The role of women in research – a look back at two initiatives aimed at middle- and high-school students: the Science Adventures and Remarkable Women projects

Two initiatives led by Institut Pasteur teams have taken place over the past two weeks, both with the aim of raising awareness among young people, specifically middle- and high-school students, of the role of women in research, while also offering career guidance.

 

• Science Adventures

Science Adventures is an initiative led by the Science Technology Society Association (ASTS), an association for scientific and technical outreach and citizen debates. The activities and projects led by ASTS are aimed at a wide variety of audiences, especially school students. The association relies on the support of volunteers from academia or industry who are committed to sharing knowledge and keen to encourage critical thinking skills.

The Science Adventures program involves assigning female scientists as mentors to secondary school classes for the school year. The main aim of the project is to increase the students' interest and enthusiasm for science in general and to introduce them to research professions, especially the careers of female scientists.

The program is composed of three main parts:
 

A meeting with students at the school to present the mentor's profession and work, initial discussions with students in class.

 

A visit to the mentor's workplace or to a heritage or industrial site on the same theme.
 

 

A discussion and return to class, during which the students prepare a presentation about the meetings and visits.

 

In February, the Institut Pasteur got involved in Science Adventures through Juliette Bonche and Rachel Torchet, respectively a dual-education student and scientist in the Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Hub, who each presented their careers and day-to-day work to class 3A at Jean Moulin middle school in La Queue-en-Brie, in the Greater Paris region. 

More recently, on March 19, the students came to the Institut Pasteur for a morning of presentations of five profiles of female Institut Pasteur scientists, including their personal career paths and their daily activities: Marion Berard and Myriam Mattei for their work related to the animal facility, especially during the COVID pandemic and also the ethical aspects, and also Julia Kende, Jeliyah Clarck, Emeline Perthame and Marie Schmit, each of whom presented their work in the Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Hub. The students were also given a short guided tour of campus and a presentation of the history of some of the emblematic buildings by expert Chantal Pflieger, tour guide for the Pasteur Museum.

The final event will take place in April or May at the middle school, where the students are planning to present their experiences in the form of a card game about female scientists and scientific professions.

 

• Meetings with Saint-Nazaire high school

In connection with a citizens' initiative on "Women in Research," supported by the Pays de la Loire region, 34 students specializing in mathematics, physics, and life and earth sciences in their penultimate year at Lycée Aristide Briand in Saint Nazaire, together with their teachers, decided to explore the topic of "Remarkable women in research."

They approached the Institut Pasteur in the hope of meeting several of its female scientists. In late March, two members of the "Collège 3" team from the Department of Education organized for the students to come along to an afternoon of activities on the topic.  The students from Lycée Aristide Briand and their teachers were shown a screening of the interview with Françoise Barré-Sinoussi. The students had carefully prepared some questions so that Françoise Barré-Sinoussi could answer them during the interview, filmed in March. Following this the students were taken on a series of laboratory tours by Institut Pasteur staff to give them a glimpse into the world of science.

A "speed meeting" event was then held in the CIS, with the participation of a dozen female Institut Pasteur staff members from a variety of roles (including a PhD student, postdoctoral fellow, technician, executive assistant, engineer, scientist, head of department and director), giving the students an opportunity to talk to them in person and discuss the role of women in research.

Mariana Mesel-Lemoine also gave a talk for the students about her background and career in science.

Watch the slideshow of these meetings