Embracing Differences, Rejecting Indifference

• ESCP Business School fosters diversity through new programs dedicated to topics such as dismantling racism and empowering LGBT+ leaders.
• Students learn about sustainability issues by role playing as members of the European Parliament who debate multiple perspectives on combating climate change.
• ESCP builds community through efforts such as supporting Ukrainian refugees and creating awareness campaigns against bullying and harassment.

 
The world we currently live in is quite unpredictable. We’ve experienced a succession of crises, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the war in Ukraine to ongoing global climate change.

In order to tackle these global challenges, we must shift from a “one best way” mentality to one that acknowledges that there are, in fact, multiple best ways. We must realize that embracing diverse perspectives is the key to building a better, brighter, more sustainable, and peaceful future for the generations to come. To quote Alphabet’s CEO, Sundar Pichai: “A diverse mix of voices leads to better discussions, decisions, and outcomes for everyone.”

People who confront, understand, debate, challenge, and accept multiple perspectives are displaying inclusive intelligence. They not only nurture cultural wealth, creativity, and innovation, they are more likely to come up with relevant, sustainable solutions. It is the role of higher education institutions to develop inclusive intelligence in their students. As they educate future leaders to act responsibly and inclusively, schools will be at the forefront in the fight for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB).

Each higher education institution has its own way of addressing DEIB issues based on its values, culture, and strategy. At ESCP, we do it by creating a diverse and international community. We have welcomed students and professors from across the globe since our founding in 1819. Today, we operate campuses in Paris; Berlin; London; Madrid; Turin, Italy; and Warsaw, Poland. As of 2021, we have 122 nationalities among our students and 33 nationalities among our faculty.

We are strengthening our commitment to diversity through a new strategy that offers students a variety of choices and learning experiences. We have implemented this new strategy through four pillars: expertise, sustainability, community, and progress and innovation.

Pillar No. 1: Expertise

While our role is to train the next generation of responsible business leaders, we also strive to impact the workforce today. We do this by providing both current students and working professionals with programs and course specializations that foster equity, inclusion, and diversity.

As an example, our Women in Leadership certificate program helps professionals develop their leadership styles and enhance their networking, communication, and negotiation skills in male-dominated work environments. Our LGBT+ Leadership certificate program, which is delivered on the Berlin campus, coaches LGBT+ talents to become leaders of change in organizations and society, while remaining their authentic selves.

Our Master in Management (MiM) curriculum includes courses dedicated to inclusion and diversity. For instance, two of our concentrations, Social Impact Management and Impact Entrepreneurship, both focus on strategies that prioritize impact and long-term visibility.

Our course called Dismantling Global Racism enables students to identify the methodologies to actively counteract racism in organizations and communities.

We recently added a new course called Dismantling Global Racism, which provides students with the tools to understand racism as an ideological construct. It enables them to identify the concepts, frameworks, and methodologies to actively counteract racism in organizations, communities, and societies. It also teaches them how to change mindsets and behaviors. The course pulls study materials from all continents and mobilizes information from diverse academic fields, including political science, history, genocide studies, psychology, sociology, literature, and cinema.

Pillar No. 2: Sustainability

Some of today’s most pressing challenges revolve around sustainability, which we view as both the fight against climate change and the fight for more equal societies. We believe that it’s essential to address sustainability issues through the prism of inclusion, diversity, and belonging. For this reason, ESCP has appointed an associate dean for sustainable transition to lead and implement our sustainability strategy across our six campuses.

Because of our school’s pan-European model and international nature, our students are constantly confronted with various and sometimes contradictory opinions about sustainability-related topics. We’ve chosen to view such diversity of perspectives as a strength. To that end, we’ve launched a three-day seminar called Designing Europe, which takes place at the European Parliament in Brussels.

During this seminar, all students have the chance to play the roles of members of Parliament, members of civil society, lobbyists, and representatives of other European institutions. They debate issues and work together to find common ground on handling the climate emergency, preserving biodiversity, and building a better world. Addressing these challenges from the viewpoint of all stakeholders prepares students to navigate a multi-perspective and complex world.

Pillar No. 3: Community

A business school’s community is one of the most important pillars when it comes to fostering a sense of belonging within and outside the school. Without the support of the entire community, initiatives fail. At ESCP, our community is made up of a broad network of students, faculty members, professional staff, alumni, and corporate and institutional partners. We share values and are bound by a Charter for Inclusion and Diversity.

When adversity strikes, a united community can rise to the challenge and make an impact. Our community recently showed its collective strength by launching the ESCP for Ukraine (ESCP4U) initiative to help Ukrainian refugees. Working with the ESCP Refugees Association, each of the school’s six campuses has launched a program to ensure academic continuity for 300 Ukrainian students. The campuses offer these students tuition-free language, culture, and management courses, as well as coaching sessions.

But a strong community also pulls together in nonemergency situations. For instance, at ESCP, we are making collective efforts to advocate for DEIB at every level of the organization:

• We are aiming to ensure gender equality in the boards of each of our campuses.
• We are working on eliminating the pay gap within the school. It has already narrowed from 76/100 in 2019 to 86/100 in 2021, according to France’s Professional Equality Index.
• We have created awareness and advocacy campaigns against bullying, sexual misconduct, and racist and homophobic behavior both inside and outside the school. This effort, spearheaded by the associate dean for inclusion and diversity, also includes staff and faculty members. Among the activities are student seminars that are held at the beginning of each academic year.
• We are working with student societies dedicated to building an inclusive community. For instance, Disabilities Awareness Day was organized by Fleur de Bitume ESCP, which is part of a network of French student associations that fight against exclusion. Disabilities Awareness Day received strong support from the school’s health department. The initiative raised awareness of the topic, knocked down prejudices, and highlighted the actions that have been taken at a program level.

Strengthening community is also an important goal of our business incubator, the Blue Factory, which has helped launch startups dedicated to social entrepreneurship. These include EachOne, which links refugees to local businesses, and Time2Start, which provides guidance to entrepreneurs from underprivileged neighborhoods.

Pillar No. 4: Progress and Innovation

Remaining committed to inclusive intelligence means never resting on our laurels. Business and society are constantly changing, and at ESCP, we know we must innovate along with them.

One way we do this is by providing opportunities to high-potential students from a wide variety of backgrounds. For instance, we make education available to large numbers of diverse people through MOOCs.

Through an innovative admissions process, candidates are evaluated not on their grades, but through a series of practical tests.

We also have instituted a range of innovative admissions processes. As early as 1972, we opened admissions paths dedicated to elite athletes. In 2016, we launched Talent Spring, an admissions process for students who come from disadvantaged personal backgrounds. Candidates are not evaluated on their grades; instead, they are assessed through a demanding two-day process that consists of a series of practical tests. Students who enter the school through this path receive individualized support from faculty and professional staff. Talent Spring is supervised by the associate dean for inclusion and diversity.

We also bring in diverse students through an ambitious scholarship program. With the financial support of the ESCP Business School Foundation, students from underprivileged backgrounds can adjust their tuition fees based on social and income criteria. Furthermore, since September 2021, students who have the highest scholarship rates no longer pay tuition fees. At the same time, we invite scholarship holders to participate in the Augmented Opportunities Programme, which prepares them for life at an elite European university. Through this program, they meet with and benefit from the support of alumni and peers.

Our Work Is Not Done Yet

Although both business and academic institutions have been implementing more DEIB measures in recent years, there is still room for improvement when it comes to embracing diverse perspectives. Every single stakeholder in the higher education ecosystem must continue innovating to create new and more effective levers for improving diversity.

At ESCP, many of our initiatives for diversity and inclusion have started at our headquarters. Faculty and staff at each of our European campuses are working with those at headquarters to adapt the initiatives to local contexts.

We know that, to encourage inclusive intelligence, we must make sure our educational offerings suit the needs of different kinds of learners. That might mean creating specific certificates dedicated to women or LGBT+ leaders. It might mean embracing online and hybrid delivery models that provide flexibility to working parents and international students. But it also means bringing together an entire community of researchers, alumni, students, and local businesses. Together, we can work on business endeavors that further diversity and inclusion.

Sitting at the intersection of business and education, business schools are the key drivers of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. We can lead the way in creating a better, more sustainable, and more peaceful world. Embracing differences is at the core of our mission to educate against indifference.