For those who are looking for the boost they need to start up their own business, the Insead program can be the answer they have been looking for. Insead, which is the international business school in Fontainebleau near to Paris, has been sponsoring a unique awards program for the past three years.

Through the Insead program, which sponsors the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards each year, finalists receive coaching in drafting a business plan as well as on utilizing effective oral presentation skills from 30 M.B.A. students and alumni from the program. Through the awards program, Insead hops to tap into the growing interest in the area of social entrepreneurship, which has received an even greater boost thanks to the recession. In fact, according to a survey conducted this year by TopMBA.com, 28.4% of M.B.A. applicants chose “starting own business” as the primary reason for participating in the program. This figure was up from the 24% response in 2006. Those who were applying in hopes of “improving career prospects,” on the other hand, dropped from 73% in 2006 to 66.2% this year. In response to this changing trend, Insea has made a few adaptations to its program.

“The coaching program has been fully integrate into Insead’s M.B.A. curriculum as ‘entrepreneurial field study,’” said Loic Sadoulet, who is an affiliate professor of economics at Insead and who served as a jury panel for the Cartier jury panel, is quoted as saying in a New York Times article.

“With the current financial crisis, we have seen student interest shift from investment banking and consulting jobs — the dot.com get-rich model — to social entrepreneurship, a socially conscious model,” Sadoulet continued. “Google’s motto, ‘Don’t be evil,’ resonates more and more with our students. Most now want job options that ‘make sense.’”

In addition to receiving prize money, the winners of the award receive coaching for one year in order to help them transform their business ideas into reality.

“Insead students and alumni work with these real-life entrepreneurs from the embryonic ‘idea’ stage to the creation of a business plan,” Sadoulet said in the article. “Many will continue after graduation to provide ongoing coaching support.”

Ultimately, the goal of the student coaches is to help the award recipients create a business that is both profitable and socially conscious.

“M.B.A. students with prior corporate experience see the world as a place where you spend money and make problems go away,” said Lisa Long, who is a 2006 Insead graduate as well as the chief operating officer of Six To Start, which is a media company in Britain that she helped to found in 2007, in the article. “Coaching a start-up, you discover what a thinly resourced business looks like, learn what things to prioritize and what things to starve.”

Of course, the program provides a win-win situation for everyone involved, as even those who offer coaching to the recipients feel as if they get something from the experience.

“As a business person, coaching, for me, is a way to learn about the businesses women start and new ideas and opportunities out there,” said Long, who coached winning teams in 2007 and who plans to coach again this year. “It is also a way to give back.”

Thanks to the success of the awards program, which was created in partnership with the luxury brand Cartier in 2006 in an effort to draw together a variety of disciplines within the social business forum, has inspired other schools to consider starting up similar programs of their own.

“There has been a very significant increase in interest and enthusiasm for social entrepreneurship among our students,” said Colin Mayer, who is the dean of Oxford University’s Saïd Business School in the article. “Experience over the past year has caused students to re-evaluate different job options, their own contribution to society and their earning potential in deciding on a path that is more fulfilling.”