INWED 2024 : six portraits of young international women studying engineering who make the strength of the ParisTech network

France needs to train more engineers to tackle the current social and environmental challenges and to remain competitive on the international scene. The country has 45,000 new engineers graduating each year while 20,000 more are needed to meet the needs of businesses and science.

This shortage finds its origin in three factors:

• A marked disaffection for scientific curricula,

• A drop in the educational level in mathematics and science,

• Insufficiently encouraged female representation.

Encouraging diversity in all its forms (gender, international, cultural, social…) in the graduate engineering schools is a first answer to this shortage. ParisTech schools are convinced of that and are increasing their actions in order to develop diversity, particularly international and cultural. It represents one of the assets of the ParisTech network, since partnerships and international recruitment constitute one of the key know-how of the network. International students represent on average 30% of school enrollment.

Also, for several years, ParisTech schools have been particularly attentive to increasing the proportion of girls in their engineering classes, which reaches or well exceeds 30% for the vast majority of them. They promote engineering among young girls from middle school and regularly highlight the careers of women engineers to encourage vocations.

Today, the network has decided to honor its international engineering female students who did not hesitate to go beyond self-censorship and the borders of their country to come and study engineering in France. Through their portraits, discover the experiences of Isabela, Ana Maria, Tayssir, Ana, Xinyue and Layla, six students with inspiring backgrounds who help to enrich and promote French engineering training.

Isabela is a Brazilian alumna of AgroParisTech and currently UX Sensory Design Manager at Danone. After obtaining her bachelor's degree in food engineering from the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil and her engineering degree from AgroParisTech, Isabela decided to specialise in sensory analysis by taking a master's degree in Food Engineering and Food Design at the Université Paris-Saclay.

Discover her experience

Ana Maria is a Colombian student in the second year of the Programme Grande École d’Arts et Métiers in Lille. Enrolled in a double degree, she is completing the fifth and final year of her degree in electrical engineering from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, having been an engineering student at the Arts et Métiers campus in Lille since last September in the 2nd year of the Grande École Program.

Discover her expérience

Tayssir is a Tunisian engineering student in the third year of the Chimie ParisTech – PSL engineering curriculum. She is completing a double degree with the National Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology (INSAT) in Tunis. In this interview, Taysir explains his choice to study in France and in particular at Chimie ParisTech – PSL.

Discover her testimonial

Ana is a Brazilian engineering student in the second year of engineering training at École des Ponts ParisTech. She is completing a double degree with the Escola Politecnica of the Universidad de Sao Paulo. She is also the international manager of the Student Office (BDE) where she manages the successful integration of international students. In her video interview, Ana looks back on her journey as a woman and the reasons that motivated her to join the school.

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Xinyue is a Chinese engineering student in the second year of the engineering curriculum at the Institut d’Optique. After obtaining her degree at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, with a specialization in optics and computer science, she decided to continue her studies in France and more particularly at the Institut d’Optique to open up to new cultural and academic perspectives, and develop a more international vision of one's career.

Discover her testimonial (in French)

Layla Azzam is a Lebanese student in the third year of the civil engineering cycle at Mines Paris – PSL. She is pursuing a double degree at Mines Paris - PSL and at Saint-Joseph University in Beirut. In her interview, Layla talks about her experience at school, her professional aspirations and her vision of the place of women in the field of engineering

Discover her experience

Find out more about ParisTech's international admission program