We wanted to capture the attention, generate interest, and encourage youth engagement in gender equality issues by offering activities beyond the academic sphere. Our ambition is to contribute to the empowerment of young women while promoting awareness, engagement, and active participation for all toward a more egalitarian society. To this end, we have implemented several areas of action: Provide participants with the tools, skills, and confidence needed to become agents of change in their communities (working on imposter syndrome, the glass ceiling, etc.); Encourage entrepreneurship as a lever for inclusion through inspiring testimonies from women entrepreneurs; Develop transversal skills such as leadership, communication, and networking (examples of women leaders, discussions after each conference, roundtable discussions, breaks, and a cocktail reception with alumni); Raise awareness of gender equality issues through expert presentations on stereotypes, systemic barriers, and key concepts; Create a space for intercultural dialogue, etc.
We chose to apply for this project because we believe it is essential to raise awareness of the issue of equality in the workplace and to highlight how young women are helping to transform professional paradigms through female entrepreneurship. The identified need is based on a lack of awareness among young students of persistent inequalities in the professional world, as well as a lack of inspiring female role models, particularly in terms of professional success and entrepreneurship. This project therefore aims to reduce these gaps by providing students with a space for expression, training, and networking. This project was born from an observation made during our work with young people in academia. Indeed, the academic assessment system does not discriminate based on gender: a successful student gets good grades, regardless of their gender. This creates a perceptual bias: many believe that equality is a given, including in the workplace. In our discussions with students at the end of their studies, we observe that they are often convinced that opportunities will be fair once they enter the workforce.