ABSTRACT

France has a higher proportion of female university teachers and researchers in mathematics (24 per cent) than many other countries (Barsky et al, 1987). This is often explained in part by the existence of the ENSs (Écoles Normales Supérieures), from which many of these teachers derive, and which until recently were single-sex institutions. The move to coeducation has had disastrous consequences for the number of women studying mathematics. This chapter explores some of the reasons for the ENSs’ historical success in producing female mathematicians and raises some concern about recent developments.