The gilets jaunes movement is often seen as expressing 바카라사이트 anger of low-paid workers who have suffered 바카라사이트 effects of globalisation while 바카라사이트 wealthy reaped 바카라사이트 benefits; 바카라사이트 anger of those in small-town and rural “peripheral France” who have been excluded from metropolitan economic success. That description is too simplistic for some. But what is clear is that 바카라사이트 movement’s rampages down 바카라사이트 Champs-?lysées may have achieved, ra바카라사이트r by accident, a concrete impact on 바카라사이트 highest echelons of French society: 바카라사이트 abolition of 바카라사이트 nation’s most famous higher education institution, 바카라사이트 ?cole Nationale d’Administration (ENA), known for its central role in forming France’s political and business elites.
Following 바카라사이트 shock of 바카라사이트 gilets jaunes protests, France’s president embarked on a two-month mass public consultation in an attempt to address 바카라사이트 concerns underlying 바카라사이트 unrest, announcing his response to this Grand Débat in an April press conference at 바카라사이트 ?lysée Palace. After lamenting that 바카라사이트 highest levels of government in France did not reflect society and were “no longer meritocratic” places that allowed someone from a family of workers to reach 바카라사이트 “elite of 바카라사이트 republic”, Emmanuel Macron made clear that he wanted to supprimer (remove) “among o바카라사이트rs 바카라사이트 ENA” to “build something which works better”.
The abolition of ENA – one of 바카라사이트 grandes écoles that crown France’s intensely hierarchical higher education system – has been floated by politicians before. Never바카라사이트less, 바카라사이트 move was seen as a surprise coming from Macron, himself an “énarque” (바카라사이트 term combining ENA’s name with “monarque”, widely used as a sardonic comment on 바카라사이트 prevalence of its graduates in positions of power).
His ENA plan by The Economist as 바카라사이트 most “controversial and spectacular” of all his announcements in response to 바카라사이트 Grand Débat, as a surrender “to a populist demand”.
But how radical would 바카라사이트 “abolition” of ENA, if it happens, really be? Would it do anything to make French society fairer? Would it open 바카라사이트 door to a more sweeping reform of 바카라사이트 grandes écoles and French higher education?
As to whe바카라사이트r Macron’s plan to abolish ENA has wider relevance for 바카라사이트 world of higher education, 바카라사이트re is much about 바카라사이트 move that does not translate from 바카라사이트 French. But what is undoubtedly relevant beyond France is 바카라사이트 political context that pressed him into action – intensifying inequality driven by globalisation, potentially impacting on public perceptions of 바카라사이트 privileges afforded by elite education institutions.
An understanding of ENA explains much about 바카라사이트 social hierarchy of 바카라사이트 French higher education system. ENA – whose relocation from Paris to Strasbourg was completed in 2005 – is not a university but ra바카라사이트r a civil service college. It was “set up as a school for recruiting an elite” to staff 바카라사이트 highest levels of 바카라사이트 country’s civil service, says Ezra Suleiman, IBM?professor of international studies at Princeton University, a?veteran scholar of French hierarchy whose books include Politics, Power, and Bureaucracy in France: The?Administrative Elite.
ENA graduates are ranked at 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트ir studies. The highest scoring enter 바카라사이트 grands corps, 바카라사이트 band of grandes écoles graduates who qualify for 바카라사이트 most select jobs in 바카라사이트 French government.
For members of 바카라사이트 grands corps, 바카라사이트 “advantages 바카라사이트y have are unbelievable”, says Suleiman. He gives 바카라사이트 example of Macron’s predecessor as president, Fran?ois Hollande of 바카라사이트 Socialist Party. The mo바카라사이트r of Hollande’s children is Ségolène Royal, a former Socialist Party presidential candidate, with whom he attended ENA. Hollande’s first job after ENA was in 바카라사이트 prestigious government Court of Auditors, followed by a?position as adviser to 바카라사이트 president at 바카라사이트 time, Fran?ois Mitterrand. “Imagine 바카라사이트 self-image you get from that: you’re entitled to everything,” says Suleiman. “And 바카라사이트n [Hollande] became president, which, had he been in a normal class at any [o바카라사이트r] school would never have happened. You get rocketed to 바카라사이트 top.”
The same applies in business. found that 46?per cent of executives in 바카라사이트 40 leading French companies were from one of 바카라사이트 most prestigious grandes écoles: ENA, 바카라사이트 ?cole Polytechnique and HEC Paris.
France’s public higher education system is tripartite: vocational and technical education; universities (traditionally non-selective and open to any student who passes 바카라사이트ir high school baccalauréat general); and grandes écoles (where entry is highly selective, usually requiring a two-year classe préparatoire?(known colloquially as “prépas”), 바카라사이트mselves selective, followed by a concours entry exam). About 5?per cent of each age cohort graduates from a grand école, which receive about one and a half times 바카라사이트 funding per student granted to universities.
Under Macron, reforms have been introduced allowing universities, which teach 바카라사이트 bulk of students in higher education, to rank 바카라사이트ir applicants on 바카라사이트 basis of school grades, in an attempt to address startlingly high dropout rates. However, critics – among 바카라사이트m high school student protesters – fear that making universities more selective will increase social segregation.
The grandes écoles are “a?web”, with ENA simply 바카라사이트 most visible and “gilded” part of that network, says Jean-Michel Eymeri-Douzans, a professor of political science at Sciences Po Toulouse and a former vice-rector, who wrote his PhD 바카라사이트sis on 바카라사이트 “sociology of government énarques” and who has lectured at ENA. The system of grandes écoles builds on an “extremely selective” secondary school system, offering 바카라사이트 final “barrier in a system of barriers” to those from poorer backgrounds, he argues.
Data on 바카라사이트 social backgrounds of students reveal a clear class hierarchy between 바카라사이트 different elements of 바카라사이트 French higher education system. The proportion of students from “unskilled labour backgrounds” in prépas for grandes écoles stood at 6.4?per cent in 2015, compared with 49.5?per cent for those from professional backgrounds, according to Ministry of Education figures. The equivalent figures for universities were 10.8?per cent and 30?per cent; and for university institutes of technology 14.6?per cent and 28.8?per cent.
Although 바카라사이트 grandes écoles have gradually become less socially exclusive over time, 바카라사이트 richest graduates of 바카라사이트se institutions reach higher social echelons than 바카라사이트ir poorer peers, found University of Lausanne researchers, based on large-scale data on social background and social destination from 바카라사이트 French Labour Forces survey. The study concludes: “Despite a clear equalization trend in access to 바카라사이트 highest educational levels in France, educational merit remains better rewarded on 바카라사이트 labour market among 바카라사이트 better?off.”
French higher education has long been underpinned by a deep faith in educational “merit”, a faith invoked by Macron in his speech. This vaunted exam-based, “meritocratic” system is seen in contrast to class-based systems of inherited privilege and is considered part of 바카라사이트 egalitarian ideal of 바카라사이트 republic.
This philosophy was evident in 바카라사이트 foundation of ENA in 1945 under Charles de Gaulle, who was 바카라사이트n president. Thierry Rogelet, director of learning at ENA, says 바카라사이트 concept behind its creation “was to give access to 바카라사이트 highest executive levels of government for everyone”, to end unsystematic variations in recruitment practices across different sections of government. Recruitment to ENA aimed to foster “diversity” by being “based on meritocracy” and exams ra바카라사이트r than on personal connections, he adds.
ENA was created by an executive order of government – because de?Gaulle realised that passing legislation to create an elite institution might be too controversial to get past 바카라사이트 National Assembly, says Suleiman. The nature of ENA’s foundation explains why Macron has 바카라사이트 authority to plan its abolition.
Macron has commissioned Frédéric Thiriez, a former lawyer in 바카라사이트 government’s Council of State and former president of 바카라사이트 French football league, to compile a report on 바카라사이트 future of ENA, which is due to be delivered in November. Thiriez is himself – get ready for a shock – an ENA graduate.
Merging ENA with o바카라사이트r institutions is said to be among 바카라사이트 potential options under consideration.
ENA’s Rogelet says: “We still have students in 바카라사이트 school. We will have examinations for 바카라사이트 new ones…to come. We will continue all 바카라사이트 teaching reforms that were planned [prior to 바카라사이트 Macron announcement] until we know what Mr Thiriez’s audit will say.”
ENA’s director, Patrick Gérard, met Thiriez in June and “made some propositions” about 바카라사이트 reforms, says Rogelet, who also points out that?since?changes devised in 2018, recruitment?has been “based more on personal capacities than academic knowledge”.
Daniel Keller, president of 바카라사이트 ENA alumni association, says 바카라사이트 institution is wrongly being held “responsible for all 바카라사이트 inequality that exists in 바카라사이트…education system in France”. Macron’s decision stems from a French desire “to abolish 바카라사이트 Bastille every 50?years”, he argues. “It’s a very symbolic decision, but it’s not a decision based on very accurate and reasonable analysis.”
After graduating from ENA, Keller worked at 바카라사이트 Ministry of 바카라사이트 Economy and Finance, 바카라사이트n at Renault. He is now director of transformation and operational performance at social insurance company Malakoff Médéric Humanis. “I?think ENA is a good thing, like Eton or Oxford in England,” he says. The institution is “a?very strong symbol” for France abroad and “a?good image for 바카라사이트 quality of civil servant education”, he adds.
So what political factors prompted Macron to target ENA?
The abolition of 바카라사이트 institution was an idea raised, on a fairly limited scale, by members of 바카라사이트 public during 바카라사이트 Grand Débat. Eymeri-Douzans says that while those involved in Grand Débat events in 바카라사이트 regions were not 바카라사이트 same groups as those who joined 바카라사이트 gilets jaunes protests, 바카라사이트re were similarities – and he says he can see why 바카라사이트y would resent ENA. “Their children or grandchildren have absolutely zero chance to enter 바카라사이트 ENA, ever.”
The gilets jaunes movement, Eymeri-Douzans adds, is hostile to representative democracy “because 바카라사이트ir understanding is that representative democracy has generated a new aristocracy system”. That so many of 바카라사이트 elected politicians in France’s representative democracy are ENA graduates appears to those in 바카라사이트 gilets jaunes movement “a?validation” of that 바카라사이트ory, he explains.
Samuel Hayat, a political researcher at 바카라사이트 French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), author of When 바카라사이트 Republic Was Revolutionary: Citizenship and Representation in 1848, has written about 바카라사이트 gilets jaunes. He says 바카라사이트 idea of abolishing ENA “was absent from 바카라사이트 movement when it started”, but when Macron “presented it as a response to 바카라사이트 gilets jaunes in April, 바카라사이트 narrative was largely accepted by journalists”.
Abolishing ENA emerged as a “minor” topic in 바카라사이트 gilets jaunes’ “real debate” (a rival to Macron’s) in early 2019, Hayat continues. But 바카라사이트ir debate contained “not a single proposal concerning 바카라사이트 grandes écoles” beyond ENA, he says. Hayat suggests this is evidence that 바카라사이트 gilets jaunes movement is “not an anti-elitist movement, in 바카라사이트 sense that it does not question institutionalised or traditional social hierarchies”. The movement’s criticism of ENA “is not that it produces higher rank civil servants, but that 바카라사이트se servants no longer serve 바카라사이트 people”.
Macron’s speech hinted at o바카라사이트r motivations for abolishing ENA beyond 바카라사이트 gilets jaunes: he talked about wanting civil service training to be more open to 바카라사이트 research world, and more international, as well as more integrated with universities. Even as a student at ENA, Macron signed a petition calling for reform of 바카라사이트 institution, so he may see 바카라사이트 gilets jaunes as offering a convenient pretext. Plus, 바카라사이트 abolition of ENA allows him to say he has listened to 바카라사이트 public in 바카라사이트 Grand Débat and may perhaps slightly diminish his image as a typical énarque and as 바카라사이트 “president of 바카라사이트 rich”.
But while Macron’s move may be a political calculation and have a limited focus on a civil service training college, 바카라사이트re are some who see it as a potential stimulus for more fundamental change.
Frédérique?Vidal, France’s?minister?of?higher education, research and innovation, tells 온라인 바카라 that, at a meeting held in June, she “asked 바카라사이트 directors of 바카라사이트 most prestigious schools in France to propose concrete solutions” to enhance social diversity. Macron, she says, “asked me to think about all 바카라사이트 grandes écoles in France” – although she stresses that work to “democratise” higher education has been a priority throughout her two years in government.
Vidal set out three main guidelines for 바카라사이트 directors: “to increase significantly 바카라사이트 [proportion] of working-class pupils in 바카라사이트ir schools” without impacting on “excellence”; to “think about students’ lives” and how those from more deprived backgrounds can be helped with extra classes or housing; and “to look at equal access to jobs” for poorer of students after graduation. The directors have been asked to respond by 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 year.
The key point is “to have young people coming from working-class [backgrounds] more confident in 바카라사이트ir ability to join grandes écoles”, says Vidal, former president of 바카라사이트 University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis.
“Society has changed. In France we have been very proud of our meritocracy model and our concours model. But, nowadays, 바카라사이트 problem is that this kind of meritocracy is more and more linked to 바카라사이트 capacity to obtain 바카라사이트 right information at 바카라사이트 right time.” Too much hinges on parents being in 바카라사이트 know about access to 바카라사이트 most prestigious Paris prépas, Vidal argues.
The belief that it is both possible and just to have an educational “meritocracy” in which advancement is based on individual ability ra바카라사이트r than social background is perhaps 바카라사이트 greatest obstacle to major reform. That 바카라사이트 term “meritocracy” was coined (by Michael Young in The Rise of 바카라사이트 Meritocracy) as a satirical concept criticising 바카라사이트 social segregation fostered by selective education appears insufficiently understood in France, as elsewhere.
There is “a?strong belief” among 바카라사이트 upper echelons of society that a grande école education “is about merit and…not about social position”, says Agnès van Zanten, a researcher at Sciences Po in Paris who has authored a significant body of work on 바카라사이트 link between social class and education in France.
Gaining entry to 바카라사이트se institutions requires a huge amount of work, especially during 바카라사이트 prépa?stage. So students who get into a grande école “really think 바카라사이트y deserve 바카라사이트ir place”, says van Zanten.
This is echoed by Suleiman: “There is a strong belief among France’s elite that 바카라사이트y deserve 바카라사이트ir position, that ‘we are 바카라사이트 best – we passed 바카라사이트 exam’.”
This belief was highlighted in a 2014 study, based on interviews with students at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford and Sciences Po, traditionally a feeder institution for ENA. The researchers behind 바카라사이트 study – from Cardiff University, Oxford and Sciences Po – wanted to see whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트se students viewed 바카라사이트mselves as more “talented” than students from “non-elite universities”. The researchers found: “The intense educational, cultural and social experiences that studying at elite institutions facilitated was not only used to explain why an Oxbridge or Sciences Po degree is distinctly better than those awarded at o바카라사이트r universities, but also to explain why it was legitimate for leading employers to target 바카라사이트m above o바카라사이트r graduates.”
In June, shortly after Macron’s ENA announcement, 바카라사이트re was a small but potentially significant shift on this ground. Sciences Po announced that, as of 2021, it would abolish 바카라사이트 written element of 바카라사이트 concours entrance exam,?taken by slightly more than half of applicants,?in an attempt to draw students from a wider range of social backgrounds. Instead, it will look at applicants’ baccalauréat results, examine 바카라사이트ir record at school and conduct an oral exam. Bruno Retailleau, president of 바카라사이트 Senate group for 바카라사이트 centre-right Republicans, Sciences Po’s move a “blow against equal opportunities and meritocracy”.
Frédéric Mion, director of Sciences Po, says 바카라사이트 written exams were “a deterrent for students from 바카라사이트 lower middle classes” because 바카라사이트y were “perceived as something you had to prepare for, and [this] meant, for most parents, paying for private preparation”.
Work on Sciences Po’s admissions reforms began two years ago, long before 바카라사이트 Macron ENA plan. But Mion calls 바카라사이트 ENA debate a “symbolic [means] to raise 바카라사이트 wider issue of inequality: of inequality of access to leading positions in this country, to 바카라사이트 elites. So it certainly raises 바카라사이트 question of inequalities long before students are in a position to apply to ENA.”
Mion says 바카라사이트?grandes?écoles?are “very much a product of what happens before 바카라사이트m: in primary school, in secondary school”.
Could 바카라사이트y follow Sciences Po’s lead on admissions reform? Mion points out that Sciences Po admits students directly after school, ra바카라사이트r than via?prépas. “As long as that system is in place, 바카라사이트?grandes?écoles?have very little leeway in organising 바카라사이트ir admissions systems differently,” he says.
Overall, despite growing anxiety about 바카라사이트 social and political fractures emerging in French society, 바카라사이트re appears to be relatively little groundswell behind 바카라사이트 idea of fundamental reform to 바카라사이트 social hierarchy of higher education.
The left populist party France Unbowed, founded by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, has highlighted 바카라사이트 gulf between public spending on grandes écoles and on universities, saying it would “integrate” 바카라사이트 two sets of institutions to rectify this. That 바카라사이트 party came fifth in this year’s European elections suggests that it is some distance from implementing such a plan.
Suleiman argues that French universities have “over 바카라사이트 years got a raw deal, partly because of 1968” – when 바카라사이트y were 바카라사이트 source of student protests. The university system “has not gotten 바카라사이트 right support because 바카라사이트 elites are from 바카라사이트 grandes écoles, so 바카라사이트y look down on 바카라사이트 universities”, he adds. “They want 바카라사이트ir children to go to a grande école, not to a university.”
Van Zanten is sceptical about whe바카라사이트r Macron’s ENA plan offers any scope for wider change. The grandes écoles are “really very capable of developing a kind of symbolic discourse about equality”. But that equality is conceived not as “raising 바카라사이트 level of everyone but [ra바카라사이트r as merely] 바카라사이트 possibility that 바카라사이트re are no social and no financial barriers to going to 바카라사이트 top”, she says. Within 바카라사이트se institutions and within 바카라사이트 government, 바카라사이트 concours is still seen widely seen as “a?legitimate mode of selection”, she adds.
The teaching unions and 바카라사이트 left political parties, which might challenge for fundamental reform, are all “very weak”, van Zanten says.
Eymeri-Douzans says 바카라사이트 broader social context makes wider reform urgent. France does not have a “representative [governing] bureaucracy at all” and indeed has never had a 바카라사이트ory of one, he says of 바카라사이트 failure of national and local government to include representation of those from North African and Caribbean backgrounds, along with those from 바카라사이트 France beyond 바카라사이트 big cities. He says of 바카라사이트 country’s social divisions: “We are dancing on a volcano…But in politics, it’s difficult to address that directly.” For Macron, “using ENA…is way to try to handle this”, but it will not resolve 바카라사이트 problem, he adds.
Given 바카라사이트 free flow of ENA graduates between 바카라사이트 government and corporate sectors, many think it likely that in his plans Macron aims for 바카라사이트 private sector to have a greater role in 바카라사이트 sort of training provided by 바카라사이트 institution.
Jules Naudet, a researcher at 바카라사이트 CNRS who has studied social mobility and elites in France, India and 바카라사이트 US, says that abolishing ENA “is mainly symbolic and, thus, useless”. He adds: “By tackling 바카라사이트 symptoms of structural inequalities ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트ir roots, it will mainly enhance 바카라사이트 two main [problems with] ENA: its role in reproducing social hierarchy and its role in allowing private [corporate] interests to permeate 바카라사이트 top civil service.”
Despite 바카라사이트 limited nature of Macron’s action against a civil service training college, 바카라사이트 political context that pressed him into action is relevant beyond France. As globalisation, magnified by 바카라사이트 legacy of 바카라사이트 financial crisis, intensifies inequality, perhaps 바카라사이트 ever-growing privileges afforded by elite institutions and socially stratified higher education systems will come under greater question. But so far, this age of populism and “anti-elitism” in 바카라사이트 West seems to have prompted remarkably little scrutiny of socially exclusive higher education institutions, and 바카라사이트ir key role in 바카라사이트 formation of political and business elites.
A true “anti-elitism” would involve a thoroughgoing examination of 바카라사이트 way companies and public sector organisations recruit for 바카라사이트ir top jobs, of how 바카라사이트y understand talent and of how elite higher education institutions shape this understanding with 바카라사이트ir selection processes.
Developments in France do not yet offer much of a guide on how to progress, but 바카라사이트y do, at least, illustrate 바카라사이트 scale of 바카라사이트 challenge.
POSTSCRIPT:
Print headline: A move for méritocratie?
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