When she joined Stormshield in 2010, Maryse was the only female developer within our R&D department at Lille (France). Working in a predominantly masculine environment, she has been able to hold her own and find her place on the team. She tells us about what it’s like to be a female engineer, and about her involvement with an association.

 

Maryse, what attracted you to computing?

When I was at college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do later on. I had taken a scientific baccalaureate because I wanted to do something in science. So I started doing preparatory classes, passed the entry exams for a number of colleges and was admitted to the École nationale supérieure d’informatique pour l’industrie et l’entreprise [French industry and business computing college] (ENSIIE). In 1999, the computer industry was booming. It was a discipline which fascinated me, having already had some contact with it in my spare time. I knew that something enormous was about to happen: jobs would be created, there would be changes in how we learned, how we got information, how we lived… and there and then, I decided this was what I wanted to do! And yes, then I realised that not many other women had chosen the same path…

 

Why would you say women are a minority in the computer industry?

I’d say there are no rational reasons for that. More than anything, it’s the result of family and social conditioning. Getting the qualifications isn’t the end of the story; having been accepted into a company, female engineers then need to integrate into what is a man’s world. And to change that and establish greater parity in computer jobs, we have to call time on the stereotypes of so-called “female” and “male” professions. And that means educating children early!

 

 

What is the “Femmes Ingénieurs [Female Engineers]” association?

Femmes Ingénieurs is a national association which brings together female engineers and has two objectives: to inform young girls and make them aware of the world of computing, and to promote the role that women can play in this sector.

More specifically, I take part in events in which the association is involved, such as “Numériqu’elles”, “Les Sciences de l’Ingénieur au Féminin [Female engineering sciences]” or “Les matinées Ingénieur au Féminin [Female Engineer’s mornings]”, which take place in March. In these events, we present the personal stories of female engineers to students from schools and colleges in the Hauts-de-France region of France.

It’s important for me to be involved in an association like this because I’m still the only girl in the SNS R&D department… after nine years on the team! This brings it home to me because it highlights the fact that there are really very few women in our disciplines.

 

Did you take part in the “Numériqu’elles” event at Lens in February?

Yes, this is an event organised jointly by the Hauts-de-France region, the National Education system and CORIF [the Regional engineering and training council for equality between women and men], which promotes professional and gender equality between women and men. A number of these events are held throughout the year. During this forum, companies and associations give presentations, introduce themselves and give demos. There are also personal story sessions. The idea is to promote these professions to young girls in the hope it will arouse their interest! I talked to them about my experiences as a computer technician so they could hear a personal career story and discover ways of taking up this career.

The February edition took place for the first time at Lens (France) and brought together about 150 secondary school and college students on a voluntary basis. It was a real success!

 

What message do you share with young girls when you meet them?

That the computing world has lots of interesting and fulfilling jobs. And most importantly, that these jobs are open to everyone. I also remind them that cybersecurity is not just a sector for men, but that women have a role to play in filling the shortage of computing talents today – and that there are jobs for them at Stormshield!