For several years, Centrale Lille has been involved in various social outreach programmes aimed at young people from modest backgrounds, and through the “Cordées de la Réussite – Collège” scheme, the institution has extended its scope of action more specifically to lower secondary school students (aged 14-15).
In this context, a workshop dedicated to Women in Science has enabled 80 secondary school students to learn how to break clichés and encourage them to turn to scientific studies. This half-day, hosted by Amina Tandjoui and Cécile Ghouila-Houri, was both fun and inspiring:
- A card game, Les Eurêkatrices, consisted in having participants guess – based on drawings or mimes – which inventions had been made by female scientists based on the patent filing dates. This was an opportunity to realise that many everyday objects have been invented by women. Les Eurêkatrices is a game created by Gabrielle Regula, a teacher-researcher at the Provence Institute of materials, microelectronics and nanosciences (IM2NP).
- A round table with researchers, engineers, technicians and engineering students allowed everyone to share their experience.
The Cordées de la Réussite – Collège scheme is a partnership between Centrale Lille and 6 secondary schools in the region: the Paul Verlaine, Nina Simone, Louise Michel, Miriam Makeba collèges in Lille, the Regional School of Visual Impairment (ERDV de Loos) in Loos, and the Robert Desnos collège in Douai.
