Research minister noncommittal on equality measures

Frédérique Vidal, the minister for higher education and research, evaded a question on how she will address the persistent gender gap in the upper echelons of French higher education.

Viviane Chocas, a journalist for Le Figaro Madame magazine presented Vidal with statistics indicating the gender imbalance in an interview published on 24 July.

While female higher education students were in the majority, only 11 of France’s 75 top university presidents and 23 per cent of tenured professors were women, Chocas said. “What should change?” she asked Vidal.