On 17th October 2014, Airbus will welcome eighty secondary school students at its Toulouse site for a day, giving them the opportunity to meet Airbus employees and learn more about the different professions in the aeronautical industry. The goal of โElles du Futur – Girls for the Future of Aeronauticsโ, an initiative launched by Airbus in 2011, is to help make the aeronautical industryโs professions better known and encourage young girls to consider studying aeronautics and pursuing a career in this industry. New this year: this day will also be open to boys who are, like the girls, ambassadors in their schools.
After a presentation about Airbus and its professions, the secondary school students will visit an Airbus aircraft final assembly line, and meet female Airbus employees from a broad range of academic backgrounds to discuss their career paths and professions.
โItโs often owing to a lack of information that young girls hesitate to opt for professions in the aeronautical industry when it comes to choosing their professional orientation. We are determined to strengthen the gender mix in our industry and in our teams, because greater diversity goes hand in hand with greater creativity and innovation,โ explains Marc Jouenne, Head of Human Resources for Airbus in France. โMost of the professions in this sector are accessible to women, so we must combat these stereotypes,โ he added.
This is the third consecutive year that these awareness-raising actions have been carried out by Airbus. The previous editions were held on the Airbus sites in Nantes, Saint Nazaire and Toulouse as well as on its industrial sites in the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain.
These initiatives are in line with Airbusโ gender diversity policy which aims to feminise these traditionally male professions. They also fit in with Airbus Groupโs policy in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility. Airbus thus reaffirms its determination to act in favour of diversity, a fundamental value for the company.
The diversity policy concerns all the Airbus entities worldwide and focuses on four major aspects: gender mix, inter-generational diversity, cultural and social diversity as well as disabilities.