With the aim of developing a policy and actions within the laboratory in favor of parity, the L2S management appointed a parity-equality referent in December 2020. She takes part in annual meetings of the INS2I’s parity-equality unit. In December 2023, a seven-member parity-equality committee was set up to expand the scope of actions dedicated to these issues.
You can contact the Parity and Equality Committee by e-mail:
Nina Amini, Catherine Bonnet (referent of L2S at INS2I), Elisabeth Lahalle, Sylvie Marcos, Manon Mottier, Laurent Pfeiffer, Giuseppe Valenzise.
Figures concerning parity at L2S
As of August 2024 :
Percentage of women among permanent researchers and professors: 22,9% [19 out of 83]
Percentage of women among senior permanent researchers and professors: 23, 1% [9 out of 39]
Percentage of women among junior permanent researchers and professors: 23,8% [10 out of 42]
Percentage of women among contract researchers: 8,7% [2 out of 23]
Percentage of women among administrative staff : 70% [7 out of 10]
Percentage of women among PhD students : 21,1% [16 out of 76]
The male advantage index for the researchers and professors of the lab is 1.02. This is the ratio between the percentage of men with a senior position among all men (48.3%) and the percentage of women with a senior position among all women.
Egalitarian communication
On February 26, 2019, the CNRS signed the convention for gender-neutral public communication of the high council for equality between men and women (HCE). The agreement includes a practical guide whose principles we recall:
Use the masculine or feminine names of professions, titles, ranks and functions in accordance with the gender of the person concerned
Communicate without gender stereotypes, both orally and in writing
Use epicene terms
Use alphabetical order
Eliminate all sexist expressions
Present the full identity of persons
Show the diversity of profiles and statuses
Diversifying the representation of women and men
Balancing the number and representation of women and men in all communication materials
Train professionals in egalitarian communication and distribute this guide
Combating violence, discrimination, harassment, and sexist behavior
A 15-country European survey (Unisafe, coordinated by the European Science Foundation), which collected 42,000 responses from people over the age of 18 at 46 universities, reveals in its full report that:
« 62% of respondents say they have experienced at least one form of gender-based or sexual violence since starting work or study at their establishment. Women (66%) and non-binary people (74%) are more likely than men to have experienced any form of violence, with the exception of physical violence, which non-binary people and men are more likely to report. In addition, respondents identifying as LGBTQ+ (68%), having reported a disability or chronic illness (72%) or belonging to a minority ethnic group (69%) are more likely to have experienced at least one incident of gender-based violence, compared to those who do not identify with these characteristics.
Only 13% of those who had experienced gender-based violence reported it. Nearly half of victims (47%) explained that they didn’t know if the behavior was serious enough to report. Another common reason given by 31% of victims was that, at the time of the incident, they had not identified the behavior as an act of violence.»
The Ipsos survey for the L’oréal Foundation and Unesco 2022 focuses specifically on female and male researchers in 117 countries. The most reliable results concern France (2269 responses). They show that in France :
89% of women have experienced at least 1 situation of sexism, the majority at the start of their career, but also for 37% “at every stage of my career”
45% of women have experienced sexual harassment or assault, including 3% who have been sexually blackmailed. These events are more frequent at the start of a career.
13% of women have experienced sexual assault (unwanted touching or kissing).
Since 2019, the law requires that every public establishment is obliged to set up a system for reporting acts of violence, discrimination, harassment and gender-based harassment. This system must include the following three procedures:
Listening and reporting,
Referring victims and witnesses to the appropriate services and professionals responsible for their care and support,
Referring victims and witnesses to the appropriate disciplinary authorities.
In its strategic orientations for 2022, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research reminds us that:
« No worker shall be subjected to acts of :
Sexual harassment, consisting of repeated comments or behavior with a sexual connotation that either violates their dignity by being degrading or humiliating, or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive situation.
Moral harassment, constituted by comments or behaviour which have the purpose or effect of degrading working conditions likely to infringe on the employee’s rights and dignity, alter their physical or mental health or compromise their professional future.
The French Labor Code prohibits all forms of discrimination on the grounds of origin, sex, morals, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status or pregnancy, genetic characteristics, particular vulnerability resulting from one’s economic situation, apparent or known to the perpetrator, membership or non-membership, real or assumed, to an ethnic group, nation or alleged race, political opinions, trade union or mutualist activities, elected office, religious beliefs, physical appearance, surname, place of residence or bank account, or because of health, loss of autonomy or disability, or ability to express oneself in a language other than French. »
Abnormal situations
Abnormal work situations:
Assigning thankless or demeaning tasks that bear no relation to your position or skills
Solicitations during weekends or vacations
Excessive monitoring of your activities / absence from a project
Demeaning remarks, unconstructive criticism of your work or bullying
Marginalizing behaviors such as exclusion from important work discussions or decisions
Discrimination in the allocation of funding, publication opportunities, participation in conferences or collaborations
Non-consensual appropriation of your work or results
Excessive pressure to produce results quickly
Guilt or blame linked to the failure of a project that was not your responsibility.
Situation specific to doctoral students:
Absence or lack of involvement on the part of supervisors
Incentives from supervisors not to contact your “comité de suivi individuel” (individual follow-up committee) in the event of a problem
Assigning tasks unrelated to your thesis, your doctoral training or the life of the laboratory.
Abnormal psychological situations:
Using colleagues’ or superiors’ networks to damage your career
Repeated infantilization or condescension on the part of colleagues or superiors
Invisibilization of your work or your voice at meetings/peer gatherings, or of your skills at responsibility-allocation sessions
A marked inequity in the time allotted to speak at meetings or gatherings of peers.
Abnormal sexual situations:
Remarks or jokes of a sexual nature, directed at me or my appearance, dress or behaviour
Insistent or repeated touching, brushing or closeness without my consent
Undertones that sexual favors could influence career advancement, resources or job evaluation
Inappropriate questions about my intimate life, romantic relationships or sexual preferences
Explicit or implicit pressure to obtain sexual favors in exchange for professional decisions or benefits
Repeated requests to have private appointments after a clear refusal
Tracking my social networks (Linkedin, instagram, twitter…)
Advances from my superior.
The violentomètre is a tool that can help you assess your situation. You can also consult the information guide on sexual harassment by the Paris-Saclay University and the practical guide (in English) of the CLASCHES collective to informing and defending yourself against sexist and sexual violences.
Recourses
How do you react when you are involved in or witness one of the situations described above?
One of the captors of CentraleSupélec: They welcome and listen to staff members who wish to discuss a personal problem, a malaise or a psychosocial problem.
INS2I provides numerous tips and tools for limiting bias in recruitment juries. INRIA’s recruitment juries include one male and one female member who ensure compliance with the principles of parity and equal opportunity stipulated in a charter. There are a number of videos dealing with implicit bias in selection panels: Sorbonne University, Université Libre de Bruxelles, and the CERCA institues.
Our actions
Design and installation of a Kakemono (December 2024).
Two sessions (one in French, the other in English) on interculturality by ADRIC (February and March 2023).
Sexist and sexual violence awareness day: play Silences complices, DE(S)AMORCE(S) company (May 25, 2022).
A GirlsOnly email list was set up in early 2021. Regular meetings are held between researchers, teacher-researchers, administratif staff, PhD students and post-docs. Contact the head of the communication and HR pole to join the list!
