Everything is possible

The Apprentis d’Auteuil foundation, through the “Potentielles” resource center for women, wanted to launch an awareness campaign aimed at young women without qualifications, aged between 16 and 30. They wanted to support the inclusion and equality of women in “men’s jobs”, such as logistics, building trades or web development. It also aimed to promote apprenticeship as a means of training to access these promising business sectors. Finally, they were looking for an innovative way to raise awareness of the legitimate place of women in these industries, despite the widespread stereotypes within today’s society.

In 2022, Potenti’elles travel around the Hauts-de-France region (North of France) in a bus which has been fitted with serious games in order to meet young unqualified women between the ages of 16 and 30, especially in working-class areas. They needed an accessible tool on the move, both engaging and fun, in order to guarantee its proper understanding and adoption.

The objectives of this serious game are numerous:

– promoting among young women, the business sectors and jobs historically holded by men
– promoting apprenticeship in order to access these jobs
– helping young women fight against stereotypes and support their project, by giving them the right arguments to convince those close to them their approach are serious and viable
– encouraging equality and diversity, legitimizing the place of women in “men’s jobs”
– motivating and supporting projects promoters

Without stigmatizing people on long-term fixed prejudices, this serious game with messages makes it possible to approach these subjects calmly and offers keys to overcome them.
It aims to promote diversity and open up horizons by providing concrete answers to support women’s career plans, in order to break down persistent stereotypes and contribute to make our society more inclusive.

As a true narrative experience, this awareness-raising game is a simulation of realistic non-linear dialogues, where the player’s choices influence the course of the game. This serious game uses a methodology with high educational interactivity, center on 3 different phases:

– contextualisation

The contextualization phase makes it possible to introduce the situation and to discover the problems addressed by the serious game, thanks to an interlocutor, called “mentor character”, who engages the player in conversation. This important character is the player’s best friend. By talking together, the player becomes aware of the strong stereotypes about women holding “men’s jobs”, even among young women. This phase makes it possible to identify prejudices and provide concrete answers to counter them.

– hands-on experience

Hands-on experience phase simulates a conversation between Inès and her father. She thus announces to him her choice to find her way into logistics. This is followed by discussions around her choice, which allow the player to confront the prejudices of her father, while proposing efficient arguments to fight against these stereotypes and support her project.

– results

The last results phase introduces Inès’ parents. The player is a spectator and can’t play this part. The father tells the conversation he had with his daughter, sharing his feelings about the argument used and explaining the impact it had on him. This projection reinforces the importance of the consequences of the player’s choices.