What are your missions in your current job?

I am in charge of studies at the High Council for Equality between Women and Men. In concrete terms, this means that I monitor and lead two commissions - the "Stereotypes and social roles" commission and the "Parity in political, administrative and economic life" commission. For these commissions as well, but also for other transversal works of the HCE, I am in charge of writing the HCE reports, which are generally submitted to the Minister in charge of women's rights or to the Prime Minister, who can also refer to the HCE on this or that subject. In general, I participate in the missions of the HCE, which must ensure consultation with civil society, lead the public debate on the main orientations of the policy of women's rights and equality, and evaluate public policies concerning equality between women and men.

What did the Sciences Po training give you to practice them?

As a former student of General Public Affairs, I have an acute knowledge of the administrative environment and an ability to synthesize information, both orally and in writing.

What is an example of an outstanding project in which you would have taken part in the framework of this position?

I am in particular the rapporteur on the state of sexism in France, which is a text submitted to the Prime Minister. This year, we set up the "Sexism barometer" with 3,000 French people with the help of the Viavoice polling institute. It is an unprecedented production of knowledge, which, coming from the "field", will make I hope to move concretely the things in this year of presidential elections. And the report is out today, on the eve of International Women's Rights Day!

What do you enjoy most about your job? What is the most challenging?

What I like most is the diversity of the missions: behind the apparent monotony of writing reports, there is in fact : the work of research, reading and analysis on multiple and transversal subjects, the conduct of hearings of expert personalities and associations, the animation of the debate within commissions whose members come from extremely diverse worlds, the media interventions, institutional or with civil society, the communication strategy around the HCE's publications and messages... What is most challenging is the rigor: to publish reference works, one must be particularly careful, without losing a spirit of synthesis.

Could you say a word about your employer's policy in terms of professional equality (men-women) and gender diversity?

For the time being, an exemplary policy since parity is strictly observed in all the HCE commissions. On the other hand, I am well aware that it is an exception in the professional world, both because I deal with these subjects, but also because I have experienced other environments, including public ones, in which it is far from being won. And these professional and economic disparities have increased with the Covid crisis, which I wanted to decipher in the podcast I created with the Women's Foundation, Regarde-moi bien. I think of the political environment in particular, as a former councilwoman, where women are excluded from positions of power and where sexism is exercised in a systemic way, including behind the scenes, against female collaborators for example. This is something I wanted to talk about, among other things, in the podcast I created with Slate.fr on political advisors, Les Ombres, and which should be of interest to Sciences Po students preparing for this type of position...

Any advice for female students at Sciences Po?

Never hesitate to ask questions, even of people who intimidate you. Sometimes they actually know less than you do!

En savoir plus 

• Contact Mahaut Chaudouët Delmas on Linked In 
• Podcast 'Les Ombres'
• Podcast 'Regarde-moi bien'
• Rapport 2022 sur l'état du sexisme en France