Intercultural communication - WGMS7021

Goal(s)

Objectives of the Intercultural Project at GI

Engage international students in meaningful, real-world educational outreach activities.

Develop educational tools and events tailored for high school students in the Grenoble area.

Introduce high school students to the engineering profession and its diverse opportunities.

Promote gender diversity by highlighting the role and contributions of women in engineering.

Challenge gender stereotypes and mental representations that associate engineering with masculine traits.

Foster intercultural exchange and awareness through collaboration between international students and local communities.

Content(s)

The intercultural project at GI is led by international students, who are tasked with designing educational tools and organizing events for high school students in the Grenoble area. These initiatives focus on themes such as engineering and the role of women in the field. The project aims to help students better understand the realities of the engineering profession while actively challenging gender stereotypes that associate engineering with traditionally masculine values.
In practice, international students develop didactic modules in French for high school classes. Europole High School was chosen for its proximity and international openness. The project involves all the science teachers of second and first, and unfolds in two phases. For the preparatory phase, which took place in previous semester, international students took part in the TP Classes for a presentation of the engineering profession, through playful simulation activities and exchanges.
This project will continue the following semester with the organization of a conference in collaboration with the students of Europole who will be in grade 11.
For our international students, the "EngineerE" project is a particularly enriching experience: they set up the project by contacting engineers as well as the educational teams of the school. They develop their written as well as oral communication skills through interviews and résumé writing. Project monitoring develops their sense of collective work. They learn to express themselves in French in front of an audience but also within the framework of personal interaction. Moreover, this project is made visible by developing communication strategies and culminating in a conference.
On a cultural level they must adapt to the specificities of French culture, its educational system, and develop their command of the French language: the activities are indeed in French however the Europole students are capable of switiching to English when necessary. By working with students from other cultures, they are immediately confronted with intercultural problems that they will encounter later in their career