On January 15, registrations begin on Parcoursup, a major issue for high school students and a source of concern for parents. It’s difficult, in fact, to be sure of one’s direction when higher education offers more than… 23,000 courses. And all the more so since the professions of tomorrow still remain largely unknown, especially at the time of artificial intelligence. According to experts, three out of five professions should see at least 30% of their activities automated under its influence by 2030… Our big interview with Laurent Champaney, the president of the conference of the Grandes Écoles.
L’Express: What are the particularities of the grandes écoles and what is their vocation?
Laurent Champaney: All major schools have in common that they offer bac + 5 programs and train future executives. They are modeled on the company model, in the sense that they operate a selection at entry, are quite small in size and play the card of identity and common values. All meet very strict criteria such as international openness, the emphasis placed on research and the relationships maintained with companies. The role of the Conference of Grandes Écoles, which brings together 245 of them, is to help them think together about the best way to support their students so that they are able to respond to the challenges that the economic world will have to face. such as digitalization or environmental transition.
The societal issues are also very important. If I take the issue of disability, for example, we have to meet a double challenge: ensuring that we integrate the students directly concerned as best as possible, but also training them all to recruit, later, managers and employees with disabilities. Beyond the question of the quality of training, which is of course central, we pay great attention to student life, living together, questions of harassment, discrimination, sexist and sexual violence, etc.
Preparatory classes, the classic gateway to major schools, tend to frighten many students. Rightly so?
There is a gap between the public image of these prep classes and reality. Surprisingly, many of our graduates, when we ask them about the subject, tell us that these were their best years of study! It’s often talked about as an ultra-competitive stage that requires crushing others to succeed when, ultimately, there is room for everyone.
“Self-censorship can constitute a huge obstacle to social diversity”
The prep class offers many advantages; In particular, it remains the quickest way to obtain a good diploma in five years. This does not mean that this system, which requires real commitment and adherence to the principle of the competition, is suitable for everyone. Only 50% of graduates from Grandes Ecoles come from these prep classes. Some prefer to go through the Bachelor box, which has the advantage of being a little more open to the economic world and, sometimes, to the international world.
Even though efforts have been made to remedy this, the grandes écoles are still perceived as being very elitist. How to achieve greater social diversity?
Yes, the question of social diversity is one of the major challenges to be addressed and one of the questions that arises is that of financing studies. While most major schools are public or of general interest, some are hardly subsidized by the state and have high tuition fees. Others may also be very geographically distant from the students’ place of origin, which has an impact on accommodation. To help them cover these costs, some establishments offer scholarship systems or vary their prices according to the parents’ income.
The use of apprenticeship also goes in the direction of greater social openness. Today we have nearly 80,000 apprentices and 25% of them, when asked at the end, say that they would not have been able to do this type of study without going through this route. Unfortunately, the share covered by the State is constantly decreasing and today we have the impression of sailing a little by sight. We fear that certain schools, for which work-study students represent half of the workforce, will ultimately see their model called into question.
The question of orientation is also crucial. It is not uncommon for students in certain schools to have never heard of Sciences Po or HEC. How to fix it?
It is certain that we still have a major communication effort to make, particularly aimed at young people from less advantaged backgrounds. If it is difficult for us to be everywhere and to go to all the middle and high schools in France, we can rely on certain initiatives such as Les Cordées de la Stratégie. A system that connects high school students with young people from major schools in order to create emulation and give them confidence in themselves and their abilities. We realize that self-censorship can constitute a huge obstacle, in particular for many young girls who give up trying engineering schools under the pretext that “it’s not for them”. However, we know to what extent the recruitment of new students in these establishments is crucial to meeting the country’s reindustrialization needs and the challenges of ecological transition.
This is also the reason why we spoke out against certain provisions considered for a time within the framework of the immigration law last year. At a time when we are suffering from a glaring lack of graduates in many sectors, wanting to reduce the number of foreign students in France, especially in our Grandes Écoles, is a mistake.
Higher education sometimes bears the brunt of abuse on the part of certain private for-profit establishments. Isn’t it urgent to regulate this sector?
The lucrative private sector is indeed a booming sector. Among the new establishments that are being created, some play on the term “grande école” to try to create illusions about the quality of their training… when they have nothing to do with what we offer! These entities, to attract families, highlight the fact that they are not in Parcoursup and therefore appear easier to access; make people believe that the acquisition of skills takes precedence over obtaining a diploma or wrongly promise rapid professional integration at the end of their training. Even more embarrassing, they hide behind the apprenticeship card to benefit from public funds when the offer they offer is totally inadequate. Regulating the supply of private, for-profit training is therefore one of the urgent needs of the moment.
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