Our SNCF mentors will be out in force at the 1st 'Elles bougent' forum, encouraging their younger counterparts about the opportunities awaiting them in the railway sector.

"Elles bougent" (women on the up) is an association for women students in the male-dominated world of engineering schools. It's an urgent problem - the proportion of women on engineering courses has been stagnating for 5 years. In 2008, women accounted for 17.7% of all engineering graduates in France, but 20% of SNCF engineers - and we are focusing on further recruitment of women engineers.

Our SNCF mentors have been playing a big role. They have been supporting the association since 2006 and will be speaking at the 1st railway engineering forum at the Procope restaurant in Paris. They will be talking about the major projects planned for the railways, the range of different jobs available. They will give a flavour for their own career paths and take part on round-table discussions about current environmental and societal issues.

In the current climate, with the Copenhagen conference hitting the headlines, our SNCF mentors will fire the students' imagination, convert some more young women to the Generation Ecomobile cause, and perhaps help some of them find their calling in life.