Isabelle Huault, President of the Executive Board and Dean of emlyon business school, believes business education should focus on creating future managers who have a more sustainable approach, strong ethics and values. Which is why, the France-based business school has been incorporating sustainability and training on climate action in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN) in all its training programmes in India and abroad.
Isabelle, who was in India recently, said the college has big plans for both its Mumbai and Bhubaneswar campuses in India. It is setting up a Maker’s Lab on the Mumbai campus which will primarily focus on ‘learning by doing’. “In fact, Maker’s Lab is characteristic of all emlyon campuses,” says the academician who is also an alumnus of emlyon business school. Using a range of learning formats, it trains students in the following major subject areas — design, the Web, the Internet of Things (IoT) and digital manufacturing. The Maker’s Lab offers three learning methods so that students can learn these skills at their own pace.
emlyon is the first Indo-French business school in India. While the Bhubaneswar campus is a tie-up between Xavier University and emlyon business school, its Mumbai campus, which will come up in October this year, is in collaboration with St Xavier's College. A dual master’s degree in Sports Industry Management is the highlight of the Bhubaneswar campus while the college plans to offer various degrees in Mumbai in near future. With Odisha turning into the Sports Capital of India and its athletes shining across the world, Isabelle says, the emlyon course in Sports Industry Management aligns with the sports strategy of the region.
Isabelle who took over the emlyon school last year says her focus is on greater international collaboration and the development of hybrid curriculums. In fact, higher education, she says, is an important leverage for peace, cooperation and development for Indo-French collaboration. "We are here to export our know-how and boost education mobility between the two countries. India has a very high potential in terms of higher education in all fields with its IITs and IIMs which is important for an institution like us," she said, adding that the focus is also on quality research.
“We have plans to introduce teaching and research in social entrepreneurship, sustainability, corporate social responsibility and environment on our campuses here,” she said. As far as student exchange is concerned, emlyon is going to host Indian students from Xavier University this year and students from Masters's and Management degrees from its Lyon campus in Mumbai next year.
The academician who prior to her stint in emlyon held several management positions at Université Paris Dauphine-PSL, one of the top public universities in France — advocates for gender equality in higher education. Women still do not have access to top positions in institutes of higher education not just in France and India but throughout the world. “There’s a glass ceiling which is yet to be shattered completely when it comes to women in higher education, STEM in particular. Even in France, positions of scientists, mathematicians, physicians are held by men. What the society needs today is a balance between men and women in every sector, education included,” she said.
