Breaking barriers in chemical sciences at Université Paris-Saclay: a morning to (re)position gender equality at the heart of the debate

Each year, on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) organises a special morning to honour women and girls involved in chemistry research: the Global Women's Breakfast. The morning, which takes the form of a breakfast, takes place simultaneously in each country round the world and starts in accordance with different time zones. On 14 February 2023, Université Paris-Saclay took part in the event and organised, with the help of the Graduate Schools of Chemistry and Health and Drug Sciences (HeaDS), a moment for exchange and testimonies that was greatly appreciated. 

The morning session was opened by Estelle Iacona, President of Université Paris-Saclay, who reminded the audience of the important place that the University holds in society and the means at its disposal to fight against gender discrimination. Each year, Université Paris-Saclay takes advantage of national actions such as Equality Week, the Cordées de la réussite (Climbing together to success) and International Women's Rights Day to extend this struggle to all its users and staff.

The day continued with a series of testimonies from five women chemists from Université Paris-Saclay. All of them spoke about their career, their background, their experiences and their advice. "At the time, I had to fight preconceived notions, sexism, and established dogma to get to the positions I was interested in. After all that, you're bound to become a feminist," testified Myriam Taverna, Director of Institut Galien Paris-Saclay (IGPS - Univ. Paris-Saclay, CNRS). At her side were Anne Bleuzen, Deputy Director of the Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux d’Orsay (ICMMO - Univ. Paris-Saclay, CNRS), Rachel Méallet, Deputy Director of Training and Professional Integration at the Chemistry Graduate School, Marie Erard, Director of the interdisciplinary initiative BioProbe, Isabelle Demachy, Vice-President of Training, Educational Innovation and Student Life, and Delphine Joseph, Director of the Health & Drug Sciences (HeaDS) Graduate School, who all contributed their own points of view.

The morning continued with a round table discussion entitled "How can we promote gender equality at the University?" The round table was moderated by Anne Schmitt, a lecturer at the Faculty of Sports Sciences of Université Paris-Saclay and a specialist in the sociology of sport and gender inequality in sport. She was accompanied by Carine van Heijenoort, Deputy Director of the Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles (ICSN - Univ. Paris-Saclay, CNRS), Florence Mahuteau-Betzer, Research Unit Director of the Chemistry and Modelling for Biology of Cancer (CMBC - Univ. Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Inserm, Institut Curie), Laurent Dumas, Director of the Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ) Faculty of Science, Guillaume van Der Rest, director of the Institute of Chemistry and Physics (ICP - Univ. Paris-Saclay, CNRS) and Damien Prim, Director of the Chemistry Graduate School, who discussed the issue with the audience. "In the Chemistry Graduate School, we thought we were ahead of the rest in terms of parity, but after seeing the figures presented during the morning, I realise that in fact we aren't, and that we have to continue in our efforts," said Damien Prim.

The roundtable focused on Anne Schmitt's contextualisation of the topic, showing that more women than men in the European Union are graduating from higher education. However, they remain less represented in high academic positions. These data are in line with the indicators presented at the beginning of the morning by Estelle Iacona. For example, the President of Université Paris-Saclay recalled that within the University, parity is almost evident in bachelor's degrees (52% women) and Master's degrees (49.5%), but that this parity disappears as the level of study increases (40% women among doctoral students) and in academic positions: 40% of research staff are women, and only 25% of faculty are women. 
Fighting against self-censorship at all levels, against societal biases, building new female models, etc.: there are numerous solutions to be implemented or perfected, both at Université Paris-Saclay and elsewhere, to finally see the gap between men and women in science disappear.