{"id":117231,"date":"2026-04-01T13:31:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T11:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ae-expo.be\/inclusion-as-a-lever-for-growth-and-innovation\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T13:34:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T11:34:33","slug":"inclusion-as-a-lever-for-growth-and-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ae-expo.be\/en\/inclusion-as-a-lever-for-growth-and-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"Inclusion as a Lever for Growth and Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

What if innovation doesn\u2019t just depend on technology, but also on who develops it? This question is at the heart of Fran\u00e7oise Chombar\u2019s (Melexis) keynote at Advanced Engineering. With her talk on STEMinism and Womenomics, she aims to challenge engineers and business leaders to rethink innovation, talent, and competitiveness.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\u201cCompanies often talk about innovation, but rarely about inclusion and diversity as its driving force,\u201d Fran\u00e7oise notes. \u201cAnd yet, that is where a huge opportunity lies.\u201d She fundamentally disagrees with the idea that European industry is currently trapped between the U.S. in the West and China in the East. On the contrary, she sees a clear opportunity.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

\u201cTime to stop complaining and start leveraging our advantage.\u201d<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\u201cWe are almost the last bastion of democracy and inclusion. In countries where women still hold an inferior position, they deliberately choose STEM education to gain independence. If we attract that talent and give them opportunities, we can not only address our shortage of technical profiles but also move faster toward gender balance. Time to stop complaining and start leveraging our advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

How Inclusion Drives Innovation<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Fran\u00e7oise Chombar supports her point with a clear business case, turning diversity into not a \u2018soft\u2019 topic, but a direct lever for innovation. \u201cCompanies that do not consciously invest in diversity limit their own innovation capacity. If you want innovation, you need different perspectives. Teams that are too homogeneous tend to think in the same direction and miss alternative solutions and ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

With the term STEMinism<\/em>, she deliberately links technology and inclusion. It\u2019s not just about gender, but about how organizations handle talent in the broadest sense. \u201cSTEMinism is about how we, as a society, deal with people, their talents, and how we can help them flourish for everyone\u2019s well-being\u2014and for innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

She notes that this is still a significant blind spot, especially in technical sectors. \u201cMany companies are not actively addressing this. They build solutions but rarely pause to consider who is at the table. That\u2019s detrimental, because inclusivity and diversity create the magic of innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

The ROI of Diversity<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Beyond innovation, there is also a purely economic logic. With Womenomics, Fran\u00e7oise refers to the idea that companies perform better when they reflect their market.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a product developer, your end market is usually very diverse. But when you look at companies and their teams, that reality isn\u2019t reflected. You\u2019re missing the opportunity to truly understand your market.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

\u201cDiversity is a means to achieve better results.\u201d<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

This affects everything\u2014from product development to marketing and sales. \u201cIf you want to develop products that resonate with a broad audience, you need a broadly composed team working on them. Otherwise, you miss crucial insights that show up in sales figures. Diversity is not an end in itself here; it is a means to achieve better results.\u201d<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

From Awareness to Action<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Fran\u00e7oise also offers practical tools to turn this mindset into action. The first step is awareness, but it shouldn\u2019t stop there. \u201cLeaders need to actively communicate this mindset and act on it. Only then can you identify bottlenecks: in hiring, career progression, or retention.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

These bottlenecks often lie in small, almost invisible mechanisms that have a big impact on who you attract and retain. Even the wording in job postings can make a difference. \u201cThe language used in technical and innovative job postings is often very masculine, which puts off many women. If you choose gender-sensitive wording, you also appeal to women\u2014without deterring men.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

At the same time, much of the solution lies in highlighting what already works. \u201cTeams that are already diverse and embrace it tend to excel faster in innovation. There\u2019s a lot of evidence for this, but it\u2019s underutilized. Making these examples visible and including people in them creates role models. And these role models are what encourage others to follow.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Inclusion as a Success Factor<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

These concrete examples and insights form the throughline of her Advanced Engineering keynote. Fran\u00e7oise aims to provide practical tools\u2014not just another abstract talk on diversity, but actionable insights that companies can implement immediately and that have real impact.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m telling a story of opportunity and hope. The talk will show that an inclusive approach to your operations will make you more successful.\u201d With that insight, she hopes the audience will reflect when they return to the workplace: \u201cDoes my team reflect the market I serve? If not, what does that mean for my innovation capacity and results? And how can I change that?\u201d<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Why STEMinism and Womenomics are a mighty twin for Europe\u2019s future<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Thursday, May 7<\/p>\n

10:30 – 11:00\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Main\u00a0Stage\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What if innovation doesn\u2019t just depend on technology, but also on who develops it? This question is at the heart of Fran\u00e7oise Chombar\u2019s (Melexis) keynote at Advanced Engineering. With her talk on STEMinism and Womenomics, she aims to challenge engineers and business leaders to rethink innovation, talent, and competitiveness. \u201cCompanies often talk about innovation, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1651,"featured_media":117165,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Inclusion as a Lever for Growth and Innovation","_seopress_titles_desc":"Interview with Fran\u00e7oise Chombar on how inclusion and diversity drive innovation and help companies grow in a competitive market.","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[352],"tags":[],"edition":[],"class_list":["post-117231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration-corner-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ae-expo.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ae-expo.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ae-expo.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ae-expo.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1651"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ae-expo.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117231"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ae-expo.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117232,"href":"https:\/\/www.ae-expo.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117231\/revisions\/117232"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ae-expo.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ae-expo.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ae-expo.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ae-expo.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117231"},{"taxonomy":"edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ae-expo.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/edition?post=117231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}