Newsletter #8 Interview with Benoite De Saporta - Women's Month
Benoîte de Saporta: In March, the University puts women in the spotlight.
Head of the Mathematics Department at the Faculty of Science
Last mission before confinement, but already with mask!
A full professor of applied probability at the University of Montpellier since 2014, Benoîte de Saporta is a member of the Institut Montpellierrain Alexander Grothendieck (IMAG). Her research and interests focus on applied probabilities (Markov processes, stochastic control, simulation-based numerical approximation methods) with applications mainly in dynamic reliability (optimization of dates and maintenance operations) and population dynamics (asymmetry in cell division, optimization of medical treatment).
She is Head of the Mathematics Department at the Faculty of Science, and we asked her to tell us about the place of girls in mathematics studies in general:
BdS: In France, girls are more likely than boys to graduate from high school: 86% of girls versus 76% of boys. However, these figures conceal major disparities between disciplines, which are accentuated during higher education and professional life. In 2017, there were 47% women in Terminale S, 43% in Licence scientifique, 40% in Master scientifique. This gradual erosion is known as the "leaky pipeline". It is particularly visible in mathematics: these figures have fallen to 28% of female lecturers and 12% of female university professors in maths (sections 25 and 26).
And when it comes to the Montpellier Faculty of Science, are there more girls interested in this discipline?
BdS: This imbalance is also present at FdS. In 2020, 39% of L3 maths students were women, compared with 24% in M2 maths. The Mathematics Department is also well below the national average, with 13% women on all staff and only 4 female research professors (3 MCF (10%) and 1 PR (5%)).
And at national level, are there any visible differences or improvements?
BdS: These figures are improving a little, but very slowly: on a national level, we've gone from 20.8% female maths researchers in 1998 to 22% in 2019. The real change in recent years is that we're talking about it a lot more. Levers exist to combat gender stereotypes and implicit biases and move towards greater equality:
- Encouraging girls to study science
- Promote women scientists
- Use non-stereotypical communications media, from worksheets to institutional materials:
http://www.haut-conseil-egalite.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/guide_pour_une_communication_publique_sans_stereotype_de_sexe_vf_2016_11_02.compressed.pdf
- Become aware of your own implicit biases :
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html
- Develop women's networks and mentoring
- Promote work-life balance
- More generally, see the list of recommendations from theGendergap in Scienceproject: https://gender-gap-in-science.org/project-book-booklet/
*Warning: The last 2 links will take you to English-language sites, and you may need to log in to access the articles.
In conclusion, although March is the month when parity issues come to the fore, we need to take action all year round to make scientific studies and careers more attractive to girls and women, and to move towards greater equality, synonymous with diversity, richness and creativity.