Florence Lelait is the General Delegate of Paris Tech, a network of seven graduate engineering schools in France, and also one of CESAER’s founding Members. Her role consists in coordinating common actions between the different schools including international activities, diversity and inclusion, learning and teaching and communication. Before that, she worked for the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research. She also has experience as a German studies Researcher. Florence has been a member of our task force learning & teaching since its creation in 2020.
We asked Florence to tell us more about the link between the work performed within the task force learning & teaching and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).
“CESAER is a very big association and all of us are committed to improve diversity in our schools, and, more generally, in the field. What I find interesting is to exchange best practices with representatives from other universities. At ParisTech, for example, we have specific actions aimed at having more female students. Our schools organise special days for them to visit the schools and present them portraits of current female students for inspiration. We also participate in the International Women in Engineering Day.
Within the task force learning & teaching, we are currently working on a white paper ‘Engineer of the future’ which aims at reflecting on engineering education across Europe and studying how it equips engineers of the future to contribute to a world in constant evolution. In this paper, improving the representation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) is discussed. I really appreciate that we get to set the stage for future progress within the CESAER membership, and also more broadly, with this work.”
For more information, contact Information & Communication Officer Justine Moynat.