A gradual policy development aimed at education and training is evident in institutional texts published over the last thirty years. Campell and Sanders (1997) outlined the perceptions of gender equality among American trainee teachers, highlighting their interest counterbalanced by their lack of training. During this period, political and societal influences and dynamics have come to the fore on the international and national stages. Numerous studies documenting this theme on all continents (e.g. Minara, 2023 for a sample in the Bengal region of India) take the countries of northern Europe, often cited as precursors, as their reference points. However, even in these countries, some studies lead us to conclude that integrating these values into teaching and educational practices is a long and difficult process (Lahelma and Tainio, 2019).

In France, as in other European countries (Lucas-Palacios et al., 2022), major policy guidelines over the past fifteen years have affirmed the integration of gender (and sexuality) equality issues into institutional school requirements, from nursery school to university. Specifically, all primary and secondary school teachers and all education managers should receive 18 hours of training during their university internship.

The French Republic's education system (Fifth Republic) incorporates the principles of secularism and social democracy in particular. The principle of secularism is seen as a protector and emancipator, supporting republican values: liberty, equality, fraternity (MEN, 2026).

In 2013, the School Reform Act (8 July 2013) officially introduced the theme of equality into teacher training programmes (from primary to higher education). While today the idea of equality seems to be widely accepted by professionals in schools and universities and supported by a large part of French society, what is the reality? The aim of this paper is to go beyond quick and sometimes subjective assertions and to document the reality of current trainee teachers' perceptions, in the hope of responding to the specific call from the Gender and Education Network ‘Knowledge and Action’.

Together with a colleague who specialises in secularism in schools, we have designed a training course for trainee teachers at a university institute in the Paris region. For the past three years, we have both been running this annual training course, which consists of:

i) a general presentation course covering secularism, equality and related issues, as well as practical case studies (3 hours)

ii) in-depth workshops chosen by the trainee (2 x 3 hours) with professionals on a variety of practical topics all related to the integration of secularism, equality and the fight against discrimination in secondary education

iii) a platform course enabling trainees to discover a wide range of institutional and educational resources, culminating in the production of a written summary outlining the design of a classroom activity in a specific subject or interdisciplinary subject.

For this paper, our results will be drawn from the written work outlining their classroom activity projects, which concludes the platform course. The data analysed is from 2023 and 2024, i.e. 168 reports in 2023 and 461 in 2024. For 2024, the population of trainee teachers (all teaching subjects) is divided into different types (levels) of education: middle school (students aged 11 to 15) n = 120, general high school (students aged 15 to 18) n = 158, vocational and technical high school (aged 15 to 18) n = 34, without indication of internship assignment n = 144. We produced a statistical analysis at two levels: a lexicographical level (multiple correspondence factor analysis - MCA - using the open-source software Iramuteq) and a qualitative multifactorial analysis (MCA) using Excel stat software. For the lexicographic analysis (MCA), the texts were coded according to six variables: type of assignment (five categories), gender (four categories), number of contributors to the text (three categories), subject area (17 categories), and type of production (two categories). For the MQA, we selected the following variables: type of institution (middle school, high school, vocational high school), and the use of the words secularism, equality, religion, and diversity in the written work.

Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) shows a structure divided into four fairly balanced categories (representing 20% to 26% of the active words analysed) that are linked in pairs. The category of educational terms is linked to that of factors producing or revealing gender inequalities. The class of values of the Republic is linked to that of the types of actions or personnel likely to be involved in these actions. Qualitative multifactorial analysis (QMA) highlights statistically related variable associations. The resulting graph highlights statistical similarities between secularism and religious issues on the one hand, and gender equality and cultural aspects on the other. Quotes concerning the fight against LGBT discrimination are statistically linked to vocational and technical schools. Quotes about cultural diversity (the fight against stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination) are statistically linked to secondary schools and vocational high schools. Other more detailed results, including a study of sexist comments during general presentation classes (January 2026), will be presented during the communication in order to highlight i) knowledge relating to gender and sexual equality, ii) the prospects for pedagogical implementation by trainee teachers of secondary school subjects in our sample, and iii) noticeable developments.

Campbell, P. B., Sanders, J. (1997). Uninformed But Interested : Findings of a National Survey on Gender Equity in Preservice Teacher Education. Journal of Teacher Education, 48(1), 69 – 75. Lahelma, E. & Tainio, L. (2019). The long mission towards gender equality in teacher education: Reflections from a national project in Finland. Nordic Studies in Education, 39, 69 -84. Lucas-Palacios, L., García-Luque, A., Delgado-Algarra, E.J. (2022). Gender Equity in Initial Teacher Training: Descriptive and Factorial Study of Students’ Conceptions in a Spanish Educational Context. International Jounal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 8369. Minara, Y. (2023). Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions about Gender Equality, International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Growth Evaluation, 4(4), 427-431. Ministère de l’Éducation Nationale (2026). Les valeurs de la République. Education.gouv.fr. En ligne [consulté le 26 janvier 2026]