“We must ensure that every girl can envision a career in science and that every woman can thrive professionally in this sector.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres
Celebrated for over 10 years, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science is a United Nations initiative to highlight the remarkable work of women in science and promote gender equality. Like UNESCO, Mines Saint-Étienne considers gender equality a priority. Today, “women remain underrepresented in research worldwide, making up no more than one-third of all researchers”1, and while our School is committed to diversity, we must redouble our efforts to increase the representation of women in engineering and highlight women who will inspire future generations in science.
To this end, we interviewed Ana Cameirão, and this interview is available on the Mines Saint-Étienne YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7iHnegh6Gc
Director of the Centre for Chemical Engineering (SPIN), Ana Cameirão took up her post in 2024. Originally from Portugal, this engineer—who once promised herself she would never be a teacher—now supervises numerous PhD theses and has established herself as a true mentor to female engineering students.
The question of female role models is at the heart of increasing women’s representation in engineering. While Ana has become one over the course of her career, she also needed inspiration during her studies. Marie Curie, of course, but above all a professor and a thesis supervisor who encouraged her to pursue her passion for science.
Throughout this interview, Ana explains how equality was at the heart of her family. It was over time that she realized women in science had to face numerous gender stereotypes. Having grown up in an industrial region, she highlights industry as an innovative field in which women must get involved. Many initiatives now exist to promote industry, and the Director of the Centre for Chemical Engineering encourages people to take an interest, as diversity of profiles is the key to innovation. The field can be filled with women, far from the gender stereotypes that our School denounces. A woman is neither too feminine, nor too emotional, nor too bad at math to work in industry. As Ana tells us: “Without diversity, without creativity, without emotion, there is no innovation.”
This format is a first! Feel free to share your feedback to encourage us to continue highlighting our researchers!
