REAL DIVERSITY

To study or to work at IÉSEG is to experience on a daily basis all the riches of diversity, or rather diversities. For the past fifteen years, the School has been cultivating “Internationalisation” at home, and is recognizable by the fact that its students, staff and professors on campus belong to one hundred different nationalities. Every day, each one of us comes across someone who is not quite like us, or not at all like us. Gender, age, disability, background, language or culture, diversity is everywhere - and the question arises of where we can find common ground, how we can understand each other, how we can reach out to each other. Nothing could be easier on paper, nothing more complex in reality. Going beyond intentions, taking diversity into account only makes sense at grass roots level and its success can only be measured by evidence, in respect of each and every one.

With 7,500 students, 500 employees and 2,000 international students, IÉSEG can certainly pride itself on experiencing diversity on a daily basis, if only through the cultural differences that make up its vitality. But making the school a culturally intelligent, inclusive, caring and respectful community cannot be decreed. It presupposes patient work that has to be done over and over again, a constant attention that finds its place in our educational project, in our research and in the training of our teams. This is demonstrated by the Cultural Diversity Passport, which all students must obtain before going on an international academic exchange. Another example is the creation of a centre of excellence for intercultural engagement, the IÉSEG Centre for Intercultural Engagement (ICIE). Created in 2016, it brings together researchers in management, human resources, marketing, etc. who explore the nature of relationships within organisations, the dynamics of diverse work groups and the development of intercultural skills. Finally, the «Dealing daily with diversity» training programme, aimed at all our employees, bears witness to this.

However, we must remain attentive: diversity is plural and other themes and other expectations are emerging, starting with greater social diversity. It is up to us to keep an eye on this every day and to take it on board in order to keep up with the world’s progress.