At the start of the 2024 school year, the calculations were not good for Polytechnique. The number of women among new registered students has fallen: they represent only 16% of those admitted, compared to 21% in 2023. The previous figure was already “not satisfactoryadmits Dominique Rossin, director of education at Polytechnique, but this is really unfortunate”.
Among the candidates from prep schools, fewer women than in previous years took the entrance exam. But they were also less successful in passing the written test. “Usually, we integrate as many women as there are candidates. This should have brought us around 18-19%”points out Dominique Rossin, whose establishment « investigate » to understand what played a role in this loss.
This bad signal, from the figurehead of engineering training, is symbolic of a reality which is not improving, or even deteriorating: that of the low orientation of girls towards scientific fields in France. “It’s not for lack of effort”assures Denis Choimet, president of the Union of teachers of scientific preparatory classes, who teaches preparatory mathematics at the Parc high school in Lyon. Mobilization has in fact accelerated, under the impetus of different actors: engineering schools, industrial or digital companies, gender equality associations, which are carrying out all-out interventions in middle and high schools to make girls want to look towards their careers.
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