The Success of Apprenticeships

13Apprenticeships at ESSEC: Practice

13.1. Introduction

This contribution is written from the perspective of the teacher supervising and supporting apprentices, on the one hand, and from the perspective of the teacher who has had apprentices on his or her courses for many years, on the other. Several aspects around apprenticeships are addressed:

• – the characteristics of the system as implemented at ESSEC;
• – student motivation for learning;
• – the organization of learning over time;
• – the geographical and intercultural dimension;
• – the experience of trust in the professional environment;
• – the challenges to be considered.

13.2. Presentation of the apprenticeship system in the curriculum (MiM) of the ESSEC Business School

The MiM (Master of Science in Management) program generally lasts three years. Students come either from preparatory classes followed by a year of pre-masters courses at ESSEC itself, or from another French or international academic institution with a diploma at the bachelor level at least.

The apprenticeship is aimed at all these students, whether they are French, nationals of another European Union country or citizens of a country outside this area. It consists of providing the student with the possibility to alternate between academic and professional periods, thereby allowing concepts learned in class to meet the real life of the company and facilitating an understanding of the content of the courses in a different way, at the end of the field experiences. ...