Your ideas
PHILIPPE KNOCHE - I would like to ask you what measures you would recommend for hiring and retaining more women in our Group?
LUZ C. H. - We need to make the mining professions, which are still perceived as very male-dominated, more attractive to women. While 3-4 year expatriation is often seen as a hiatus in your private life, in fact it is a rich experience in professional, personal and cultural terms. Perhaps we could also offer assignments lasting a few months, better suited to family life.
Marion Durrieu
Instrumentation and Control Maintenance Technician, La Hague plant, Recycling BU
MARION D. - I think social media platforms are a very good channel for presenting our professions to women. I work in maintenance, surrounded by men, I’m very proud of my job and equally proud to talk about it.
PHILIPPE KNOCHE - Social media are an excellent lever - I’m convinced of this. Our TikTok account arouses a lot of interest. We have also created a network of volunteer employee ambassadors on social media called YELLOW, which includes nearly 300 active contributors. I encourage every employee to be an ambassador for our Group among their entourage, in schools and on social media.
LUCINE S. - It is important to show women that they have an entirely legitimate place in industry, especially in the nuclear industry which offers loads of opportunities for development. At engineering school, there were five women and fifty men.
And it’s true that when looking for a job, we never encounter a female role model, as the only people who talk to us are men. It doesn’t bother me personally, just an observation.
PHILIPPE KNOCHE - Things have improved slightly over the past 30 years, as the average is now 20% women in engineering schools, but this varies considerably depending on the discipline.
LAURA S. - I give classes in dismantling strategy at the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie in Montpellier and I realize how important it is to have Group employees come and talk about their jobs in schools... especially if they are women. Instead of orienting their careers towards what are seen as the more attractive sectors, such as cosmetics and agrifood, students are thinking more clearly about nuclear energy.
PHILIPPE KNOCHE - You act as a role model, and that is fundamentally important.
JULIE D. - I work in general installation, a lesser-known profession that also suffers from a lack of training. We really need to develop awareness of this profession in schools.
PHILIPPE KNOCHE - General installation is an essential research and design activity in the execution of nuclear projects. There are indeed few training courses, and when they exist, there are not enough candidates. It’s a real issue. We have a partnership with two engineering schools where we provide this course.