Solving the under-representation of Women in Tech (WiT) is a multi-faceted challenge. We strongly believe that we need to complement short-term efforts such as dedicated WiT hiring tracks or gender-based referral bonuses with long-term investments in education and culture. In this blog post, we illustrate this idea with one specific example — using education to change stereotypes and mindsets as young as possible.
Parents, teachers, and relatives are first in line to impart an unbiased education, in particular to girls and women regarding tech and industry roles. Encouraging women to fulfill their tech ambitions is a long-term investment, and requires a strong network and good relations with the education system. This is hard to achieve for a single private company, but it can be made accessible thanks to existing associations. In France, this is the case of Elles Bougent.
Elles Bougent role
Elles Bougent is a French association aiming at increasing the number of Women in Tech. Thousands of “godmothers” and “relays” across France regularly meet with girls and women, inspiring them by describing their tech roles. The interventions take place in schools, round tables, and networking or recruiting forums, and attract many women every year. Elles Bougent has a significant impact in deconstructing gender stereotypes at the youngest age (starting around 6 years old) and feminising tech and industry.
Companies can partner with Elles Bougent to become part of this great mission: their employees are then inspiring role models for younger women wanting to work in tech. Companies invest time and money in return for short-term benefits (eg, participating in WiT hiring forums) and — more importantly — in order to improve the industry-wide WiT representation on multi-decade time scales through role models and education.
Helsing involvement
Inclusiveness is one of our core values at Helsing. We strive to create a safe space where everyone feels confident to share their ideas, take responsibility, and own their work. We believe that diversity is foundational to building our solutions and achieving our mission. Our involvement with Elles Bougent follows our belief that diversity must be more than lip service — it requires investing company time and money, giving agency to those who want to help beyond immediate return on investment.
As Europe’s leading defence AI company, we are thrilled to partner with Elles Bougent to promote careers in tech to girls and female students. Only a diverse workforce that attracts the brightest minds from the widest talent pool can deliver our mission.
As our very first event, we’ll be attending the next Elles Bougent hiring online forum for WiT taking place early February 2025. We hope to see you there!
Authors: Solene &Emilie, AI Researchers at Helsing