needs of each. The system is part of the gender equality plan presented in March by the Prime Minister. To lead this program, the government calls on the Iniria Foundation.
Its action will be piloted in partnership with other actors (Women Digital, France Universities, The Conference of Directors of French Engineering Schools, and The Conference of Grandes Ecoles).
These organizations have been involved for several years in projects aimed at driving the feminization of digital professions. With results, unfortunately, very mixed. 17.2% of the numbers in IT specialty classes and engineering courses are women.
This is what Corinne Dajon, president of the Femmes@numérique association, recalled in her introductory speech at the First National Conference on the feminization of digital professions and sectors.
An arsonist fire-fighting government
It has not always been so. In 1983, computer science was the most feminized field in engineering schools. More than 20 years later, the share of women is close to that of the engineering and defense sectors, which have historically had little equality.
Can the government reverse the trend through a program without budget figures? On the occasion of a morning organized by Artefact, the co-founder of LightOn, Igor Carron, referred the State to its own responsibility for the under-representation of women.
The cause: the educational reform and its consequences on the study of mathematics. The leader thus speaks of “dramatic dropout (…) The reform has introduced great confusion (…) To be very clear, we will have fewer women in the future because of this (…) Education does not do its job so that there are more women in preparatory school. »