Network and sorority: Juliette Delas tells us more about her work for gender equality in STEM
12/12/2024 - Angélique Sanchez, from atom*innen's team, welcomes Juliette Delas, Vice-President of the ElleStime* collective
Hello Juliette, could you introduce yourself and tell me about your career?
I'm currently Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Femmes & Numérique and vice-president of the ElleStime initiative. I started working 5 years ago, and right from the start of my career I was the victim of gender discrimination from the founder of the start-up I was working for. This prompted me to get involved in gender equality, which I've been doing for 4 years now. My last internship was with WILLA, a start-up incubator for female founders, where I realised the importance of dynamic networks. These networks are essential for building your career, supporting each other and having a way out if you need it. It made me realise how crucial it is to help each other and take risks together.
Why is it necessary to work for gender equality in tech?
It is crucial to work for gender equality in tech because inequalities can have direct and concrete consequences on women's lives. A striking example is airbags in cars, which were designed primarily for male test dummies. This has led to increased risks for women and demonstrates how a lack of diversity in design teams, and a failure to take account of women's specific needs, can lead to dangerous situations. And this is just one example.
Where do you think we should start to promote gender equality in tech?
Instead of seeing gender equality as a ‘problem’, we need to see it as a solution. The aim is to transform mentalities and create a genuine dialogue around diversity. We are also aware that women have biases too, and that it is important to recognise and deconstruct them. This allows us to go beyond stereotypes and promote a more inclusive and equitable approach in all sectors, including tech.
Can you tell me a bit more about the collective?
ElleStime was born in response to the problem of paradigm shifts, in particular the distinction between immediate change and systemic change. The idea of our collective is to get rid of this hierarchy between the feminine and the masculine. Girls as young as 3 start to feel this hierarchy, and by the age of 7 it's already possible to take action and have an impact. We want to get to the root of the problem by legitimising girls, reducing biases and working on these biases with little boys too. We primarily work with 7th grade classes in middle school. Our approach is divided into three steps:
- Awareness roundtable: we invite accessible role models, inspiring women from various fields. For example, a woman in pure tech, a woman working on rockets, another developing an app for menopause, and a doctoral math professor. These speakers show that it is possible to succeed in fields often perceived as male-dominated.
- Connecting tech mentors with middle school girls, online: we organize sessions where tech mentors guide the students. These mentors are trained in advance to be effective in their roles. Meanwhile, the boys do exercises on gender biases with their teachers to raise awareness and deconstruct these stereotypes.
- Drawing the scientist of tomorrow: at the end of the day, we propose an exercise where students draw what the scientist of tomorrow might look like. This helps us evaluate if any gender-related issues emerge in their vision and assess the impact of the awareness day.
What is your impact?
We have already reached a large number of students, starting in Franche-Comté in 2024, and will soon be deploying in Occitanie to reach 5,500 students. In January 2025, we will return to Franche-Comté, where teachers and parents loved the program, to raise awareness among 7,500 students. Our goal is to reach 20,000 students by the end of next year.
We use an online format, which allows for a broader impact with less investment required from the mentors, who don't have to travel (which is often a problem in this type of program). This makes our program more accessible and increases the number of people involved, thus amplifying the impact.
Additionally, the collective provides all the materials for the activities, making it easier to organize and ensuring a consistent experience. Thanks to tech, we can combine qualitative and quantitative approaches to maximize our reach.
To ensure lasting impact, it’s essential to continue awareness-raising beyond 7th grade, for example in 9th grade and then in engineering schools, to follow the students' progress and strengthen the effect of our actions. Girls need to find their power, legitimacy, and understand the importance of solidarity: together, they are powerful.
In my talks with students, I often discuss negotiation, networking, and how to go from being a victim to being an active participant in one's own journey. The goal is to make them aware of their power and their ability to manage everyday sexism. I give them a toolbox to navigate this context and assert their place.
A tip we should take away from this toolkit?
The "buffet technique"! During my conferences, I've noticed that women sometimes struggle to take the initiative and speak up spontaneously. I recommend they head to the buffet and start with informal conversations. This creates a more relaxed atmosphere and helps break the ice. I can immediately see the impact: at the end of my talks, I find them at the buffet networking! :)
What about Femmes et Numérique and its actions?
Our new action programme, the "Lab des Asso", will enable as many general-interest initiatives as possible to be showcased to the Femmes@Numérique network, which includes potential users or beneficiaries, intermediaries, tech professionals from start-ups or large groups, training professionals, committed volunteers and local representatives.
The most impactful or innovative projects that meet our 3 action priorities will be selected for specific and more comprehensive support by the Foundation:
1st priority action in line with our previous actions: Taking action from an early age
2nd priority for action: Working with influencers (family, educational team, cultural sphere, media sphere)
3rd priority for action: Promoting the visibility of women in tech: networking, delegation of women to events, code of ethics.
One of the major challenges in tech is the "leaky pipeline »: we see a real loss of many women after 3 years in tech companies, often due to disillusionment. Then after 8 years, 50% of women leave. One reason for this is that nothing is in place to balance maternity and work, while 70% of women continue to be the primary caregivers in the household. We should be able to reconcile both when we wish, without having to make this sacrifice, and companies need to understand and act on this need.
One way to take action is by raising awareness among recruiters (most of whom are already aware), but also managers, they have to be involved. The actions we implement must be concrete: equal pay, corporate culture, and the executive committee (comex) must also be onboard and aware.
We aim to adopt a positive approach, moving away from the existing dominance model. Communication must be positive: every individual, whether woman or man, can act at their level to create this change. For awareness, at the Assises de la féminisation, we have participants try a virtual reality headset to understand the harassment we experience daily.
A final word?
I think it is essential to change our vision and be proactive for sorority: supporting all those who arrive and those who are already here is important. This can be done in many different ways: transmitting, being a springboard, reaching out to other women, sharing our light, as Elisabeth Moreno does, for example. Optimizing our energy and using it to spread this change is essential.
Thank you Juliette :)
*ElleStime (SheSteem)