Jeanne Davoult
“I would like to encourage all young girls interested in science not to get discouraged or lose confidence, because there are more places for us than ever before!“
I always wanted to study physics and astrophysics came up in high school. So naturally I did a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics. Then I did a first year master’s degree in astrophysics at the Paris Observatory. At the end of this first year we were asked to specialise.
So beyond the passion for the subject that was immediate, my choice also fell on the environment in which I felt most comfortable. Planetology is a friendly, very dynamic, young community. I found myself more at home there than in the more pretentious and elitist fields of astrophysics. It’s a mixed community that includes physicists, chemists, geologists, etc. It is also a community that has taken the lead on gender diversity. It is a branch of science where women are more represented than elsewhere, and where, as a student, I had role models, the possibility to imagine myself evolving.
So obviously there is still a long way to go, women still don’t represent 50% of researchers, and the proportion decreases as you go up the hierarchy. But I would like to encourage all young girls interested in science not to get discouraged or lose confidence, because there are more places for us than ever before, and the generations after us will need you as a role model to get started in their turn!
