Anne-Sophie Riopel-Bouvier is a pilot and instructor in the Canadian Armed Forces. With her father, she is the co-founder of the company EXO Tactik, which offers a specialized aerial support service for public safety using drones.

Souad Elmallem joined Bombardier Aerospace in 2011, where she rose through the ranks to become Chief Representative in Business Unit Support in 2001. Today, she heads 6temik, a consulting firm supporting manufacturers and investors interested in international development.

What challenges do women in non-traditional fields still face today?

Anne-Sophie Riopel-Bouvier: There are fewer and fewer challenges the further we advance in our careers. We have come a long way, but there are still a lot of unsaid things and unresolved feelings. When I left university, when I went to meet clients alone, they would ask me: where is your father? I was Stéphane's daughter, even if I was going to give a conference on a subject that I know better than him. Sometimes clients wouldn't look at me at all. I often feel like I don't have the right to make mistakes. I have to work harder and prove myself.

Souad Elmallem: In my field, women struggle to make their way and it pains me to see that men do not make room for women, whether consciously or unconsciously. With my various involvements, I try to contribute to improving things.

With what attitude do you defy this under-representation?

Anne-Sophie Riopel-Bouvier: Rather than making it a personal matter, I try to take the remarks philosophically. I have sometimes received verbal attacks or sexual allusions. I then try to do my job by ignoring the behavior.

I try to be myself first and foremost. When I'm in uniform, I put on makeup, I do a nice braid. My nickname in the Forces is princess. I'm proud to display my femininity because it's who I am and it shows young girls that it's possible.

Souad Elmallem: When I was little, around 11 or 12 years old, my father would hold meetings with friends at home and I would sit down to be next to him. I would often try to make a comment that the other adults would ignore. My father would interrupt them to let me speak. I was probably saying banalities, but he acted as if it was important. Thanks to this confidence acquired at a very young age, I was never impressed by any boys club. We must give our daughters a very solid education to avoid harm later on.

I never denatured myself. I never tried to talk like a man. I respect myself as a woman. To be accepted into the boys club, I had to work harder for years. Inside an organization, I find it worse than when you are in business. Today, my clients need my services, my expertise and not the other way around. I no longer feel like I have to constantly prove myself.

How to attract more women into your fields?

Anne-Sophie Riopel-Bouvier: I think it is essential that women have more services, more flexibility and adaptability in order to reconcile professional and family life. I would like to become an airline pilot one day. How will I be perceived in my environment or in the company if I take a break to have a child?

Souad Elmallem: I think we need to expose girls to non-traditional fields at a very early age. That’s where we discover ourselves and where our interests develop. Afterwards, we need to encourage them, push them and support them.

How can we better support them?

Anne-Sophie Riopel-Bouvier: Women should welcome other women in these fields. Right now, I have the impression that they are competing with each other because places are limited, but it is not true that they are. We need to help each other and identify what we need.

Souad Elmallem: “There are different initiatives like Femmessor’s whose mission is to help women progress. However, I find it unfortunate that other support programs are so restrictive that they don’t fit in with a majority of women. We often have a too simplistic and short-term thinking in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. In addition, it is important to properly support women to help them identify their needs themselves and facilitate their access to resources essential to their development.”