Starting from the observation that the streams of the building trades are largely under-represented for the female category, due to stereotypes firmly and historically rooted in mentalities, we decided to work, together with our Spanish partner on the theme of representations in the building sectors and beyond . The aim of our project is to produce a feminization promotion kit for this professional branch, including a short video, a series of posters and a table game. Follow-up to this project will be accessible through a blog by the students, a real-time witness of the progress of the mentalities. A group of pupils from the euro section will work on the theme, a representative group of a wider group. This project is part of the common educational reference systems of the partner institutions, and will combine both presential with the mobility of learners and teachers, and collaborative virtual work via the eTwinning digital platform. Beyond the development of language skills, we hope this project will benefit the two partner institutions in order to promote the recruitment of pupils in the relevant fields and will allow a change in the outsider's view on the inclusion of women.
The genesis of the project is based on a common observation between our privileged partner in Spain, the Castellet Institute, and our Lycée des Métiers du bâtiment in Toulouse: the difficult place of women in the building trades. Our goal was to produce a kit to promote the feminisation of this professional branch including a video of personal experiences, a set of posters and a board game. During this project, French students (from the euro section but also from some CAP and Bac Pro classes) worked together with their Spanish counterparts even if the COVID period forced us to reinvent our mobilities (sometimes virtual) and review the organizational arrangements. The video, the first element worked, was the result of this collaboration with a Spanish finalisation. The board game and posters took shape in Toulouse at the end of a remote work. Beyond the 3 deliverables expected and achieved, we have organized a strong communication time on the occasion of the International Women’s Rights Day on March 8th,2022. Indeed, to accompany the inauguration of our exhibition around the posters, we handed out a lot of goodies in the colors of the project to the 70 female students of the Lycée Urbain Vitry, making them real ambassadors within the institution but also outside ! This project enabled the school to develop a high-quality transdisciplinary collaboration and created cohesion within the feminine community. In addition, the reception of our external partners shows that our kit is part of a fundamental process of evolution of mentalities within our society and responds to an already strong demand, especially from the French Building Federation.