Apprenticeships are now widely accepted by all stakeholders as a means of enabling the development of young people’s skills and ensuring their successful integration into companies. The scope of apprenticeship training has gradually broadened and, since the 1990s, has developed in higher education. In France, the ESSEC Business School introduced apprenticeships in 1993, with a knock-on effect in higher education. At the beginning of 2018, 166,000 apprenticeship contracts concluded in France concerned higher education diplomas, representing 38% of the total, a percentage that has been steadily increasing in recent years.

A large number of executives have thus benefited from apprentice status. Many managers have acted as apprenticeship managers in companies. Many teachers have been involved in the follow-up of the apprenticeship pathway as tutors. Surveys show that the experiences of apprentices, their tutors and apprenticeship managers have made a real contribution to each of these actors and contributed to the development of their respective professional skills.

This book aims to cross-reference the views of each of these stakeholders on the basis of their experiences of learning as apprentices, teacher-tutors or apprenticeship managers. The testimonies of the 48 co-authors highlight how an apprenticeship has enabled them to improve their professional skills and practices and advanced their organization.

The interaction between these three actors in the work/study process has made it possible to develop not only the skills of apprentices, but also those of the people who have supported them, tutors and apprenticeship teachers in companies. The formalization of the support processes has contributed to the enrichment of all the actors involved in an apprenticeship.

The term “all apprentices” reflects the co-development that apprenticeship promotes. The creation of an authentic apprenticeship community – apprentice, apprenticeship manager and tutor – is part of the creation of an apprenticeship ecosystem in which everyone reaps the benefits in terms of developing their skills.

This book is structured in four parts. The first is devoted to the challenges of an apprenticeship in the training system. Thirteen co-authors, teachers and HR managers present the diversity and breadth of apprenticeship issues. Florence Le Fiblec and Michel Gordin underline the need for dedicated pedagogical engineering based on the pioneering experience of the ESSEC Business School.

Can the apprentice become a serial learner? Soufyane Frimousse and Jean-Marie Peretti bring the apprentice’s experience into a perspective of learning and developing the now essential talent of serial learning. The serial learner has the ability to train and learn throughout his or her life. He or she is attentive to developments affecting his or her business and anticipates the development of new skills. He or she becomes an actor in the development of his or her employability. The apprentice’s experience develops this talent. Véronique Billat and Mireille Blaess bring their practitioners’ perspective on the impact of apprenticeship methods on innovation at the heart of a company. Christian Defélix and Pierre-Yves Sanséau are interested in the case of the entrepreneur-director in an apprenticeship position “when managers learn competence”. Béchir Benlahouel and Maria-Giuseppina Bruna underline the promise of work-linked training within the framework of a major management school, IPAG, for agile professionalism and postural learning. Sana Henda studies apprenticeship as a stepping stone to professional integration based on the experience of ESC Amiens. The contribution of Sandrine Ansart and Pierre Yves Sanséau, based on the experience of an apprenticeship within GEM, is devoted to reflexivity in management apprenticeships and concludes this first part.

The second part presents the views of the actors involved in the apprenticeship process, with examples from five higher education institutions. Alain Bernard traces the birth of apprenticeship at ESSEC Business School and its development under his leadership. Nathalie Montargot and Dominic Drillon bring their perspective, as committed actors within ESC La Rochelle, on the key factors for the success of an apprenticeship pathway. Based on the experience of nearly 25 years of ESC Pau, Fernando Cuevas and Arnaud Gimenez present the beneficiaries of apprenticeships.

The apprentice’s point of view on the interest of the role for his or her business school training is developed by Mirella Blaise and Sophie Rivière. Bruno Bouniol brings the thoughts of the head of a higher education institution engaged in apprenticeships. Wolfgang Dick gives his testimonial as a teacher-tutor of many apprentices in a leading French business school. Christophe Storai and Soufyane Frimousse, who are tutors and in charge of an apprenticeship training center, present their experience of apprenticeships in higher education in an island territory, Corsica. Gilles Lambert, Dominique Siegel and Lovanirina Ramboarison-Lalao study the added value of apprenticeships for a company based on the experience of the Master’s Degree in Entrepreneurship at EM Strasbourg.

The third part discusses the experiences of work-linked training on three continents in countries with very diverse practices. Éric Davoine and Ludger Deitmer present the German practice of dual training through apprenticeships and question the exportable nature of this model, often taken as a reference. Sandra McNally sheds light on apprenticeships in England, with a focus not only on their nature but also on their volume. Mouloud Madoum studies the Indian apprenticeship experience in going beyond meeting the needs of the economy to reconnect work and values. Management apprenticeships in Africa are addressed in two chapters. The case of Madagascar is presented by Lovanirina Ramboarison-Lalao and Landisoa Rabeson. The cases of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo are presented by Richard Delaye, Pierre Dinassa-Kilenko, Yvette Ikolo and Gabriel Bernerd, pioneers of its introduction in Central Africa to train African managers and fight against the “talent drain”. The Chinese and Japanese models are also presented. Junko Takagi studies Japanese apprenticeships – learning-by-doing – a concept that is still new in management. Kate-Yue Zhang and Jean-Luc Cerdin highlight the craftsmanship spirit of the Chinese apprenticeship model.

The fourth part is devoted to apprenticeship perspectives, reforms to be implemented and research to be carried out to ensure that an apprenticeship contributes to sustainable employability. Sylvie Brunet, President of the Labor and Employment Section of the Conseil économique, social et environnemental (CESE) and author of the summary report of consultations for the development of apprenticeships, presented the orientations of apprenticeship reform, an asset that can renew the French social model. Corinne Forasacco and Sylvie Chartier-Gueudet question the ecology of apprenticeships, from individuals to organizations, to promote the creation of a personal apprenticeship ecosystem. Olivier Fourcadet presents an apprenticeship as a lever for conversation. For Marie Peretti-Ndiaye and François Silva, a paradigm shift is needed so that everyone can become learners. For Abdelwahad Ait Razouk and Anne Herveou, the quality of employment is a challenge to the effectiveness of higher education apprenticeships. Laurent Bibard, in the chapter entitled “All Apprentices”, underlines this need for a permanent apprenticeship dynamic. In the conclusion, Kushal Sharma and Jean-Luc Cerdin advocate research on apprenticeships and propose a research agenda that includes the different stakeholders in apprenticeships, with a particular focus on apprenticeships in an international context.

In the context of profound organizational transformation and the constant renewal of the skills needed to be employable and successful throughout a longer working life, the experience of the apprentice is an asset. The development of apprenticeships at all levels, especially in higher education, is seen as a major necessity.

Introduction written by Jean-Luc CERDIN and Jean-Marie PERETTI.