Why aren’t more women going into digital and engineering professions, which are exciting and offer great prospects?
OPIIEC (Observatoire Paritaire des Métiers du Numérique, de l’Ingénierie, des Etudes et du Conseil et des métiers de l’évènement) is launching an extensive survey of high-school and university girls and women employees, to gain a better understanding of the specific obstacles and motivations faced by young women and men, as well as their opinions, both favorable and unfavorable, towards these professions.
Contact:
Cécile Pinel
Consultant Manager
Cabinet Ambroise Bouteille & Associés
18, rue Drouot – 75009 Paris
01 44 06 05 50
OPIIEC’s survey asked why more women were not entering digital and engineering professions despite strong career prospects. The work sought to understand perceptions, motivations and barriers among students and people already in employment.
Representation begins well before recruitment. School pupils need credible examples, opportunities to ask questions and access to guidance that does not assume one typical profile for a technical professional. Seeing varied paths can challenge the idea that computing belongs to a narrow group and help individuals make decisions on the basis of their interests.
As a research announcement, it can introduce the difference between anecdote and evidence in equality policies. Companies and educators can use survey findings to develop interventions, but only after distinguishing the original research period from current conditions.