Event | Feminisation | 20 November 2025

New edition of the round-table discussion : What if "Engineer were spelled with an E…"

ESIEE Paris continues its commitment to the feminisation of the engineering profession

On Thursday 20 November, the round-table discussion What If Engineer Were Spelled with an E? took place.
The aim of this annual event is to inform and raise awareness among young women about careers in science.

This year, ESIEE Paris invited 250 secondary school pupils to the event.

 " The women present demonstrated that a career in engineering is open to everyone; you just need to give yourself the means to achieve it and pursue your ambitions. "

 " It was interesting that they didn’t just talk about the job, but also about the journey they’d taken to get there. "

 " Being an engineer isn't just about men who build things like buildings. "

Inspiring stories: six speakers shared their experiences

 

  • Amélie Adet: Operations Manager at Atlas Copco – ESIEE Paris graduate, 2011

  • Sarah Hafsi: IT Manager and co-founder at Women4Tech by Generali – ESIEE Paris graduate, 2012

  • Flavia Antunes: IT Risk Engineer at BNP Paribas – ESIEE Paris graduate 2024

  • Marine Dussaussois: Data Product and User-focused – Consultant at OCTO Technology – ESIEE Paris graduate 2020

  • Emy Rousseau: Second-year student on the ESIEE Paris engineering programme, specialising in embedded systems, who, alongside her team, won the BPI France People’s Choice Award at the HandiTech Trophy

  • Raphaël Luciani: Project Manager & HR Development at SFR

Together, they discussed a range of topics. These included:

  • Gender diversity in the workplace
  • Educational and career paths
  • Hard skills and soft skills
  • What does being an engineer mean to them?

Through their diverse career paths, personal stories and advice, they encouraged young women interested in engineering careers to take the plunge! Because women can and must play a leading role in the technological innovations that will shape the world of tomorrow!

The programme 
The roundtable discussion began with a welcome speech by Jean Mairesse, Managing Director of ESIEE Paris. Claire Spilmann, ESIEE Paris Equality Officer and Director of Communications, then gave a short presentation of the school and the actions taken to promote the feminisation of the engineering profession.
Journalist Nicolas Gosse then led the roundtable discussion, alongside the 7 speakers. Students were able to get answers to their questions during the event, which ended at 4pm.

More than 2400 pupils have already been made aware of the issue through this event

Emy Rousseau – Second-year engineering student at ESIEE Paris

BPI France’s People’s Choice Award at the HandiTech Trophy

Their project, SignReader, is a smart glove capable of translating sign language into speech using artificial intelligence, thereby facilitating communication between deaf and hearing people.
 Watch the video presentation of their project

They had already been awarded the Jury’s Special Mention at the ESIEE Paris Entrepreneurship & Innovation Coaching event last July.

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