SPIE launches a campaign to promote female careers in science and technology

Cergy, 8 March 2021 – SPIE France, a subsidiary of the SPIE group, the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communication, is marking International Women's Day by launching a publicity campaign highlighting fifty dedicated female employees, who have built a career in science and technology, with a series of photos and testimonials. The initiative, which seeks to spotlight female technicians and engineers, in order to encourage women to get more involved in these professions, has enlisted the support of all SPIE France's subsidiaries. It is co-ordinated by the So’SPIE Ladies mixed network.

Firmly convinced that diversity is conducive to performance and collective intelligence, SPIE France has been committed to ensure a greater diversity in its teams for several years. In three years, the number of women employed has increased as a direct result of the actions carried out by So'SPIE Ladies. In 2021, the network launched an extensive initiative programme based on three priorities: promoting the So'SPIE Ladies concept by sponsoring content and internal activities, attracting and recruiting new female candidates and developing and retaining talents.

Promoting female employees’ careers in science and technology

The campaign on 8 March spotlights passionate, bold women pursuing careers in science and technology within SPIE France. About a hundred female engineers and technicians, from all subsidiaries, have been active all over France to share the benefits of diversity in their daily lives. About fifty of them volunteered to be photographed and interviewed in 5 regions (Centre Val de Loire, Occitanie, Ile-de-France, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, PACA). A variety of trades is represented: commercial and design engineers, site managers, electricians...

“When it is lived with passion, a profession, even a technical one, has no gender. To evolve in a male-dominated world requires self-confidence and courage. Diversity means mutual respect; a major asset that a company should not deprive itself of”, emphasises Caroline Poisbeau, head of the design office at SPIE CityNetworks.

Hind Keskes, methods engineer at the Tertiary division of SPIE Industry & Tertiary reiterates: “I discovered my passion for technical sciences at the age of 13. I had the courage to pursue technical studies, which helped to show me the path I wanted to take when I was facing so many possible professions. Now, as an engineer, I have an exciting job that enables me to innovate, create and resolve issues on a daily basis.”

Many of these testimonials will be shared on social media and circulated among partner schools. These will be extensively promoted and communicated by our employees.

Promoting women in the workforce and creating long-term loyalty

Additional initiatives are planned throughout the year to contribute to the increase of the number of women in the workforce and to strengthen the representation of women in corporate governance at SPIE. These will include participation in targeted recruitment forums, including the one organised on Thursday 11 March by the SPIE partner’s Elles bougent association, and a number of initiatives aimed at female students, including the presentation of careers and opportunities offered by SPIE on campus. This year, in addition to on-site visits, digital sessions where virtual reality will have pride of place will be repeated, in addition to 100% female site visits for participants. Activities for women being retrained, for example with the start-up Social Builder, which helps women enter the world of digital technology, are also being planned. In-house mentoring programmes linking female employees with CODIR members are burgeoning, as are events and appointments of dedicated representatives to provide employees with information and raise awareness on issues as important as diversity in the workplace, unconscious bias, and the fight against sexism and sexual harassment - a subject not tabooed at SPIE and which is dealt with in the same way as any other type of risk.

Olivier Domergue, Managing Director of SPIE France, who is deeply invested, affirms these commitments. As a sponsor of this issue for the Group and co-pilot of So’SPIE Ladies, along with Corinne Figuereo, Director of Transformation and Innovation at SPIE France, he reminds everyone: “Diversity is a major asset for the company. The So'SPIE Ladies’ network oversees its successful implementation, strives to remove obstacles to female employment and encourages female candidates to rise to the highest positions.”

Since diversity is considered as performance issue as any other, SPIE France has defined ambitious targets for 2025 and has identified very specific performance indicators to measure progress on a regular basis. The entire management team is actively involved and works to improve the representation of women at all levels throughout the company.