Equal opportunities – France points the way forward

ST works in a sector that is by its nature very technical and where graduate intake is from subject areas numerically dominated by males. This may be part of the reason why women account for only one-third of the workforce.

Of those women who do work at ST, many are equipment operators and in administrative roles. In France, for example, women make up 90% of those working in administration for the company, yet represent only one-fifth of the technicians and engineering staff. While there is no noticeable difference in compensation, there may be some difference in the career evolution between male and female employees due to factors like maternity leave, parental leave, and part-time jobs.

To redress the male and female balance, important initiatives have been taking place in France, at both the national and local level, such as hiring proportionally more women than the current percentage of women leaving technical schools and universities, or supporting women in their career progression. These offer a way forward for the company as a whole to tackle the issue of equal opportunities.

The PluriElles project

For example, the PluriElles project at ST's Grenoble site operates in a workplace where engineers and managerial personnel make up 80% of the workforce but where only 20% of these are women. The project, which began in 2004, has the active support of senior management and is overseen by a steering committee of directors.

To begin with, project leaders set up four working groups. Each was given a different gender equality challenge to look at, as defined by senior management in consultation with representatives of two local unions. There were two stages to the project – firstly, to analyze the current situation, and secondly, to come up with proposals for ways forward.

During the analysis stage, the project teams gathered statistics and sent out questionnaires, while a psychologist interviewed managers, engineers, and technicians working on the site. The research determined there were no significant differences between male and female salaries, but that the real imbalance lay in the areas of career evolution and work-life balance.

Women were under-represented in medium to senior levels of management and positions requiring significant technical expertise, ranging from 10% to only 4% at the most senior management levels. However, around 20% of graduates from local technical schools and universities are women.

The project teams went on to draw up 115 proposals designed to change behavior and overcome inequalities. These were put to the steering committee and 90% of them have now been agreed to in principle and 40% put into action. They have also been included in an official collective agreement with unions, which will be signed mid-2006.

In 2005, ST's Grenoble site made an official commitment to hire more women, while raising awareness of the issues among senior managers, and rewording recruitment advertising – an initiative that delivered immediate results, with more women applying for and getting jobs. In 2005, 30% of new external recruits were women, compared with 10% on average for the previous years.

Further initiatives completed in 2005 included the introduction of human resources interviews with women before and after maternity leave, implementing a work-life balance questionnaire, and working in local schools to promote gender equality. A new training course to be implemented in 2006 will help women assert themselves effectively in a strongly male environment and develop self-confidence. A second training module will focus on non-discrimination training for managers. Networks, coaching, and mentoring programs are being created to support women in the workplace. A new gender equality committee, made up of senior managers, human resources staff and union representatives, will monitor progress of all these initiatives.

Progress at Rousset

The work at Grenoble has been mirrored by initiatives at ST's Rousset site. In 2005, a commission for the professional equality of men and women was put in place jointly with the site's works council. Specific training programs were defined and put in place in 2005 for administrative staff, around 90% of whom are women.

In May 2005, six women took part in the Metallurgical Industry Forum. The objective, successfully met, was to encourage the entry and integration of women in metallurgical sectors. ST also published a booklet called Pregnant Woman, which includes comprehensive practical and legal information. Meanwhile, unions at the site are being encouraged to ensure gender equality in the presentation of electoral lists. This work continues during 2006 at the Rousset site, as more initiatives are created and put in place. Like Grenoble, one of Rousset's key targets is to ensure a representation of women equivalent to the percentage of women leaving technical schools and universities.

Action at company and national level

Meanwhile, the company as a whole has now started to act on some of the lessons learned at both Grenoble and Rousset. It has been recognized throughout ST that ensuring equal opportunities for women is vital for progress and continued prosperity. The belief is that companies that develop a global diversity approach are those that become 'employers of choice' and ultimately achieve the best results, both financial and non-financial. Diversity enhances efficiency and the quality of social relationships, giving a positive impact on the company's image to its customers, its external suppliers, and its consumers.

The Charter for Diversity

ST in France has now adopted the Charter for Diversity formalized by the French Government. It is designed to demonstrate a company's commitment to cultural, ethnic, and social diversity across its organization. The charter commits ST in France to taking a series of equal opportunities initiatives, including:

• Training staff involved in recruitment, education, and career management in the issues of non-discrimination and diversity
• Respecting and promoting equal opportunities at all stages of human resources management
• Seeking to reflect the diversity of French society in the workforce
• Communicating to all staff the company's commitment to non-discrimination and diversity
• Discussing the issue extensively with employee representatives
• Including a chapter describing this non-discrimination and diversity commitment in the Annual Report.

The text of the collective agreement made at Grenoble is also being used as the basis of a negotiation with unions at the national level in France, with the aim of signing an agreement in 2006 that extends the gender equality program across the country.

Through this collective agreement, on each of a number of areas, ST will commit to make significant progress by the end of 2007 and to fulfill all its equal opportunity commitments by 2010. These areas are: recruitment, equality of status, career, and work-life balance.

These steps are helping ST, as a global company, to learn important lessons about ways to improve equal opportunities, and the company is making continued solid progress in its commitment to embrace diversity, and offer fulfilling and rewarding careers to people from every part of society.