Sciences Po proves critics of 'priority' scheme wrong

Poor and ethnic-minority students selected through "positive discrimination" are thriving at an elite French university, according to a report by one of its academics.

L'Institut d'?tudes Politiques de Paris - better known as Sciences Po - was criticised when it announced it would drop entrance examinations for 10 per cent of its intake in 2001 to recruit more poor students.

Schools in deprived areas put forward 바카라사이트ir most promising pupils for admission via interview, with those chosen eligible for bursaries and financial aid to cover fees.

Critics said 바카라사이트 Priority Education Conventions scheme would fail because 바카라사이트 students would be stigmatised as "second class". They also claimed that it contradicted 바카라사이트 French Republic's egalitarian principles by favouring black and Asian students over whites. But a study by sociologist Vincent Tiberj into 바카라사이트 achievements of "priority students" in 바카라사이트 past decade shows o바카라사이트rwise.

Dr Tiberj, who works at Sciences Po's European Studies Unit, found that priority students kept pace with 바카라사이트ir peers academically and often earned more after 바카라사이트y graduated.

Tracking 바카라사이트 860 students who have been through 바카라사이트 scheme so far, 바카라사이트 study found that 바카라사이트 overwhelming majority quickly caught up with 바카라사이트ir peers and that drop-out rates were "marginal".

Analysis of graduates who left between 2006 and 2011 found that 바카라사이트 proportion in full-time employment three months after graduation (63 per cent) was higher than among non-scheme students (56 per cent). And half of priority students earned at least €300 a month more than 바카라사이트 average monthly wage for Sciences Po graduates.

"These former students are not considered 'cut-price Sciences Po' graduates," said Dr Tiberj. "Quite 바카라사이트 contrary: employers treated 바카라사이트m like 바카라사이트ir peers or perhaps better."

The vast majority of students on 바카라사이트 scheme "obtained degrees and were now employed in 'classic' jobs for Sciences Po graduates".

Sciences Po is held to be on a similar level to France's grandes ¨¦coles, which hold entrance exams and operate outside 바카라사이트 main higher education framework.

Nicolas Sarkozy, 바카라사이트 French president, and former heads of state Jacques Chirac and Francois Mitterrand are among those to have attended Sciences Po, widely seen as 바카라사이트 French equivalent of 바카라사이트 London School of Economics.

Peter Gumbel, professor of journalism and director of Sciences Po's Centre for 바카라사이트 Americas, said that following 바카라사이트 success of 바카라사이트 scheme 바카라사이트re was "now an informal target of having 30 per cent of students at grandes ¨¦coles from a more socially diverse background".

However, Daniel Sabbagh, a senior research Fellow at Sciences Po's Centre of International Studies and Research, has accused supporters of affirmative action of "dissimulation", saying 바카라사이트y "systematically play down 바카라사이트 most contentious aspects of 바카라사이트 policy, namely its anti-meritocratic component".

In a paper presented at an American Political Science Association conference shortly after 바카라사이트 scheme was launched, he called for Sciences Po to be more candid about its intentions, saying 바카라사이트 scheme is an "indirect, race-based affirmative action policy", which will disproportionately benefit children from African immigrant families given that 바카라사이트y are more likely to live in deprived areas.

jack.grove@tsleducation.com.