TF1 group marked International Women’s Day by launching the third intake to its “Expertes à la Une” program, developed by the News department to increase the representation of female experts in its news coverage.
As a signatory to the charter developed by “Pour les femmes dans les médias”, a non-profit that champions increased female representation in the media, TF1 group actively pursues a gender equality policy. A cornerstone of that policy is the “Expertes à la Une” program, which this year has the writer Dominique Bona, a member of the Académie Française, as its honorary president.
Over the next twelve months, the 15 female experts in this year’s intake will benefit from a tutorship program mentored by journalists, editors-in-chief and presenters from TF1 and LCI news teams, including Marie-Sophie Lacarrau, Darius Rochebin and François Lenglet.
At the heart of the scheme is a personalised, comprehensive year-long support package, focusing on:
• Working on the visibility of female experts in the media with social & personal branding support, media training, and referencing in the “Expertes.fr” database.
• Opportunities to interact with media professionals through inspiring meetings and dedicated master-classes, on topics like “Why should we hear women’s voices?”.
• Encouraging networking and gaining an understanding of media industry challenges with special shared experiences and an immersive full-day session with the News team. “Expertes à la Une” – female experts are raising their visibility on our news bulletins
Since 2017, we have embarked on a raft of initiatives to measure and increase the visibility of women in our news bulletins.
We have persuasive evidence that the representation of female experts (not employed by TF1 group) on our news bulletins has risen sharply and now stands at 53%, up 9 points year-on-year and 28 points over 5 years (since the program first launched).
Ensuring female experts are fairly represented and promoted in our news programming is a major plank in our news teams’ editorial policy. “Expertes à la Une” is a practical response to the challenge, offering participants a springboard in their media careers.
And it works: close to 80% of the women who joined the first two intakes have appeared as expert commentators in the media since 2021.
TF1 group News team unveils an exclusive barometer of equality of opportunity between the sexes in the corporate world
To raise public awareness about what holds women back in their career trajectories, our News team has unveiled an exclusive barometer of equality of opportunity between the sexes in the corporate world. Between 26 January and 1 February, we worked with Access Panel Toluna on a survey of French people to shed light on the obstacles that hold women back in their careers, and on their underrepresentation in some sectors of the economy.
1. Is being a woman an obstacle to a successful career? The first finding is that 81% of French people believe that women face more obstacles to success than men do. 50% of women think that being a woman holds back their career development, while just 21% of men think that being a man may hold back their career development. The main obstacles cited by women were:
- Lack of career progression opportunities (30%)
- Lack of self-confidence (28%)
- Family commitments and responsibilities (21%)
2. Equality of opportunities and gender parity in the workplace
The survey showed that 79% of French people believe there is still a long way to go to achieve gender equality. Women felt those inequalities especially keenly, with only: - 43% saying they had the same chance as a man to access senior management roles - 30% believing they had the same chance as a man to earn the same pay for an equivalent role These figures show that too often, women still face an uphill struggle in their careers: 73% of French people believe that women need to do more than men to have their work recognised.
3. Visibility and representation of women in economic sectors
66% of women think that being a woman restricts your access to some economic sectors. French people believe women are particularly under-represented in: - Science & Engineering - Economics & Finance - Tech & Digital - Security / Defence According to the survey, women are under-represented in these sectors mainly because “they’re macho sectors, where men elbow women out” (38% of French people surveyed) and because “they were not encouraged to do so when making career choices” (32% of respondents).
4. Visibility of women on TV *
As the “Expertes à la Une” program shows, visibility of female experts on TV is a critical factor in encouraging better representation of women in the corporate world. The study showed that 42% of respondents think that female experts are still not given enough visibility on the media. However, they welcome the initiatives already taken by media companies, with 92% believing that female experts are as visible or more visible in TV studios now compared with five years ago. Female experts speak frankly in the “Expertes à la Une” podcast TF1 journalist Christelle Chiroux hosts this podcast, in which female experts – too often in the shadow – take centre stage as they talk frankly to Christelle about their remarkable and often unusual career journeys.