A new school year focused on gender equality

50%. That is the percentage of female students in ESPCI’s 134th graduating class (2015). A first in the school’s history, this new class reverses the trend toward male dominance in engineering schools.

“I’m delighted to see that this year there are so many talented women at ESPCI. This gender parity, which is a source of richness, is very encouraging for the future,” explains Marie-Christine Lemardeley, Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of Higher Education, Research, and Student Life, and President of ESPCI.

Female students are still underrepresented in engineering programs, accounting for only 30% of those enrolled in engineering schools (source: General Economic and Financial Inspectorate). This year, for the first time, ESPCI can pride itself on bucking the trend, as half of the 134th graduating class, which has just started the school year, is made up of female students: 45 women and 45 men.

A program that is attracting more and more women
Gender parity is progressing slowly but surely at ESPCI. In 2014 and 2013, about 30 percent of enrolled students were women, compared to 50 percent in 2015. Of the 45 female students admitted to ESPCI this year, two-thirds (30 out of 45) came from physics-chemistry preparatory classes. The gender balance at ESPCI this year can be attributed in particular to female students’ growing interest in the unique nature and high quality of the scientific education provided by the school.