Recruitment and workplace integration of men and women engineers in France: the case of EPF Ecole d’Ingénieurs graduates

Abstract

Based on ‘First Job’ surveys conducted six months after graduation among graduates from 2000 to 2007 and semi-structured interviews, this paper examines the recruitment and workplace integration of women and men graduates from EPF Ecole d’Ingenieurs. The study’s findings show that women engineering graduates from EPF generally have more favourable recruitment and workplace integration experiences than men from the same school, in terms of job search time, unemployment, access to managerial posts and obtaining permanent employment contracts. However, female graduates from this school still face discrimination linked to access to positions of responsibility, or to stereotypes associated with work–family balance.

Keywords:

• workplace integration
• engineers
• gender

Notes

1. Grandes écoles are French higher education institutions outside of the public university network. They often offer specialised studies in one area and have traditionally educated many future high-ranking public officials, company executives or well-known scientists and philosophers.

2. The percentages of women in different work categories are calculated in relation to the male group (adding up to 100%). For example, in the ‘Management and “knowledge workers”’ category, 37% are women and 63% are men.

3. ‘Core jobs’ are those sought by most graduates, where the work is closely related to their education.

4. ‘Peripheral jobs’ are held by graduates whose training is quite close to that demanded by the job. ‘Other jobs’ are those whose activity is far from graduates’ initial training.

5. Bourdieu and Saint-Martin (1987) divide the Grande écoles into ‘large’ and ‘small’ door schools, according to whether students are accepted after two or three years of special preparatory courses and a difficult entrance exam or if schools offer preparatory courses as part of the programme and students are accepted immediately following the baccalauréat exam.

6. The difference between men’s and women’s average salary is not statistically significant.