Inclusive Territories 2 E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 311

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Inequalities and other "social fractures" mark our contemporary economies and societies. While global approaches may have long been sufficient in the past, the focus today is on how local dynamics can make inclusion possible. This two-volume collective work reports on these local dynamics, shedding light on how the creation of inclusive territories can be envisaged and developed. To this end, the involvement of public, private and associative organizations has been identified as one of the conditions for success. In fact, they act both as partners in a territory and as inclusive spaces. Inclusive Territories 2 focuses on local partnerships that promote inclusion, presenting existing arrangements and discussing conditions for their impetus.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Introduction: Local Ecosystems that Undertake to Promote Inclusion

PART 1: Inclusion of Discriminated and Marginalized Populations in a Territory

1 The Inclusion of People from Disadvantaged Territories: Two SMEs in Seine-Saint-Denis

1.1. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and diversity in SMEs

1.2. Barriers and drivers for the recruitment and integration of people from disadvantaged areas

1.3. Contextualizing the inclusion of people from disadvantaged territories

1.4. Conclusion

1.5. References

2 “Territories with Zero Long-Term Unemployment” through the Lens of Neo-Institutional Theory

2.1. Inclusive practice

2.2. The perspective of neo-institutional theory

2.3. Case study: the territories with zero long-term unemployment experiment

2.4. Conclusion

2.5. References

3 The Inclusion of Lebanese Women with Breast Cancer: Between Stigma and Resilience

3.1. From a social identity robbed by disease to stigmatization and resilience

3.2. The perspectives of 25 Lebanese women with breast cancer in the workplace

3.3. Conclusion

3.4. References

4 Women Entrepreneurs from Deprived Areas as Generators of Inclusion: A Capabilities Interpretation

4.1. Proposition of a framework for analyzing the inclusive territory

4.2. A qualitative and sensitive approach to local women’s entrepreneurship

4.3. The capabilities of women entrepreneurs: a potential tool for inclusion

4.4. The contribution of capabilities and the question of granularity

4.5. Conclusion

4.6. References

PART 2: The Stakeholders of Inclusive Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

5 From Fighting Exclusion to Projects for Inclusion: The Evolution of Public and Private Policies

5.1. A brief history of the fight against social exclusion in France

1

5.2. European policies: from anti-exclusion to pro-inclusion incentives

5.3. Corporate dynamics and inclusive policies

5.4. Public policies for inclusion at the territorial level

5.5. Conclusion

5.6. References

6 Inclusive Governance in AOC Champagne

6.1. The Champagne sector as a practice area for the implementation of inclusive governance

6.2. A literature review of professional perspectives in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic

6.3. Inclusive governance in AOC Champagne

6.4. Conclusion

6.5. References

7 Promoting Inclusive Partnership Dynamics within a Territory: The Case of Territories with Zero Long-Term Unemployment

7.1. The impotence of public policies in the face of unemployment in France

7.2. Building a new common good: employment

7.3. A source as close as possible to the territories

7.4. Unprecedented unanimity in the French Parliament

7.5. Confidence in the unemployed (an excluded population)

7.6. The local employment committee: a new tool for shared governance

7.7. The role of the actors’ representations

7.8. Compensation for territorial inequalities

7.9. Changing attitudes

7.10. An unprecedented articulation between the territory and the national dimension

7.11. Social work transformed by access to employment for all

7.12. Highlighting the different aspects of poverty

7.13. New indicators to move towards an “unknown desirable”

7.14. Conclusion

7.15. References

8 The Contribution of Quebec’s Community Credit Organizations to Social and Territorial Development

8.1. Community credit in Quebec

8.2. Community credit and inclusive dynamics in the territories: the Mauricie region

8.3. Conclusion

8.4. References

Conclusion: The Enterprise of Territorial Inclusion: A Societal Transformation

References

List of Authors

Index

Other titles from iSTE in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Management

End User License Agreement

List of Tables

Chapter 1

Table 1.1 Initial approach to the drivers of and obstacles to recruitment an...

Chapter 4

Table 4.1 The various methods of data collection deployed from 2013 to 2017...

Chapter 5

Table 5.1. Extracts from the sites of 30 multinational companies

Chapter 6

Table 6.1. Study of professionals’ perspectives

Table 6.2. Convergence of professionals’ perspectives

Table 6.3. General comments from each of the three groups of professionals

Chapter 8

Table 8.1. Impact of entrepreneurial microcredit in Quebec over the past 20 ...

Table 8.2. Small business creation and maintenance by year with and without ...

Table 8.3. Job creation and maintenance in businesses supported by Fonds Mau...

List of Illustrations

Chapter 8

Figure 8.1. Typical education level of people applying for Fonds Mauricie su...

Guide

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

Conclusion: The Enterprise of Territorial Inclusion: A Societal Transformation

List of Authors

Index

Other titles from iSTE in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Management

WILEY END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

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Territorial Entrepreneurship and Innovation Set

coordinated byDidier Chabaud, Florent Pratlong and Carlos Moreno

Volume 2

Inclusive Territories 2

Role of Institutions and Local Actors

Edited by

Martine Brasseur

Annie Bartoli

Didier Chabaud

Pascal Grouiez

Gilles Rouet

First published 2024 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address:

ISTE Ltd27-37 St George’s RoadLondon SW19 4EUUK

www.iste.co.uk

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.111 River StreetHoboken, NJ 07030USA

www.wiley.com

© ISTE Ltd 2024The rights of Martine Brasseur, Annie Bartoli, Didier Chabaud, Pascal Grouiez and Gilles Rouet to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s), contributor(s) or editor(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of ISTE Group.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023945011

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA CIP record for this book is available from the British LibraryISBN 978-1-78630-856-6

IntroductionLocal Ecosystems that Undertake to Promote Inclusion

Since 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a new awareness of “territories”, which have often been blamed for the globalization and financialization of the economy or obscured by these processes. In the 21st century, territories appear to be at the center of various societal concerns, and are considered to be relevant spaces regarding the increasingly sought-after balance between the global and local spheres. They can be analyzed as places of sociability, identification, individual or collective anchoring and even solidarity. Territorialization, or a need for territory, is a crucial part of individuals’ daily lives. However, it is also essential for companies and organizations more generally and can provide a framework to their stakeholders who need it. The topic of territories cuts across geography, politics and economics, as well as sociology, anthropology and psychology, among other disciplines.

Territories are also thought of by way of digital technology, networks and interactions. They emerge then as a network in the virtual world that does not resemble local coordinations or physical neighborhoods. As such, the traditional approaches to territory in terms of distance or proximity have been called into question, since territories can no longer be defined solely according to geographical criteria. However, whether a territory is physical or virtual and whether the relations that are forged there are direct or digital, inclusion can be seen as an objective, a value and a dynamic.

Territories are the subject of numerous planning processes and programs that aim to improve the daily lives of inhabitants. The areas of intervention are numerous – employment, the environment, transport and communication infrastructures, education, culture, health, etc. – and programs are targeted at categorizations of citizens, which change over time. Thus, sustainable changes can be made to contexts, urban or rural landscapes and uses linked to social or economic activities, as well as to various forms of consumption.

Investigations into citizens’ expectations are increasingly being undertaken to support these approaches. In turn, the legitimacy of these approaches lies in their political project – whether on a local, regional or national scale, or even at the European or international level – as well as in their mediatization and the available resources that can be available to them. As for the concrete application of these numerous measures or perspectives, it is most often best left to the actors themselves, and in particular to the institutions and organizations within the territories concerned, even though the logics of these stakeholders are not all easily or spontaneously understood.

As far as companies in particular are concerned, although some of their actions can be attributed to economic and political factors or motivations, they have also developed a variety of inclusive approaches on their own behalf. Inclusion can therefore be defined as both a state and a process. Likewise, societies are experiencing a shift in the hierarchy of values, and it is no longer just a matter of putting in place mechanisms to combat exclusion; now, it is more a matter of advocating for the participation of organizations in a global social project that goes beyond social adjustments or systems for compensating inequalities and neglect.

At the heart of inclusive territorial dynamics, it is the actors, agents, citizens, users and organizations with their issues, interactions, implications, doubts and certainties, along with their contradictions, which together constitute elements of diversity, vitality or innovation. Inclusion in territories leads us to rethink the question of proximity, especially given the fact that relationships also exist through digital technology. Proximity, in its various forms, perhaps reflects an expectation that is linked to a search for meaning in action. Organizations have a de facto form of territorial responsibility, which is linked to the meaning attributed to their activities and the value generated. They are thus likely to be involved in cohesive approaches, responding to both internal and external expectations and promoting the creation or restoration of trust between social categories.

Organizations, and in particular companies, are thus important political actors with a role to play in sustainable development, social responsibility and inclusion. Alongside, or upstream of, these general considerations, numerous analyses and research perspectives make it possible to establish this global understanding in the current functioning of organizations: for example, the link between competitiveness and corporate social responsibility, the performance of relations between public contractors in an approach with societal stakes or the avoidance of relations between the company and the territory. However, territories are diverse, as are organizations and their modes of action, which are part of specific social and cultural realities. As such, a global theorization does not seem sufficient, as the analysis must take adaptations and contingencies into account.

Territorial development is, or should be, inclusive. In the past, certain policies have often centered around entrepreneurship, which creates activity and jobs, in order to revitalize regions, achieve reconversions or generate new social and economic opportunities. The entrepreneurial dynamics, in this global project of society, are therefore real instruments of territorialization, and hence of inclusion, not only because they can create jobs but also because they are meaningful for territories and for the coherence of the whole in terms of activities and implications for everyone.

This book, Inclusive Territories 2, follows a first volume that addressed inclusion on a territory as a project for organizations. This book is divided into two parts, which mirror our two angles of approach.

In Part 1, we focus on the initiatives that have been implemented in territories to support the inclusion of discriminated and excluded populations. In particular, we consider professional integration (Chapters 1 and 2) and equality and inequality between women and men (Chapters 3 and 4), which allow us to identify the ways in which SMEs (Chapter 1) and national programs (Chapter 2) – such as the territories with zero long-term unemployment scheme – contribute to promoting inclusion. The next two chapters deal with specific, but no less important, population groups that are discriminated against due to serious medical conditions (Chapter 3) or because of a person’s place of origin or residence (Chapter 4).

Part 2 builds on this by examining the mobilization of all of the stakeholders in a territory. Chapter 5 puts public and private policies into perspective and attempts to show how we can move from attempting to combat exclusion towards a logic of inclusion project. The following chapters shed light on local mobilization mechanisms, focusing on the possibility of inclusive governance (Chapter 6) and the role of coordination instances (Chapter 7) and community credit organizations (Chapter 8).

In conclusion, this book leads to an analysis of the societal implications of inclusive dynamics in territories, regardless of their forms and modalities, while underlining the key role of organizations and the challenges for enterprises. It opens up an avenue of research that, while still little explored, is now unavoidable and concerns the decisive actions and conditions for the implementation of inclusive territorial processes.

Note

Introduction written by Annie BARTOLI, Martine BRASSEUR and Gilles ROUET.

PART 1Inclusion of Discriminated and Marginalized Populations in a Territory

1The Inclusion of People from Disadvantaged Territories: Two SMEs in Seine-Saint-Denis

The difficulties associated with the inclusion of people from disadvantaged French urban areas have attracted the attention of companies, particularly since the urban riots of 2005, and they have implemented dedicated managerial practices to tackle these challenges as part of their diversity and inclusion policies. However, the opposition of some managers to this approach has often led to the results being inconclusive. Although the inclusion of the people living in these urban areas (which suffer from a high unemployment rate regardless of age, gender and origin) is a major social and societal issue, there is still little research on the drivers and obstacles for the inclusion of people living in these areas (Labulle 2013; Mathivet and Raoul-Chassaing 2016; Jardat and Labulle 2018; Laïchour 2020).

However, this topic has been addressed in terms of the professional integration of people who struggle in terms of employment (Angotti et al. 2007; Cusin and Charreire-Petit 2015) and young people with low educational capital (Dufour 2008; Dufour and Lacaze 2010; Montargot 2013; Sabouné 2016). The issue of including populations from these urban territories presents not only important managerial issues because of the interest that this question may arouse among certain managers already more or less accustomed to recruiting in this employment pool, but also theoretical ones by making it possible to better understand the existing dynamics of professional integration within these territories.

This research, which was conducted in two small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in these territories, focuses on inclusion, recruitment and integration on the basis that integration refers to a set of organizational practices implemented after the recruitment phase (Peretti 1994). The following research questions were formulated:

What are the factors that led these companies to favor the recruitment of people from these areas and to do so without encountering much resistance?

What practices were adopted to encourage their inclusion?

Which employees did these practices apply to?

What challenges have these companies faced in successfully fostering the inclusion of these employees?

1.1. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and diversity in SMEs

In recent years, the management issue of diversity in the context of CSR (Chanlat et al. 2013) has progressively broadened to include SMEs and populations from disadvantaged territories (Labulle 2013; Mathivet and Raoul-Chassaing 2016; Jardat and Labulle 2018).

1.1.1. Diversity and social responsibility

Diversity management is clearly part of the social dimension of CSR (Bender and Pigeyre 2010) and aims to fight against all forms of discrimination, promote equal opportunities (Barth and Falcoz 2010) and foster inclusion (Barth 2018). In this framework, a company will adopt, whenever possible (Chanlat et al. 2013), specific managerial practices relating to professional support, diversity, identity recognition, social support and professional recognition, since the lack of such recognition at work can be linked to a high employee turnover rate (Dufour 2008). Companies will also implement communication actions so that the actors concerned do not perceive differences as a threat (Bruna et al. 2017). The factors influencing the adoption of a diversity approach are economic, legal, ethical and institutional, as well as external (e.g. location, sector of activity, history, etc.) and internal (e.g. management style, organizational culture, etc.) originating from within the company (Bruna et al. 2017; Chanlat and Özbilgin 2018, 2019).

If, within an SME, all of these factors are present, the managerial convictions of the director play an important role in the adoption of such an approach (Berger-Douce 2008, 2009; Igalens et al. 2011). These convictions are influenced by personality, social origin, personal experience and sensitivity to internal and external influences. The director of an SME, although they may also face opposition from certain organizational actors, nevertheless often enjoys greater flexibility to share their convictions and meet the expectations of these actors, particularly because of the size of the company and its proximity to its employees (Mahé de Boislandelle 1998; Naschberger and Guerfel-Henda 2013). SMEs are less likely to act on CSR issues when under pressure from civil society and are sometimes even able to distinguish themselves in this respect (Berger-Douce 2008, 2009). Some, due to a lack of financial resources or to enjoy greater visibility, join social organizations (federations, associations, etc.), and thus end up adopting identical practices. Regardless of the nature of its social commitment, an SME rarely puts it ahead of profit maximization (Paradas 2008; Bonneveux et al. 2011; Delchet-Cochet and Vo 2012; Bon et al. 2015).

1.1.2. Diversity and territorial responsibility

Managing diversity is also part of the societal dimension of CSR, particularly with regard to assessing a company’s impact on the surrounding territory. For example, this can refer to the local jobs created by the company or to the nature of its relations with those affected by its activity, such as local associations or the populations of these disadvantaged territories (Duport et al. 2020).

French urban areas said to be disadvantaged were defined for the first time by law in 1996 and then redefined in 2014 under the name of priority neighborhoods for urban policy (quartiers prioritaires de la politique de la ville (QPVs)) (Darriau et al. 2014). They have been the subject of several measures at the urban (destruction/reconstruction of buildings, increase in the number of forms of transport, job creation in security, etc.), social (promoting success school, etc.) and economic (requiring, even financially encouraging, companies to recruit within these territories) levels (Conseil économique et social 2008). These territories, as well as those bordering them (Mathivet and Raoul-Chassaing 2016), face many problems: poor housing, a lack of transport services, high levels of insecurity, significant social homogeneity, high unemployment and poverty rates and a high number of immigrants, young people, low-skilled workers and struggling families, etc. (Darriau et al. 2014). In these areas, companies sometimes even have to make up for the shortcomings of the State (Dhaoudi 2008).

1.2. Barriers and drivers for the recruitment and integration of people from disadvantaged areas

Based on the obstacles and drivers that we identified in our literature review (Table 1.1), we conducted an empirical study that took the form of semi-structured interviews with 2 leaders of SMEs, 15 managers, 30 employees who were from disadvantaged urban areas and 3 who were not. Of the respondents, 60% were under 30 years of age and 26% were between 31 and 40 years of age; 73% had less than a baccalaureate (general or technological); 50% stated their North African or sub-Saharan origins; and 37% considered themselves to be French or from a country belonging to continental Europe. The respondents worked in two SMEs, one of which specialized in telecommunications and gas (company A), and the other in public works (company B). A and B were located in one of the disadvantaged urban areas of Seine-Saint-Denis and had committed themselves at an early stage to supporting the professional integration of young people, or less young people, from these areas.

The results of our empirical study show that managers – who were themselves influenced by the external environment of their respective companies – played an important, even decisive, role in recruitment and in the use of certain drivers for integration; there was a lack of resistance on the part of managers. On the other hand, some employees who had influence over some of the drivers did not always act in favor of the integration of this type of population.

Table 1.1Initial approach to the drivers of and obstacles to recruitment and integration of people from disadvantaged areas in the literature

Recruitment of People from Disadvantaged Areas

Drivers

Economic: overcoming tensions specific to a sector of activity; promoting social exchanges with a type of clientele; carrying out an activity within these zones while avoiding reprisals against employees; reducing the distance between home and work; receiving state aidLegal: compliance with the law or with a social clause for professional integration Ethical: integration within a territory by way of socio-historical links; recognition of the local communityInstitutional: adherence to institutional mechanisms (signing of a charter, diversity training, participation in employment forums’ sponsorship, etc.)

Obstacles

Economic discrimination: the negative reactions of customers; a type of population’s productivity being perceived as inferior (Gobillon et al.

2011

)Cultural discrimination: language, dress or cultural practices

Integration of People from Disadvantaged Areas

Drivers

At the level of individuals:Mentoring: promotes the transmission of know-how (e.g. training low-skilled young people) (Montargot

2013

; Sabouné

2016

) or soft skills, with some young people having little experience. Some young school dropouts and those who have experienced difficulties in finding employment may also seek psychological support to help their integration and to overcome a lack of self-confidenceFriendly welcome and organization of federative events: this concerns some low-skilled youth (Dufour and Lacaze

2010

; Montargot

2013

; Sabouné

2016

)Recognition of identity: social (young people), ethnic (those of non-European immigrant backgrounds), religious (Muslim faith), a posture of equality (some low-skilled youth) (Montargot

2013

; Sabouné

2016

)Work–life balance: financial, logistical (housing and transportation) and psychological support; some low-skilled youth face financial constraints, housing or transportation issues and family-related challenges that impact their professional well-being (Sabouné

2012

,

2016

)Meaning: having a stable job, as many young people have difficulty finding employment; acquiring a job that matches their skills, as some young graduates have to work in a job that is often far below their qualifications; having a job characterized by the presence of rewarding, diverse tasks or even with connections

,

as many low-skilled young people work in jobs marked by the presence of devaluing tasks (Dufour and Lacaze

2010

; Sabouné

2016

)

Drivers

Remuneration: remuneration in line with the efforts invested by many low-skilled youth (Dufour and Lacaze

2010

; Montargot

2013

; Sabouné

2016

) or with the educational capital held (many young people are indeed graduates)Professional development: equality in terms of professional development, as some people are discriminated against in this respect because of their origin

Obstacles

At the individual level: cultural demands that do not line up with the organizational culture, social assistance from a public institution or more or less legal remuneration.The majority of these people are young people with few qualificationsOn the organizational side: the economic imperatives faced by some managers; the professional or cultural expectations of some young people that are not met

1.2.1. Recruitment

Several exogenous factors have led companies to recruit from this type of population, including the specific characteristics of the sector of activity, which requires attracting young people with low qualifications due to retirement or the use of immigrant populations due to unattractive working conditions. A second factor relates to the influence exerted by the business sector. Due to its location in an area with a significant immigrant population, company B is accustomed to recruiting employees from this population. At the same time, the head of this company hopes that it will enjoy the recognition of the local community and that its employees will be able to carry out their activities in this area without fear of reprisals from certain young people living there. Like the manager of company A, the manager of company B adopted this type of recruitment to limit the distance between home and work for his employees, and, at the same time, increase their productivity at work. A final factor relates to the role played by public incentives. By recruiting in these areas, these companies receive financial aid from the State. For example, when it was eligible to obtain a public contract, company B was obligated to hire a certain number of young people who were far from employment. It also faced administrative constraints concerning the recruitment of foreign workers: “Who can we recruit today, if not the young people around us? We hear about waves of migration, but getting the correct identity papers to get the right to work is not as easy as it used to be” (manager from company B). Like company A, company B signed the company and territory charter to promote local employment. In participating in employment forums organized in honor of these young people, or by subscribing to the “Young People Professional Guarantee” scheme, company A also committed itself to acting in this direction.

The managers of these companies also played a very important role in the choice of this source of recruitment. They were convinced of the qualities of these young people, even less young people, from these urban areas. The manager of company A saw young people as serious, loyal, captivating, lively and as having a singular will to get by, while the manager of company B said that it is “really important that its managers […] come from these priority neighborhoods”, “[…] a Maghrebi from the Maghreb […] the relationship they will have together will be a cultural one that will allow them to talk, […] to integrate into the company much more easily”. As they themselves come from these urban areas and are connected to them, these managers wanted to promote local employment: “Since I’m from the priority neighborhoods, 95% of my employees are also from the priority neighborhoods.” For the manager of company A: “it’s difficult for a young person from the area to create his or her own structure […], because […] the public service has created institutional racism: […] these young people, for the boys, will be offered anything in the field of security; and for the women, they are always offered cleaning”. Consequently, the manager of company A considered it necessary to create an association to promote the effective recruitment of these young people. This was confirmed by one of the young people working there: “In this company, they have a training center […] which favors young people from the suburbs […]; they train you and then they hire you” (research manager, 31 years old).

The managers at the head of the two companies did not hesitate to influence the recruitment policy of other managers who were not accustomed to recruiting people from these territories. Finally, while they worked to recruit these young people by using legal or ad hoc measures (such as social clauses or the “Young People Professional Guarantee”), they refused to participate in certain measures, such as employment forums, considering that it was a way for companies to promote only their brand image. As some of them confided to us, they were not able to participate in any of these programs. As some employees told us, while the manager in charge alone knows this recruitment policy within company B, other organizational actors were responsible for relaying it correctly within company A. One of them told us that he was doing this both because of the organizational culture instilled by his company and because of his personal experience: “Our goal is to get young people out of Seine-Saint-Denis […] because we realize that there is discrimination and that there is a way for young people to get out of it. […] Even for me, though I’m blond and blue-eyed, when I applied to [a school that trains beauticians]; … when they saw my CV with Saint-Ouen on it, … people were reticent” (executive assistant, 28 years old).

1.2.2. Integration

Two factors in company B’s external environment clearly influenced its integration policy aimed at young unemployed people. The first was the lack of an available workforce and the importance of doing everything possible to keep young people in work: “Young people in integration are like teenagers who go off the rails; you have to […] always talk, not get discouraged […]. The company has no choice but to renew and enrich itself,” and it has the desire “[…] to work […] in sensitive areas” (the manager). The historical integration of company B within this territory plays an important role in the promotion of employees who come from this area, as an employee working for an association in partnership with the company told us.

Where the managers at the head of the companies studied play an important role in the integration of this type of population, they advocate within their respective companies for mutual support and respect for the young recruits. They also insist on the attention that all their employees should give to the support of these young, poorly qualified and inexperienced employees, considering that “what the State or the school has not done, or has done badly, the company must do” and that “in some neighborhoods, the parents have given up”. Not only do the managers at the head of the companies make the most experienced employees aware of the need to support them, but they also force them to act in this direction. Several employees told us that they had been supported by a mentor or their colleagues when they joined the company. This support took three forms. First, this support took a cognitive form, which involved passing on knowledge to the young employees (e.g. ICT skills), teaching them interpersonal skills and the correct etiquette. In this case, the majority of young people with little experience were involved. For example, one interviewee told us that he was on first-name terms with his manager and used atypical language with him. A young woman, whose professional prospects could be improved by acquiring more qualifications and a higher level of education, told us that this type of support was necessary to improve her written expression and grammar. As such, the manager of company A did not hesitate to offer social advice to certain young people, such as the fact that they should be educated. The second type of support offered to unemployed young people was in the form of psychological support that relied on the use of a very particular language and empathy. Young people who have experienced difficulties in finding employment may necessarily benefit from this type of support in order to help them regain their self-confidence. Finally, we can identify an emotional form of support, which took the shape of an inclusive organizational climate and inclusive events designed to help these young people integrate better into the company.

Despite such professional support, some young employees persistently adopted inappropriate professional behaviors shortly after joining the company or even several years later. For various reasons, some organizational actors were able to demonstrate tolerance: “Sometimes I arrive late, but he [the company director] isn’t going to yell at me […]; he knows that sooner or later, if he needs me, I will stay for a meeting or whatever” (project assistant). This could also be for ethical reasons, such as prioritizing the organizational culture: “We’re kind of like a family business, we want to support young people from disadvantaged neighborhoods” (executive assistant); or identification with the issues that these young people faced: “I would like to work, so that people don’t say ‘these Arabs, these black people don’t work’” (team leader, 38 years old, company B).

Finally, this could be because of perceived support when they arrived in the company: “He [an employee of the company] is the one who made me have entrepreneurial spirit. In fact, I trained him [and] helped him express himself better since he had difficulty expressing himself” (Telecom research officer).

On the other hand, some managers are not able to provide long-term support to certain low-skilled young people for two main reasons. The first is economic constraints; for example, company B lacked the financial resources to ensure long-term employment of certain young people recruited through the social integration program. The second reason is lack of experience or interpersonal skills, which sometimes results in a failure to respect schedules, repeated absences and violent behavior towards other employees: “They fought with us” (site manager, 47 years old); or displayed dangerous behavior in the workplace: “It’s the young people who are smokers and drinkers that upset the working environment” (manager, company A).

Based on these observations, we observed that a mentor can help the integration of employees from these territories only up to a certain extent. In short, if the fact of promoting cultural proximity between the former and the latter can also be a catalyst for this type of integration, as one employee confided to us: “It is an example of the success of a guy [the company manager] from the suburbs […]; I’m not going to denigrate it” (researcher); diversity at work can also be as one of the managers interviewed described: “It is part of our policy to mix mentalities […]; if you put […] three young girls who have lived in a housing estate […], the language will not be sustained” (company A).

However, a cultural distance between a young person from these territories and their manager (company B) or the culture of a company (company A) can be an obstacle to their integration in the company. Indeed, some people have been harassed or even shunned because of their social origin: “We are stigmatized here; so a site manager, who comes from the Oise, says to himself: ‘ugh… a youth from a neighborhood’, the label; the site managers are turning heads” (works manager, 29 years old); or ethnicity: “There was a boss, a very racist Frenchman, who spoke to me very badly […]; besides, […] I would have fought with him if there was no one there; it was people who separated us [and my work supervisor] who took me out of that team” (assistant supervisor, 23 years old, company B). For others, who are Muslim, the manager of company A was reluctant to accommodate their needs regarding Friday prayer. In these companies, some young people were also ostracized by certain employees because of their lack of professional experience. At the same time, it seems that these managers or other employees remain open to ethnic diversity and, to a certain extent, religion: “At company B, […] there has never been any discrimination and my mentor wears a veil” (accounting assistant, age 19). In our two companies, some managers also seemed to accept the adoption of a posture of equality towards young people.