Guidance and diversity of professions

Educational guidance is a multifaceted issue and can be the source of many questions and doubts among secondary school students and their families. One of the problems highlighted in the context of research in educational sciences, sociology and social psychology concerns more particularly differentiated guidance processes according to the gender of the student due to a lack of specific knowledge of professions and the low profile of diversity in professional fields. This page therefore offers you some resources to help you reflect on this issue and allow you to include it in activities to promote a better understanding of the broad spectrum of courses and professions.

Institutional framework

At the national level, the issue of gender equality in the education system and educational guidance emerged as early as the 1980s with the introduction of ministerial plans to promote equality and combat stereotypes in school textbooks. The institutional framework has therefore been established for many years, during which time the school curriculum has been adapted and there have been a succession of conventions and statistical surveys:

• The latest is the 2013-2018 Interministerial Convention for Equality between Girls and Boys, Women and Men in the Education System.
• Press kit from 8 March, 2018: Interministerial Committee for Women's Rights and Equality between Women and Men
• 2019 survey Girls and boys on the road to equality, from school to higher education.
• Key figures for Gender Equality in Higher Education, Research and Innovation 2019.

Organisations and resource sites

• Éduscol website: page dedicated to gender equality.
• Gender stereotyping and gender equality are part of the moral and civic education curriculum at lower and upper secondary level.
• Réseau Canopé: tools for gender equality.
• Local Education Authority of Lyon: Equal Opportunities Mission - Gender Equality.
• ONISEP (National Office for Information on Education and the Professions): Learning centre with some sessions on gender equality
• The High Council on Gender Equality.
• The Institut EgaliGone, an association in the Lyon region that offers resources and tools on the theme of ‘Gender and Education’.
• The Hubertine Auclert Centre, which has a large area of resources (guides, exhibitions, tools) including: Le Genre et le sexisme expliqués en 3 min (videos).
• L'École du genre: video library on all aspects of gender issues, including educational guidance and joining the world of work.

Guides et good practices

• Brochure Les stéréotypes, c’est pas moi c’est les autres from the Laboratoire des stéréotypes - Laboratoire de l'Égalité (Stereotypes Laboratory - Equality Laboratory).

As language is an essential element in the communication and presentation of jobs, several guides have been created to support the non-discriminatory use of language. The feminisation of the names of professions is an initial lever for action to promote a diverse presentation of professions and to encourage students to pursue all types of jobs:

• Website of Éliane Viennot.
• Conference by Éliane Viennot, Does the French language need to be feminised?
• Les garçons et les filles sont belles : this video (which won second prize at the festival Sciences en cour[t]s) made by PhD students at Rennes 2 University shows the development of the French language and helps us understand that its use is not neutral.
• Video by the University of Neuchâtel: Écrire et communiquer de manière non discriminatoire.
• The ‘mortal peril’, video by Typhaine D.
• Femme, j'écris ton nom... : guide d'aide à la féminisation des noms de métiers, titres, grades et fonctions.
• Practical guide to gender-neutral public communication.
• Website dedicated to inclusive writing with a practical guide available to help you understand the issues and methods of non-discriminatory language use.
• A set of articles and resources on this subject are listed in the same file on the Institut EgaliGone website.

Exhibitions and portraits

There are several exhibitions and video testimonials giving a more accurate presentation of certain professions, taking into account equal representation of men and women:

• Infinités Plurielles, portraits of 145 female scientists: travelling exhibition by Marie-Hélène Le Ny, available from the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation.
• The MIX'ITI initiative run by Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University includes both online videos and an exhibition available on loan.
• The Femmes ici et ailleurs association also offers an exhibition entitled All professions are diverse.
• Le Moutard also offers several types of exhibitions and quizzes to help children and young people explore various themes.
• Le sexe de mon job (the gender of my job) is a video library where diversity is guaranteed.

MOOC

• Gender equality training: FLOT : Être en responsabilité demain : se former à l’égalité femmes-hommes.
• Gender: what are the issues? Violence, globalisation, biomedicine, sexuality. Course designed and delivered by the Gender Studies Institute in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Geneva