Gender equality: INSA raises the issue

At a time when INSA Lyon is working to develop its courses and encourage reflection on the engineer of tomorrow, one issue is coming into focus: that of gender equality. Perspectives of Clémence Abry-Durand, gender equality officer at theInstitut Gaston Berger at INSA Lyon, and Jean-Luc Debayle, head of working conditions at INSA Lyon, responsible for drawing up the institution’s first gender equality guidelines.

One thing is certain: the stakes are high and the challenge is great. Changing mentalities and developing the social responsibility of the institution is a long-term task. The context is favourable: INSA Lyon is getting to grips with its curriculum and getting ready to adjust it. Sustainable development and social and digital responsibility will be an integral part of courses from the start of the 2021 academic year. Over the last few months, Clémence and Jean-Luc have contributed to the reflection on gender issues and shared the project with various committees and bodies. Although somewhat halted by the pandemic and the imposed lockdown, the approach is still relevant today. 

As we approach the first anniversary of the Civil Service Transformation Act, adopted on 6 August, 2019, initial work is under way to develop a workplace equality action plan, a requirement for the institution, but that’s not all. In these ‘gender equality guidelines’, which outline the school’s policy on this issue, the ambition goes further than what is required by law. 

‘We have chosen to include the entire INSA community in these guidelines, both staff and students, where the law only requires us to address this issue with staff. A number of actions have already been taken on the subject, but we want to take the next step and set broader goals to be achieved, even if it means creating our own indicators’, explains Jean-Luc Debayle.

The task is difficult, but the energy is there. Five lines of work have been identified for the organisation of debates and the proposal of measures, assigned to five working groups. Starting with this workplace equality action plan, which is due to be submitted to the Ministry by 31 December, 2020. In this context, the gender pay gap, equal access to jobs and work-life balance are being studied. 

‘Another issue we are working on, and the most urgent project, is the fight against discrimination, harassment and sexist and sexual violence, with the creation of a system for listening to and reporting these situations, open to the whole community’, says Clémence Abry-Durand. ‘We would like to get it up and running by the end of the year; there is a lot of work to do, but it is essential to be able to guarantee a transparent procedure and a place to listen, as well as to take the appropriate measures’, she adds.​

While these two areas are in line with ministerial orders, three others are specific to INSA Lyon. Their raison d’être: to contribute to the development of an integrated approach to gender equality on campus. “The aim is to carry out activities to promote a culture of equality at INSA, by raising awareness of gender issues in the daily lives of staff and students’, says Clémence. From non-gendered toilets to gender identity awareness and campus safety, there are very concrete examples of issues that need to be considered to support the change towards an inclusive institution contributing to a fairer society. 

‘Another issue is making engineering schools attractive to girls, through the theme of diversity of engineering courses and professions. INSA Lyon is one of the most committed schools in this field with a very encouraging percentage of girls, but nothing can be taken for granted and the choice of speciality remains very marked. This highly gendered distribution then persists in the world of work and can result in occupational inequalities. Action is already being taken in this regard, but it will be a question of developing it and designing new measures by mobilising the entire ecosystem of the institution, from INSA courses to associations, companies and partners’, emphasises Clémence. 

But if there is one point that sums up the whole scope of the approach, it is undoubtedly this one: integrating gender into education and research. While an à la carte course and lectures for students already exist, the aim is to include the gender dimension in teaching and research work as a matter of course. In the end, this is a social issue, to which INSA wishes to provide meaningful answers. ‘The aim is to build an integrated approach to the gender issue at INSA Lyon, i.e. to address this issue in all its dimensions and for everyone. Moreover, everyone, students and staff alike, will be able to contribute to this project by taking part in the working groups from the start of the academic year’, confirm Clémence and Jean-Luc, who are counting on everyone to get involved and contribute to this project, in keeping with INSA’s values: to train engineers who are humanistic, open and different, as imagined by Gaston Berger, the father of a unique model!