As we previously mentioned, the Ingénieuses 2026 competition was launched at the beginning of the year. For over 15 years, this competition has highlighted inspiring career paths, innovative projects, and concrete commitments to making engineering more inclusive, attractive, and accessible to all. On May 19, the awards will be presented, and this year has been particularly fruitful in terms of projects.
Among the applications is that of La Rotonde, which presented its programme “Girls in Science? Of course!”, an initiative deployed in 23 high schools in the Loire region to encourage young girls to consider a scientific career. Last February, Jeanne-Marie Mas, project manager reminded us that this programme was “also a challenge for the region, which needs talent in engineering and innovation and cannot afford to miss out on half of all potential vocations.” One month before the results, the deputy director of La Rotonde reflects on the commitment of the Center for Scientific Culture to increase the representation of women in science and engineering.
👩🏽🔬 Girls in science? Of course! : positive feedback
“The qualitative evaluation of the action allows us to have positive feedback:
- “Very interesting, fun, and impactful intervention,”
- “the testimonies of the female witnesses are of great richness and very inspiring”
During each intervention, we asked whether the students’ perspective on these professions and fields had changed regarding their career orientation, and we regularly received positive feedback from the young girls.”
👩🏽🔬 Ingénieuses Prize: true recognition
“Being nominated for the Ingénieuses Prize is already a very significant step. In any case, we want to believe in it; we meet several important criteria such as awareness of gender diversity, concrete actions, partnerships, and a potential for expansion, as we were able to do in Ardèche.
Winning this competition would strengthen the visibility of La Rotonde and Mines Saint-Étienne as key players in inclusive scientific mediation. It would also accelerate the deployment of the project in other territories by attracting new partners (local authorities, companies, associations) and would inspire other initiatives: the prize would serve as leverage to convince funders to support similar projects, particularly in rural areas or priority neighborhoods, and above all, it would value the teams.”
“A wonderful reward for the scientific mediators, students, and partners involved, and a strong signal for young girls!“
We wish the teams at La Rotonde much success in their quest for the Ingénieuses 2026 Prize! We thank Jeanne-Marie Mas for her commitment to breaking the glass ceiling and encouraging young girls to consider scientific studies.
