“We want to help participants in the EDHEC Talents Lycées programme become insightful and autonomous citizens, equipped with the powers of critical thinking”

Between 8 and 11 July 2024, EDHEC Business School held the second edition of its bootcamp for  EDHEC Talents lycées, the equal opportunities programme for high school students, on its Lille campus. Completely free of charge and organised around a variety of events (company visits, creative workshops, classes), the camp was offered to 41 high school students receiving bursaries*, in order to give them the chance to consider their study and career choices, and to bolster their general knowledge. The initiative was made possible by the patronage of Michael Burke, EDHEC graduate of the class of 1980 and Advisor to the Chairman, Groupe LVMH. 

EDHEC Talents Lycées: a comprehensive initiative

Created by EDHEC Business School in 2023 and run by the School’s Student Engagement and Diversity department, the EDHEC Talents Lycées programme is destined for high school pupils receiving bursaries. The initiative seeks to improve their knowledge of higher education and the professional world, the objective being to give the participating youngsters the resources needed to envision their future studies, while ensuring they avoid any “can’t do” mindset and overcome any social, economic and cultural obstacles liable to determine their futures.

There are two main facets to EDHEC Talents Lycées: a summer bootcamp and an annual programme. The week-long summer bootcamp is designed to familiarise participants with different sectors of activity and jobs, to broaden their cultural horizons and to enable them to explore EDHEC and its ecosystem. For its part, the EDHEC Talents annual programme is organised around tutoring sessions run by EDHEC student volunteers and a variety of events (conferences, round tables, classes, visits, etc.) both on and off the School’s Lille campus.

Day One: understanding EDHEC and its ecosystem 

Day One of the 2024 bootcamp began with the “Business Communication” English class taught by Patricia Vernier, lecturer at the School. After an individual presentation of each high school pupil, Patricia Vernier raised participants’ awareness of the concepts of hard and soft skills, particularly curiosity, empathy and team spirit. She also advised them on oral expression. Then, after being split into groups, the high school pupils were asked to consider the different careers they were interested in and the different elements facilitating access to them (studies, soft and hard skills, internships). Each team finished by presenting the pathways for their preferred careers in front of the class.  

In the afternoon participants attended the “Culture & Business” class taught by Isabelle Sequeira, Professor and Deputy Director of EDHEC’s Management and Human Sciences department. During the session, Isabelle Sequeira explained EDHEC’s historical, economic and social background. She mentioned the entrepreneurs in northern France in the 20th century, the textile factories in Roubaix and the Villa Cavrois, a modern chateau created by Robert Mallet-Stevens in 1932 for the industrialist Paul Cavrois and located near the School. The class continued with a presentation of the history of the campus buildings, such as the Anglo-Norman manor house built by Jacques Greber in 1924, the Villa Dutilleul and the main building, designed in the 1980s by the Franco-Italian architect Jean-Pierre Buffi. The second half of the session was devoted to considering the words “difference” and “culture” (artistic, political, historical, etc.) and the importance of these two concepts in the business world. 

At the end of the day, EDHEC students, acting as volunteer tutors during the bootcamp, enabled the participants to discover the campus by hunting for clues deposited in various locations earlier on.  

Discovering the business world and exploring artistic practices  

On the following days, the high school pupils discovered two companies - Ubisoft and Publicis – visited the Plaine Images incubator and met start-up founders. Programme participants also familiarised themselves with the creative arts. They notably met artist Tommy Knuts, a former graphic designer with Décathlon, and took part in a writing workshop and created an artistic fresco. “The bootcamp provided the opportunity to talk about painting, sculpture, music, dance, literature, theatre, cinema and many other forms of creation. The high school pupils thus discovered that art is a means of conveying emotions and ideas, and of broadening one’s horizons”, underlines Naomi Scacchia, EDHEC Talents project manager. 

Providing insight into the professional world and immersing participants in the creative universe, this second edition of the EDHEC Talents Lycées bootcamp also aimed to give high school pupils the keys to understanding the world of today, as explained by Alexandre Caron, Director of Student Engagement and Diversity: “The aims of the camp went well beyond the acquisition of knowledge. We want to help these youngsters become insightful and autonomous citizens, equipped with the powers of critical thinking. We want to give them ambition and enable them to dream big. Our goals are to open up the range of possibilities and give them the tools needed to construct their futures”. 

* The EDHEC Talents Lycées programme is open to bursary pupils in secondary education and students eligible for a higher education bursary.