EDHEC expands its equal opportunities programme, EDHEC Talents Lycées

EDHEC Talents Lycées: helping high school pupils envision their futures 

Created by EDHEC Business School in 2023, the EDHEC Talents Lycées programme is destined for high school pupils in the Hauts-de-France region (including Lille) receiving bursaries. The project helps them discover higher education and the professional world, and broadens their cultural horizons, the objective being to give the participating youngsters the resources needed to envision the continuation of their studies, while ensuring they avoid a “can’t do” mindset and overcome any social, economic and cultural obstacles liable to determine their futures. The initiative was made possible by the patronage of Michael Burke, EDHEC graduate and Advisor to Bernard Arnault (former Chairman and Chief Executive of Louis Vuitton). 

There are two main facets to EDHEC Talents Lycées, both directed at the same audience: a Summer Bootcamp and an annual programme. The week-long EDHEC Talents Summer Bootcamp is designed to familiarise participants with different sectors of activity and jobs, as well as with EDHEC and its ecosystem. The high school pupils notably explore the School’s Lille campus and the Jean Arnault campus focused on entrepreneurship, and also attend classes given by the School’s professors. For its part, the EDHEC Talents annnual programme is organised around one-to-one tutoring sessions run by EDHEC student volunteers and a variety of events on and off the School’s Lille campus (general cultural conferences, company visits, meetings with professionals, etc.).

2nd edition of the annual programme: enriched content and greater participation

During the 2024-2025 academic year, EDHEC Business School’s Student Engagement and Diversity Department co-ordinated the second edition of the EDHEC Talents Lycées annual programme. The new session brought together 47 high school pupils (versus 28 in 2023-2024), drawn from all secondary education streams (professional, technological and general). To support the increase in the number of participants, 38 new tutors joined the programme. Their mission was to provide personalised support to the pupils, by giving them guidance on higher education and helping them with their revision work prior to their baccalaureate exams. As Hichem, a pupil in his penultimate year at Tourcoing’s Lycée Colbert, explains “The tutors are there for us. They help us flourish in our work and introduce us to methods that help us grow ever day”.   

In the same vein, the programme comprised 26 outside contributors originating from various professional sectors (product managers, cultural guide-lecturers, teachers, actors, human resources and sustainable development managers, R&D engineers, etc.) who delivered the 24 actions on offer (21 in 2023-2024). Grouped into four main categories (guidance and discovery of jobs and sectors, general culture, insight into the business world and personal development), the actions took the form of visits to companies or institutions (Decathlon, Lesaffre, European Commission), cultural outings (Musée de la Piscine, Colisée de Roubaix, Musée de la BD à Bruxelles, theatre, contemporary dance, etc.) and coaching sessions (speaking in public, non-verbal communication).

All these experiences helped the high school students better clarify their plans for the future and bolster their knowledge and soft skills. “The programme helped me gain a better idea of what I want to do later on”, said Yasmina, a pupil in her penultimate year at Roubaix’s Lycée Baudelaire. “I was stuck on two different sectors […] it enabled me to get to know myself better and find out a bit more about what I wanted to do”. A viewpoint shared by Lou, a pupil in her final year at Roubaix’s Lycée Saint Rémi: “It was really interesting to find out about different jobs […] the programme allows you to discover what exists out there and to say that there’s not necessarily just one door you can take and that you can maybe start somewhere and then finish up elsewhere”. 

The next highlight of the EDHEC Talents Lycées programme: the third edition of the EDHEC Summer Bootcamp from 8 to 11 July.