Local roots
emlyon business school
Reflecting our policy of openness for greater social diversity, we roll out initiatives aimed at making the world of higher education more accessible to disadvantaged or unaccustomed sectors of the population. The point of these initiatives is to put a halt to pupils' self-censorship by helping them grasp the range of possibilities open to them for building their career path.
As part of this initiative, over the past 14 years we have set up two schemes in lower- and upper-secondary schools and the French "preparatory classes", which have been awarded "Cordées de la Réussite" quality certification by the French Education Ministry:
The TUMM multi-campus, multi-district scheme and the TUP preparatory class scheme
In which high-school and preparatory-class students are tutored by coaches from the Astuce-lycéens association in a variety of formats.
- Coaches run weekly tutoring sessions to help secondary-school students with their school work. These sessions are also an opportunity to discuss the possibilities of going on to higher education and to overcome the sociological and psychological self-censorship mechanisms associated with belonging to a certain social group. These inspiring figures help show these students that a future in higher education is within their reach.
- Every year, the coaches have to plan and organize a cultural excursion for the young people they tutor. Access to culture adds another dimension to the scheme by bringing the young people into a universe from which they might feel excluded.
- Under the TUP scheme, a number of initiatives have been set up to ensure that pupils are admitted to the schools of their choice: language courses, personal development workshops and resume-writing workshops are also offered to the students in the preparatory classes.
- Coaching sessions for the oral tests in the competitive entrance exams are planned to support pupils in their applications for admission to the school.
- An annual orientation forum is also organized to present new career prospects to the pupils.
The TUMM multi-campus, multi-district scheme since the program's inception:
The TUP preparatory class scheme since the scheme's inception:
The tech "Management challenges" scheme since its inception
In addition to these schemes, emlyon business school, the Lycée Condorcet in Saint-Priest and the Lyon local education authority organize the finals of the "management challenges" competition, involving upper-secondary-school pupils in the STMG management science and technology track, and the day devoted to career success paths for upper-secondary-school pupils in the final year of the STMG track. The purpose of this day is to show secondary-school pupils that the STMG track is an elite track like any other, that it can lead to the prestigious schools and to all of the selective post-secondary tracks.
Entrepreneurs in the City
In Lyon, we are conducting a joint program with the "Sport dans la Ville" (Sport in the City) association with the objective of fostering social entrepreneurship.
The program, called Entrepreneurs in the City, is aimed at helping youth from underprivileged districts forge a livelihood through entrepreneurship. The program begins with six months in the emlyon business school incubator, followed by two years' incubation in the Sport in the City association. The scheme has a marked social dimension, since it helps young people find employment in the underprivileged districts with 25%-30% unemployment rates by restoring the self-confidence of a sector of the population with few job prospects. Moreover, we have been chosen by the BPI (a public investment bank) as a flagship program to carry out the French government's roadmap for helping to set up businesses in the underprivileged districts.
Working with the BPI will enable the school to roll out the scheme throughout France.