This chapter focuses on women in academic science and engineering and the education paths that lead to such careers in France. It situates the milestones in women's education within the context of historic-political struggles surrounding sexual equality in France. It also analyses women's place in scientific public employment using the recent data relating to universities and research institutes. The chapter examines the unique French dual university-Grande Ecole (elite higher education school distinct from university) system and explains it with a focus on the failure of co-education in the Ecoles Normales Supérieures (elite higher education schools for training teachers and researchers). The final section describes recent government actions to improve the situation for French women in science.

Historical background

Public education for women in France developed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Montreynaud 1992–2000, Préfecture d'Ile-de-France 1995). The lycées (secondary public schools) created by Napoléon in 1808 were closed to women. Primary schools for girls were first established in 1836, and the first women's école normale (school to educate primary school teachers) was opened in 1838. Girls' education was not compulsory at that time and their curriculum was not comparable to that of boys. The first woman to complete her baccalauréat (examination ending secondary school and giving access to university) was Julie Daubié in 1861. She prepared herself for this exam and was allowed to sit for it only after Empress Eugenia intervened.