True to its pioneering spirit, ESSEC was the first French business school to offer the apprenticeship pathway. This was 25 years ago, and this anniversary is an opportunity to recall all the topicality and relevance of this pedagogical model, which is constantly evolving to meet the challenges of tomorrow. Throughout this book, edited by two ESSEC professors, Jean-Marie Peretti and Jean-Luc Cerdin, you will find testimonies on the good practices developed through the long experience of the school, as well as very many contributions from teachers from other institutions around the world.

ESSEC introduced the notion of an apprenticeship in the early 1990s, offering its students this privileged link with companies and allowing students to benefit from a first experience of work, financing their schooling at the same time as providing a first salary. Today, ESSEC has a know-how unique in France, based on a quarter of a century of experience, 6,500 apprentices trained and a network of 1,200 partner companies.

To better measure what apprenticeships have brought as a pedagogical and social innovation in a major French business school, it is worth returning to the revolution that apprenticeships represented, after the first transformation that was the incorporation of internships in companies into ESSEC programs in the early 1970s. Internships in companies then, and today, consisted of shorter periods of up to six months. This highly appreciated model, which is based on the pedagogical value of the business experience integrated into the academic background of students, was based on the model of engineering schools. The aim was to apply the knowledge taught in the school and acquire “know-how”.

By accessing apprenticeship contracts, students quickly understood the added value of this model, which pushes integration much further than internships: companies offered them long-term assignments that matched their skills and expectations. Indeed, the engagement of apprentices in a two-year contract allowed both the company to better understand their skills in order to entrust them with relevant missions and projects and the apprentices to integrate into the company’s culture and to develop the “know-how” essential to successfully carrying out the projects for which they were responsible. With apprenticeships, students not only discovered a company and a sector of activity but also became a fully fledged actor.

As a result, the introduction of apprenticeship at ESSEC has made it possible, beyond quantitative change (duration of the period in the company), to make a qualitative leap in the acquisition of new skills. The experience of apprentices has been so valued that some companies, and not insignificant ones, have decided to grant a salary and hierarchical advantage to the ESSEC apprentices they hired at the end of their degree.

An apprenticeship is an essential element of the education-by-experience model that ESSEC offers. This is a guarantee of the relevance of our programs because it allows us to be as close as possible to the skills needs of companies on a global scale. It is a response to the challenges of the constant evolution of professions and the professional environment in the digital age, where these changes are accelerating ever faster. Through the unique link it creates between students and companies, an apprenticeship also encourages the emergence of alternative pedagogies.

Apprenticeships are also a commitment to the model of openness that ESSEC has made an essential component of its excellence and distinctiveness. ESSEC must make its training programs accessible to all talents, thus contributing to having a global impact for the benefit of business, the economy and society. An apprenticeship is a concrete lever for social openness, as it allows talented students, regardless of their financial resources or background, to access excellent training and successfully enter the labor market.

Thanks to the apprenticeship tax, ESSEC has been able to develop the excellence of its research and teaching. The funding that supports apprenticeships has been decisive in enabling ESSEC to bring to life and sustain its unique pedagogical model, which combines the acquisition of cutting-edge knowledge with the development of know-how and interpersonal skills, which are all major levers for professional success for our apprentices.

As I write these words, the French government is preparing an apprenticeship reform. To anticipate this, ESSEC has taken a series of ambitious new measures. The first decision is to open new programs to apprenticeship to better meet the new needs of businesses. This expansion of apprenticeship programs will go hand in hand with an increase in our number of apprentices, with a target of 1,000 apprentices in 2021. We will also strengthen individual support for apprentices in the definition and construction of their professional projects according to their motivations and skills. Apprentices with disabilities will benefit from enhanced and specific support. As a world school, ESSEC will finally develop international apprenticeship formulas co-constructed with companies and our international academic partners.

The value of learning as a human being is in line with one of the historical values of ESSEC and marks the uniqueness of the leadership model that our school is preparing. The human dimension of business that ESSEC instills also reflects the expectations of citizens who consider that the role of business is no longer only to create profit but also to do so by creating social value and having a positive impact on the world.

To embody this logic of co-construction, ESSEC intends to make its CFA, the Centre de formation d’apprentis (apprenticeship training center), a privileged place for exchange for companies, industries and public authorities, in order to continue to be an ambassador institution for this training model, which combines the relevance of the field with academic rigor.

Vincenzo ESPOSITO VINZI
Director General of ESSEC