Icam
22 Sep 2026
This year, Icam is proud to welcome even more female students: a rise driven in particular by gender-diversity initiatives that support the aims of the “Filles et Maths” (Girls and Maths) plan launched in 2025 by Élisabeth Borne.
Women now account for 25.5% of the 850 new first-year students across our seven Icam campuses in France, compared with 16% three years ago, while their share of engineering programmes at national level remains flat.
This progress may look modest, but it is in fact remarkable for a generalist engineering school when you look at the make-up of these new intakes, reaching almost 45% on some campuses.
Progress across the different programmes
The prépa scientifique (science preparatory programme) shows the sharpest rise: 35% female students in first year, compared with almost 26% at the 2025 intake. The Lille campus stands out with almost 45% girls (40% last year) in its PTSI/PT preparatory class (Physics, Technology and Engineering Sciences), while the national average for this stream is around 20%. A record figure that Johann Léost, Director of the Icam Lille campus, discussed with Studyrama Grandes Écoles d’Ingénieurs: find out more here! Toulouse (35%), Strasbourg-Europe (31%) and Nantes (28%) follow.
The Bachelor international holds steady at 27.5%, with 42% female students at Grand Paris Sud.
The prépa immersion internationale at Strasbourg-Europe has 34% female students.
Other notable results: at the Vannes campus, 20% of students in the prépa professionnalisante are girls, in a stream geared towards apprenticeship and traditionally more male, where the national average is around 13%. And at the Lille école de production, two girls joined an intake of 12 pupils — a first!
Among the drivers of this diversity of profiles: admission without competitive entrance exams, based on an assessment of the application and on cross-interviews, which weighs academic potential as much as each candidate’s personal project.
Icam campuses are stepping up awareness-raising initiatives
Icam has made gender diversity a cross-cutting priority across all its institutions, with the aim of removing barriers to career choices long before students choose their higher education path. Initiatives are multiplying on the campuses: the “Objectif Femmes ingénieures” scheme in Brittany, introductory practical sessions for secondary school girls at Strasbourg-Europe, the “Global Women Breakfast” in Toulouse, regular collaborations with the Elles bougent association, particularly in Lille, and the Cordées de la Réussite programme at Grand Paris Sud, where 24 of the 39 participating pupils were girls and designed a drone with Icam students in 2026.
“Girls lack neither the ability nor the interest in science. What makes the difference is the educational environments we offer them to get involved in”, says Gilles Vandecaveye, Managing Director of Icam.
Student wellbeing and employability: Icam stands out
In terms of support and quality of life on its French campuses, Icam ranks 5th in the Happy at School® “Focus Women” 2026 list (institutions with more than 1,000 students). The survey measures female students’ experience and wellbeing, and recorded a strong 60% response rate among Icam’s female students. The school also topped the Happy at School® 2025 ranking.
This momentum continues after graduation. According to employment data from the Icam Alumni association, women graduating from Icam earn a median gross annual salary of €41,000, compared with €39,000 for their male counterparts — a gap of 5.13% in their favour.
