

26 March 2024
EM Normandie is taking action to combat harassment and discrimination
SD & CSR
EM Normandie Business School is dedicated to raising awareness and training its community to combat discrimination and sexual and gender-based violence. With departments such as "Wellbeing and Inclusion" and "Associations and Campus Life" the school is working harder than ever to promote diversity and look after the well-being of its students and employees: it joined the #StOpE initiative on 25 January 2023 and is now a member of the French Association of Diversity Managers (AFMD). The EM Normandie Student Federation actively supports these programmes and offers training to address sexual and gender-based violence for students on its 3 French campuses.
On 25 January 2023, EM Normandie became a member of the French Association of Diversity Managers (AFMD), strengthening its commitment to preventing discrimination and promoting diversity management. It is now part of a community of more than 160 organisations that advocate a more inclusive world of work. As such, it has access to the knowledge and experience of other members as it develops and rolls out diversity and inclusion policies.
EM Normandie will take part in various AFMD activities: exchanging good practice and tools, working groups, mentoring programme, etc. The school will also get involved in group discussions and share experience and the results of schemes implemented. It will therefore play a role in creating tools and publications, allowing a maximum number of people to grasp the subjects of diversity and inclusion at work, in accordance with AFMD’s status, i.e., a public interest organisation.
The Business School already supports the #StOpE initiative, founded in 2018 by Accor, EY and L'Oréal France and coordinated by the AFMD, which fights everyday sexism in the workplace. The charter consists of 8 commitments, including “providing targeted training that combats everyday sexism” and “sharing educational tools with employees to address sexist behaviour in the workplace”. The scheme is now supported by some 200 signatories.
Concrete initiatives on campus
In line with these commitments, EM Normandie is taking steps to raise awareness of these social issues among future graduates, with the help of the EM Normandie Federation of Students. This organisation plays a big part in the strategic developments of the school, particularly in terms of CSR, and has come up with an anti-SGBV plan and organised training on French campuses. In order to achieve this, the Federation sought the support of Hally, founded by the HandsAway campaign, which, since 2018, has focused on preventing sexual and gender-based violence. For 3 hours on each campus, EM Normandie students learned how to identify, prevent and take action against SGBV.
The session first covered the legal definitions of sexual and gender-based violence, associated criminal sanctions and aggravating factors, and the definition of consent. Students also learned about the psychological mechanisms at work during and after an incident. They were then asked to work in groups to discuss what they could improve or implement in their own student associations to prevent these kinds of incidents and how to react in problematic situations and incident reporting.
The students got very involved in the discussions and exercises and seem keen to put them into practice. The purpose of this training, which ended with a reminder of internal processes and external support, was also to make them aware of their responsibilities as students and heads of associations, and to give them the necessary resources and tools to combat SGBV. The Federation of Students is now considering developing its anti-SGBV action plan to involve students on all campuses.
These initiatives reinforce the "People for Good" dimension of the "School for Good" strategic direction of EM Normandie, which seeks to become a pioneering organisation in the face of current challenges by encouraging its entire community to take social responsibility. A “Good Place to Be”, led by “Good People” is the ultimate aim.
Since we are training students to become the socially responsible and committed managers of tomorrow, we must encourage them to take action against sexual and gender-based violence during their studies so that they can combat sexism in the workplace in the long term, and advocate healthier and more inclusive environments
explains Élian Pilvin, Dean of EM Normandie.
This type of training enables us to raise students' awareness of respect and gender equality and address inappropriate behaviour. This is particularly useful for members of associations (Students' Union, Sports Society, Arts Society) who arrange the most social, and potentially ‘risky’, events at the school. As students, we want to help create a more equal society that respects everyone’s rights, regardless of their gender
adds Louis Pichon, Executive Secretary of the Student Federation.
Ces articles peuvent vous intéresser
-
New Chair at EM Normandie: the European Chair of Excellence in Circular Economy…
05 November 2024
-
Making sustainable mobility your business’ conference on 1 October 2024 on the…
24 September 2024
-
EM Normandie Business School students work on the UN's 17 SDGs as part of the…
18 June 2024
-
The Sulitest international initiative gains momentum, raising €1.5 million to…
26 March 2024