Women in science
As part of FIRST National Day (Women Engineers, Succeeding in Science and Technology), ten female engineers shared their experiences with students at Robert Weinum High School during the fifth edition of L’Ingénieure au féminin (Women Engineers) on 5 February. With inspiring testimonials and practical workshops at FabLab, the event encouraged young girls to pursue careers in science and technology.
Robert Weinum's students hosted the fifth edition of L'Ingénieure au féminin, an event dedicated to promoting scientific and technical careers among female secondary school students. Ten female engineers with diverse backgrounds were on hand to share their experiences with an exclusively female audience: Alizée Palpied (landscape engineer), Gloria Chance (tropical biodiversity management), Daniella Barrot (ecology and ethology), Fosta Lalanne (urban strategy), Sabrina Placidoux (land use planning and urban planning), Isabelle Gorizia (civil, architectural and urban engineering, Deputy Managing Director of Saint-Martin), Marie-Thérèse Nuyts-Lavialle (retired aerospace engineer), Clara Brander (architect), Aissatou Diouf (optician) and Julie Poitel (criminal identification technician with the gendarmerie). Their testimonies converged on a common message: believe in your abilities, dare to make mistakes, and persevere. Marie-Thérèse Nuyts-Lavialle presented the different paths to engineering studies, reminding the audience that these professionals work "to design, produce, innovate and improve everyone's lives." She emphasised that the place of women in this field is constantly evolving, even though they still only represent 27% of engineering graduates today.
The afternoon continued at the FabLab, where seven groups of high school girls took part in practical activities. The students were divided into two workshops: one using a cutting plotter to create stickers with the names of famous women, the other to personalise key rings bearing the image of International Women's Day 2026. Catherine Auguste, Deputy Director of Vocational and Technological Training, uses this programme to encourage high school girls to give themselves the means to achieve their dreams, reminding them that the future of science is also being written by women.
