Who would imagine that the person responsible for the final assembly of Boeing… is a woman?
Industrial professions are no longer reserved exclusively for men. Women first entered discreetly, often through the small door. Today, they have a career there. And even if they are still in the minority, they are less and less contested in their functions, because their skills are recognized in the same way as those of men.
Industrial companies have recently begun to integrate women into top management. Of course, the majority of them are found in the support functions traditionally assigned to women in all sectors, mainly as human resources, marketing and communication managers. But they also seek responsibilities in more operational and technical jobs, such as production, research, sales and many others.
But let us not be pessimistic, things are certainly moving too slowly, but in the right direction. Today, the dynamic and innovative industry sector is making a real effort to communicate its job offer and its desire to integrate women into its various professions. More and more young women are committing themselves to scientific and technical training courses to work in the industry tomorrow.
Industry, a sector that offers varied careers and wants to open its doors to women
The industry communicates, and the first results are felt in the choice of training for young people. But the strength of stereotypes is still very much alive, and it is said to be at the root of occupational inequality in its entirety. No, not all jobs in the industry require you to wear a blue suit and dirty hands. Still today, this sector is all too often assimilated to the difficulty and filthiness of the service sector and is a source of discouragement for women who are more interested in the tertiary sector. Moreover, it is still a widespread belief that technical professions are reserved for men!
But the industry is struggling to recruit and is notably lacking apprentices. The players in the sector have understood the importance of feminizing their workforce to increase their pool of candidates and the mindset of recruiters is beginning to change. More and more actions are being carried out at a national and regional level to raise awareness among women of the various opportunities and careers offered by the industry, as evidenced by the multiple events organized during Industry Week.
The difficulty of the industrial sector and changing working conditions
In addition to stereotypes, this occupational segregation in the industrial sector is also often due to a laudable concern for the protection of women in the face of the hardship of particular occupations. Let us first recall that it was women who held the industry during the war.
Moreover, this is a debate that no longer needs to be held because the working conditions of this sector have changed significantly in recent decades. With technical progress, the majority of tasks are mechanized and few industrial jobs today require real physical strength on a daily basis, supposedly incompatible with female physiology.
