Report on the event on March 7 – "Scientific excellence: what if the answer was inclusion?"

For International Women's Day, the Department for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at the Institut Pasteur and the Fondation L'Oréal jointly organized a symposium entitled "Scientific excellence: what if the answer was inclusion?" on Friday March 7. Read on for some highlights of the event and see the event in full here (with subtitles in French and English).

The symposium reiterated that the ongoing battle to preserve scientific excellence, especially the question of gender representation, is the responsibility of us all. This is a particularly salient issue given the current international context, with science coming under real pressure, and it echoed the message of the Stand Up for Science march which took place the same day.

On this International Women's Day, let us join our cause with that of science, which is currently facing unprecedented challenges: deleted data, frozen budgets, redundancies, as well as topics that are now prohibited such as "women," "equity" and "inequality" (...) We must never forget that the battle for free and independent science is also a battle for democracy. Defending science means defending our most fundamental values. It means being committed to excellence.

Mariana Mesel-Lemoine
Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
 

For us at the Fondation L'Oréal, this collaboration with the Institut Pasteur is highly symbolic and very important because it shows that we are united, that we share the same conviction that diversity and inclusion are not just moral values. They are absolutely essential for progress and for scientific excellence. I believe that we all have a personal responsibility to keep pressing on, not to give up.

Pauline Avenel-Lam
Executive Director of the Fondation L'Oréal

 

Valuing every talent and every individual story, without leaving anyone behind, making sure that the results of research are applicable and accessible to everyone. Zero tolerance as the only acceptable approach for an institution that aspires to excellence. (...) Safety as an imperative for science, for excellence. We need to move beyond observations, shift our perspective and take meaningful action.

Myriam Hayatou
Director of the Fondation L'Oréal's For Women in Science program

 

 

Female scientists for scientific excellence

This session explored different perspectives on the importance of female role models in science. This was an opportunity to emphasize how the synergies created by sisterhood within women's networks can help to overcome gender bias, whether in selection committees or perceptions of motherhood.

 

Another person I met was Claudie Haigneré, then Minister for Research, during a science festival. She came up to me and asked me what I wanted to do later in life. I didn't really know how to answer the question at that point, and she said to me "You have to get into research!" She seemed so laidback, and to her it seemed the most logical thing in the world to say that to me. I think I became aware at that moment that maybe it was what I wanted to do, that it was possible for me. (…) The sisterhood, the bond among women, can enable us together to make science more inclusive.

Audrey Desgrange
Research Associate at Inserm, the Imagine Institute and the Institut Pasteur

 

The major challenge is to tell myself that even if it's an environment in which I might not feel completely comfortable all the time, even if I might not necessarily identify with those who are there... I will make the effort to stay. So that I can lead by example, for women who come after us, and change things from the inside. For me, that was the most difficult thing.

Sarah Merkling
Head of Laboratory at the Institut Pasteur

 

 

It's not about trying to use someone else's definitions. It's about carving out our own paths, always with that aim of excellence. But you need to define what excellence means for you. I want to wish all female and male scientists around the world a great deal of courage, because we need it.

Michelle Rathman
Director for Scientific Foresight and Risk Intelligence at L'Oréal

 

 

 

Analyzing data from the Observatory for Gender-based and Sexual Violence in Higher Education

Report on the survey conducted in France among more than 1,700 PhD students in 2024. This research highlights the current situation regarding gender-based and sexual violence in academia, backed up by figures and quotations.
 

51.7% of respondents believe that today in France, PhD studies are an environment that is conducive to gender-based and sexual violence.
This figure can be broken down into 56% women, 70% non-binary individuals and 43% men.

Marion Elie
Head of the Office for the Analysis of Data from the Observatory
for Gender-based and Sexual Violence in Higher Education

 

Taken and adapted from the study "Pressure, silence and resistance: a study on gender-based and sexual violence and discrimination among PhD students in France." Presentation by Marion Elie, Observatory for Gender-based and Sexual Violence in Higher Education.

Respondents: 1,710 PhD students in 2024
Breakdown of respondents: 61.2% women, 34.4% men, 3% non-binary individuals

 

Seeking inclusion in science: Why the resistance?

 

This round table explored the factors that are maintaining gender-based and sexual violence in the workplace, especially in academia.

The first obstacle to taking action is the fact that the wider community is saying: "No, it's not like that here. We know that there is violence out there, but not in our laboratory – we're at a university, it's not the same here, we're reasonable people." (...) I have always found that attitude problematic because it sometimes feels like we are hiding behind it as an excuse not to take action.

Caroline De Haas
co-founder and Associate Director of the Egaé group

 

 

There is this culture of going along with the idea that to prove that we deserve to be here, to prove that we have worked really hard, we can put our health at risk, because we are working in a very prestigious place. So we are used to seeing people verging on burnout, exhausted, being shouted at or on the receiving end of nasty jokes... that all becomes normal (...) There is also the fact that research often takes place behind closed doors – it works on the basis of recommendations and any assessment only happens between peers. The smallest pebble can have a ripple effect on a publication, on someone's career, on the completion of a PhD, etc.

Adèle B. Combes
author of the essay
"How universities crush young researchers" (published by Autrement)

 

The speakers also explored solutions, especially emphasizing the legal obligation in the French Labor Code for employers to prevent, stop and sanction gender-based and sexual violence. They pointed out that there is evidence that addressing these issues promotes effective talent retention, a key driver for innovation and sustainability, and helps shape a company's image.

 

By working on improving parity and respect for the views of others – especially women and people whose mother tongue is not French – we have enabled all the staff in the company to feel that they are actually being listened to. Respecting the well-being of each and every staff member has given us strong resilience and solidarity, paving the way for measurable success, despite the inevitable ups and downs experienced by all startups. What is interesting is that the startup community is a real laboratory for social innovation that we can take inspiration from!

Sébastien Garcin
CEO at YZR

 

Is change really so hard?

 

Albert Moukheiber called into question the trope that we are naturally averse to change, describing it as "intuitive psychology" or "pop psychology." This seminar also looked at how the brain reconstructs our perceptions based on our past experience and on what each individual internalizes – to such an extent that, even if we objectively know something, it is not always enough to convince us.

Making someone less sexist, less racist or less discriminatory? It's not as hard as you think. Really. What is harder is how we change the automatic representation of things. (…) Metacognitive control cannot just be down to the individual alone, it's too big a task. When it comes to tackling discrimination, knowledge and education are not enough: we need to change the underlying systems, what is acceptable. Could we envisage a situation today in which sanctions for drink driving are not systematized?

Albert Moukheiber
clinical psychologist and
co-founder of Chiasma, a specialist in unconscious bias.

Another participant in the event was the international pianist Juliana Steinbach, who opened the discussion up to include music. The artist introduced the audience to some female composers, especially from Brazil, whose talent for composition, teaching and innovation, although well known in their immediate circles, was often hidden as a way of elevating their male counterparts: parents, brothers or husbands.

 

 

Watch the symposium
 

 

Photos: François Gardy/Institut Pasteur