Building trust in scientific and engineering careers!

During the third edition of the Women's Forum for the Economy and Society, a special programme of meetings and exchanges, Sci Tech Girls, is being organised for the first time.

This perennial project was created along with the Women's Forum, L'Oréal Fondation d'Entreprise, Orange and in partnership with Cisco, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Suez, Thales, Total and the city of Deauville. The project aims to support and encourage young women to pursue scientific studies by:

• Denouncing cultural and sociological barriers
• Demonstrating the quality of scientific careers through scientific and engineering studies
• Creating desire thanks to testimonies from women with exceptional career paths

These meetings will result in the Deauville Statement, a document summing up the partners' commitment to change.

Sci Tech Girls Day, 12 October 2007, in Deauville

Some 100 young women from high schools, prep schools, universities and scientific and engineering schools gathered in Deauville on Friday, 12 October.

During a series of conferences and roundtables, these young women met with women from the fields of science and technology. These women, renowned for their remarkable training and career paths, shared their experiences. These included:

• Susan Scheer Aoki, Vice President for Cisco Systems Network Software and Systems Technology Group (NSSTG) Market Delivery organization, Cisco, USA
• Habiba Bouhamed Chaabouni, Professor of Medical Genetics in the Tunis University, Laureate 2006 of the L'OREAL UNESCO Prize for Women in Science, Tunisia
• Reine Note, Principal Scientist Predictive Toxicology, L'Oréal, France
• Patricia Pineau, Doctorate in Chemistry from the ENSCP (Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Paris), France, and PhD in Material Sciences from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), USA, Research Communications Director, L'Oréal, France
• Barbara Dalibard, Senior Executive Vice President Orange Business Services, France
• Valérie Beaudouin, Director Sociological & Economic Networks and Services Laboratory, Orange Labs, France
• Béatrice Mandine, Head of Corporate Press Office, Orange, France
• Amandine Aftalion, Mathématicienne, Laboratoire Jacques-Louis Lions, Research in CNRS, France
• Eugénie Crémer, Ingénieur Ecole des mines
• Noni Allwood, Senior Director Internet Business Solutions Group, Cisco
• Laurent Blanchard, General Manager Cisco France
• Catherine Feray, Directeur du Laboratoire LAB'EAU de Lyonnaise des Eaux, Suez, France
• Nadine Lemaitre, Chairman of SUEZ University, France
• Brigitte Bouquot, Vice-President, Marketing & Sales France, Thales
• Cécile Dubrovin, Director of Programs, Member of the Managing Board of SBU RMS, Thales, France
• Catherine Ferrant, Vice-President Diversity and Accountability of Total
• Albane Arseguel, Floating Support Engineering Manager – deep offshore, Exploration Production, Total
• Agnès Netter, Director of the Mission pour la Place des Femmes at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France
• Anne Pépin, Physicist, Senior Research Scientist at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS, France), Scientific Assistant at the Mission pour la Place des Femmes at CNRS
• Prudence Mutowo, PHD student, University of Nottingham, Department of Food Science, UK
• Pardis Sabeti, Post-doctoral fellow, becoming assistant professor, Broad Institute, MIT and Harvard, US
• Laurence Danon, Member of the Executive Board, Rothshild Corporate Finance
• Séverine Cauchard, Scientist in the horse research centre of Dozulé-Goustrainville

Deauville Statement

Deauville Statement was signed by all partners involved in the Sci Tech Girls project. This Statement reports on the position of women in science and engineering, and describes the partners' commitment to change the status quo.

Download here the Deauville Statement in English and French.
Download here the complete press release of this project in English and French.
Download here the summary of the Sci Tech Girls Day in English and French.