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While education and teaching are the first vectors of success and must enable everyone to fulfill their potential and find their role in society, socio-economic disparities have never been so high in France and have weighed heavily on access to quality education for all.

Education, an essential vector for social mobility and equal opportunity

“France is one of the European countries most affected by social determinism*: since 2002, the impact of social origin on the performance of 15-year-old pupils has risen by 33%. For example, children from working-class families account for only 7% of students in preparatory courses for the Grandes Écoles. Only 4.5% of children from working-class backgrounds graduated from a Grande Ecole between 2018 and 2020**. Only 37% of young urban residents from low-income families feel capable of entering a Grande Ecole***. Yet the Grandes Ecoles play an essential role in restarting the social ladder and promoting equal opportunity“, explains Ericka COGNE, Managing Director of Télémaque.

True to its values of achievement, responsibility and commitment, IÉSEG is already involved with associations such as Article 1 and the “Cordées de la Réussite” scheme, to make career guidance a real driver of equal opportunity. IÉSEG has thus decided to become even more involved in the fight for equal opportunities in education by making a 3-year commitment to Télémaque.

Télémaque is an association created in 2005 under an agreement with the French Ministry of Education, and is active from the 5th year of general education and from the 2nd year of professional education. It supports committed, motivated young people from economically disadvantaged areas, by providing them with double mentoring over a 6-year period in 4 key areas for their future: social and cultural openness, discovery of the professional world, self-confidence and the fight against self-censorship, as well as academic performance and success. Since its inception, Télémaque has supported over 2,000 young people with the help of committed employees and educational mentors, in partnership with over 200 partner schools in 8 regions.

For Caroline ROUSSEL, Dean of IÉSEG, “creating a diverse and inclusive environment is one of the main cornerstones of our CSR strategy. This partnership is in line with our strategic objective of reinforcing social diversity within our own school, while at the same time making us a major player in equal opportunities for secondary schools in the regions where we operate. We’re delighted to be working with Télémaque to help make higher education more accessible, whether through financial aid or by providing guidance, information and academic and professional support for young people from low-income families”.

IÉSEG sponsors Télémaque to make higher education more accessible

In concrete terms, by becoming a Télémaque patron, IÉSEG will be contributing to the association’s action by supporting the success of young people from the 5th to the 12th grades, and of the Télémaque alumni community, which currently numbers over 750 members.

In addition to financial support worth €55,000 over 3 years, 10 IÉSEG employees will join the Télémaque teams as mentors for the young people supported by the association in Ile-de-France and Lille. Finally, each year, the School will offer a 75% tuition discount to 4 young people from the Télémaque mentoring program admitted to undergraduate studies at IÉSEG.

According to Ericka COGNE, “Thanks to our sponsorship partnership with IÉSEG, we’re co-constructing a new page in our history. From now on, we’ll be able to provide even greater support for young people from disadvantaged areas, who want to build their self-confidence, choose their career path, succeed in their educational and professional careers, and thus take the first step up the social ladder. The involvement of IÉSEG mentors will open up a world of possibilities for these young people, and support the Télémaque Alumni project. We are very grateful to IÉSEG for financially supporting 4 of our students in their pursuit of higher education. It’s a tremendous support and an unexpected chance for our young people to succeed and find their place in the business world!”

Coline BRIQUET, Head of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at IÉSEG, concludes: “This partnership is fully in line with our desire to develop new mechanisms for social inclusion and diversity. The Social and Environmental Impact Department supports and develops our commitment to social inclusion and diversity, and we look forward to continuing to roll out actions both in-house and externally to fight against self-censorship and barriers that prevent many young people from even considering joining us. The creation of an Equal Opportunities Project Manager position this year, for which Fatoumata CISSOKHO has recently been recruited, will undoubtedly enable us to launch innovative and ambitious projects. And of course, in addition to dedicated resources, it is important for IÉSEG to enable employees who wish to get involved to do so on an individual basis”.

* Study “Let’s fight against our beloved social determinism” – Institut Sapiens (2019)

** Report on inequalities in France – L’Observatoire des inégalités (2023)

*** VIAVOICE study (2024)