Even though it is highlighted every year on March 8, equal opportunity is an everyday battle.
Many associations in the Montpellier Métropole area are getting involved to help ensure that women – all women – benefit from exactly the same treatment as men in terms of job opportunities, training, mobility, career advancement, and pay.
There is no reason for things to be any different. But the truth is that, while equality exists in legal terms in France, people’s mentalities tend to evolve more slowly. That is what has inspired associations to start taking action, with active support from Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole. For example,
Face Hérault is a business association committed to fighting against exclusion. Their mission is to raise awareness among employers regarding diversity in hiring practices. Face Hérault helps them use the right tools and overcome stereotypes, of which there are many. For example, there may be a feeling that computer programming is a job for men... not at all! A good example is the
“Click and Recruit” initiative presented at the most recent “Rencontres pour l’Emploi” job fair held as a digital event by Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole.
Also, to fight this long-standing prejudice,
#DigitAg – INRAE’s Institute for Digital Agricultural Convergence – decided to carry out an operation to raise awareness among young women regarding careers in the digital field. Set up in partnership with the Data Science Institute (ISDM), Cirad, INRIA, University of Montpellier, and the Montpellier SupAgro agronomics institute, the operation will be launched in middle schools in the Hérault department in the fall of 2021.
The same approach is also being taken by
Formation Cap Emploi, where young women acquire skills working on construction sites, learning how to handle hammers, shovels, jackhammers, and more, to carve out a place in building jobs, a sector long-held as a male-only field, as was that of kitchen chef.
La Table de Cana has been organizing its “
Etoiles et des Femmes” (stars and women) operation since 2017. Candidates embark on an occupational inclusion journey, earning a CAP professional aptitude certificate in Cooking, supervised by Montpellier’s leading chefs. The next training class is scheduled to start in September 2021, with recruitment beginning in June.
Occupational inclusion is often a door-opening approach. Since it was founded,
the Mediterranean Institute of Studies, Engineering, and Training (IMEIF) has demonstrated that fact through its
Ethics and Care program – an occupational inclusion program for motivated candidates from neighborhoods targeted by Montpellier city policy. The previous session began last September. With support from Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole, this action combines social utility with economic goals. But the program goes further: the health crisis has highlighted the importance of women in professions that are critical for society to function effectively.
The
Training Center for Women’s and Family’s Rights (CIDFF) is a national organization that was founded in Castries, just northeast of Montpellier, in 1982. CIDFF launched a complementary action that is also supported by Montpellier Métropole: “Femmes Égalité Emploi” (equal employment for women), whose objective is to lead women in the Mosson-Paillade and Hauts-de-Massane districts towards financial independence through employment. CIDFF also works with all the other associations committed to job inclusion for women, including IMEIF, Face Hérault, and others.
Is it true, as French singer Jean Ferrat once suggested, that women are the future of man? In entrepreneurship, in any case, increasing numbers of women are taking control of their own destinies. Company creation is rapidly becoming a women’s affair, notably with the help of active entrepreneurial networks. “
Les Premières” is one of them. Already present in Toulouse,
the association launched its company creation assistance program at the Cap Omega startup incubator in December 2020, also with the support of Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole. 25 candidates applied for the program, which features six to eight months of training, 60 hours of classroom and workshop time, and 12 hours of individual coaching. 10 candidates were selected.
In the end, all these actions demonstrate that equal opportunity for professional access is a state of mind. And women are gaining ground. 
