And well we intend to continue along this path

If management schools are often the front of the stage in social opening, most engineering schools are stepping up efforts on various fronts: equal opportunities, disability, gender, international dimension, diversity of cultures, and even opening... in the schools of management. It is also true that the question for them is not exactly the same as for the "business schools." For three reasons. First, the engineering schools are "naturally" more open to the social mix: the weight of the cultural background, and therefore the original environment, is much less important than management. The language of science, in a sense, is universal. Then, in a number of engineering schools, tuition fees are very few high a few hundred euros per year, from 7,000 to 12,000 euros per year for the schools of management. More importantly, the main front on which the engineering schools have to fight is the parity. Girls represent, on average national, only 25 of their workforce. Moreover, they are often "concentrated" in such disciplines as life sciences or chemistry which also means that they are still fewer in other specialties, such as mechanics or information technology.

Social mix

To remedy this situation, many initiatives (conferences, meetings, visits to campus...) are designed to promote the sectors of training engineers to high-school girls. Not without success. "Little by little, engineer studies become trend among young girls," observes Nessim Fintz, CEO of the Eisti.

At the same time, the engineering schools also activate to improve the social mix. At Toulouse, the Isae (1), for example, responded in 2005 to the call for projects "equal opportunities". In the program, home of groups of high school students of the ZUS, tutoring provided by 100 students, scientific workshops, academic support, output cultural... This is the project "Dare the Isae", which is part of the logic of the program "why not me", launched by the ESSEC business school. The Isae raises also its students with disabilities, including by organizing disabled sports tournaments. Another aspect, the scientific Awakening: 15 schools, colleges or high schools students are greeted at the Institute for visits of Labs, demonstrations, etc. Work in the long term, with the support of corporate partners such as Thales and Safran. In all these areas, the Isae plans to move up a gear in the coming months.

Insa Lyon, on the other hand, is the only engineering school that offers a sport-studies section. A device that avoids the athletes have to choose between studies and competition, while promoting a kind of mixing of the "cultures". Three medalists at the Beijing were Insa students. Insa, which displays a feminization of 33 rate, also created a "summer school" to accompany a young "deserving" of high schools in the ZUS. The school also plans to open its training of engineer to the bac pro, by 2010. "Since its inception, the school has always played the card of the social elevator," said Alain Storck, the Director." And well we intend to continue along this path. We want to be a player of socially responsible education.