SPIE rallies round female science students

Saint-Denis, 23 March 2021 – The Tertiaire division of SPIE Industrie & Tertiaire, subsidiary of the SPIE group, the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications, is organising an event aimed at young women studying technical subjects or at engineering college, to be held on 7 April in partnership with the Elles Bougent association.

Increasing gender mix is a major issue

The Tertiaire division is already very heavily involved with students and also committed to accelerate the appointment of more women to technical and management roles. “We operate in a growth sector that is constantly recruiting but, because it is tinged withgender bias, the majority of people it attracts are men”, explains Arnaud Tirmarche, Managing Director of the Tertiaire division of SPIE Industrie & Tertiaire. “Well, at SPIE, it’s skill that matters most and we’re convinced that gender mix is an asset for our division's teams and customers. That’s why we are working hard to increase our appeal to talented young women, by demonstrating the interesting and relevant nature of our career paths and their accessibility”, he adds.

Raising awareness of interesting, relevant career paths in smart building and energy performance

As a long-standing partner of the Elles Bougent association, whose mission is to promote the engineering profession among female students approaching the end of secondary school or in higher education, the Tertiaire division is holding a virtual event aimed at young female students on technical courses or at engineering college. The goalis to introduce them to the career paths open to them in the division, to raise these students’ awareness of sectors such as smart building and energy efficiency in occupations related to heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electricity, etc.

“Increasing female representation in technical professions is a key issue. Every year, SPIE’s Tertiaire division offers work-study contracts to about a hundred young people who will go on to become our future permanent employees. We believe that raising awareness among future female technicians and engineers should start when they're still in school and our partnership with Elles Bougent assists us in this task” , says Frédérique Laborde, Human Resources Director for SPIE’s Tertiaire division.

SPIE’s contribution will include a presentation on one of its accomplishments on which female employees carried out climate engineering and electrical work. Female price analysis engineers, design and performance engineers and a business engineer will also share their views of their occupations and their engagement within the teams. They will answer the questions of students who have registered for the webinar. Candidates can ask any question they like to get a better grasp of the female engineers’ everyday life and picture themselves in the real world of SPIE projects.

Like the campaign run throughout March by SPIE France to highlight fifty female technicians and engineers all over France, this operation to raise awareness is part of a joint approach by SPIE France subsidiaries, with gender mix targets set for 2025.