This report, written at the request of the Scientific Council of the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), aims to take stock of the intellectual and institutional situation of gender studies in France in the early 2000s. It presents a number of principles for action to be implemented to develop this field in France and proposes a number of strategic and thematic actions for the SHS (Human and Social Sciences) department to enable French research to regain an internationally competitive level in this field.

In addition to thematic recommendations for the humanities and social sciences, the report - following the recommendations of the European community - suggests a series of avenues for raising awareness of gender and sex issues among researchers in the exact sciences and moving towards interdisciplinary work in this area (by developing, for example, the fields of 'gender and medicine' or 'gender and health').

Finally, the appendices briefly outline the context and state of play of these studies in France, present the main existing structures and networks, and list the scientists consulted for the forward-looking workshop and the report.