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Thirteen ways to beat harassment, sexism and homophobia

Published on 24 March 2020

Recent media investigations have revealed that a culture of student initiation rituals and harassment exists in certain establishments. The management schools' chapter of the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles (CGE) reacted to these reports, stating that: “This is a wake-up call for all of us.”

​Etienne Loos, a second-year student in SKEMA’s Master in Management, Grande Ecole programme, along with SKEMA’s various student societies, has called for students to take action by proposing 13 concrete measures and organising a meeting between schools.

“We need to be united in our response because, as students, this is an issue that concerns all of us. We must be the ones to drive the societal change that each one of us wants to see in the higher education sector. It is time for initiation rituals to become a thing of the past,” said  Etienne.

“SKEMA Business School’s student societies have reached a consensus on 13 concrete measures to apply as soon as possible in schools. These commitments are presented in an open letter that will be sent to each member-school of the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles. They will enable us to put out a nationwide call to all the student associations of French business schools and, more broadly, to any others wishing to join this movement,” he explained.

“My friends and I are inviting all student representatives of the member-schools of the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles to gather very soon in an independent venue outside of our establishments in order to discuss, as a group, the urgency of taking action to stop sexual, sexist and homophobic harassment and violence in our schools. This gathering will be an opportunity to reactivate and modernise the Bureau National des étudiants en écoles de commerce (National Bureau of Business School Students) so that we may express, with a strong and united voice, the positions we all share on such important issues,” he emphasised.

“This is a call to all management school students. It reflects the need for change that is felt everywhere. We must talk and think about how to build a model that is common to all the different associations in our schools, to ensure a healthy environment at school, share our respective best practices, and discuss how to embed the change of mentality for the long term,” he said.

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