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The French education system: Milestone decisions, influential factors, and agency
Sheila Conrad
Michigan State University: MAFLT Program

Introduction
There is a French saying that I learned from my host father this past summer:
Charlemagne a invent lcole, et depuis rien na chang. [Charlemagne invented school, and
since then nothing has changed] (Michel, Interview).1 Of course, many things have changed
since the time of Charlemagne, but there is a bit of truth in the quote. After interviewing French
citizens from different eras about their perspectives on the French education system and
analyzing what they told me, I was able to find many recurring themes.
This summer, I conducted a small-scale ethnographic research project in the metropolitan
area of Bordeaux, France, where I sought to gain insights into the French educational system by
observing classes and meetings in a French middle school and conducting interviews with five
French informants at different stages of life. I developed questions to understand how these
individuals go about choosing where they will study and what they will study, what they think
about how they are graded, and what they do during their time after school. I also looked at what
the French think about the national tests in their country, such as the diplme national du brevet
and the baccalaurat. Finally, I sought to understand the deeper meaning behind important
milestones, including the various factors that influence important decisions.

Literature Review
In the French educational system, there are both public and private schools; the majority
are public. The public schools in France are free and obligatory from age 6 to 16 (French
educational system, 2012). Many students start much earlier, though. Preschool, called lcole
maternelle, is for children from ages 3 to 5-6 years old. As soon as a child is potty-trained, he has

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the right to go. The teacher is usually a woman, whom the children call la matresse (Travel and
study abroad materials, 2009).
Elementary school starts with the cours prparatoire, which is the counterpart to the
American 1st grade. Cours lmentaires I and II would correspond to 2nd and 3rd grade. Cours
moyen would correspond to 4th and 5th grade. These five levels are abbreviated as follows: CP,
CE1, CE2, CM1, and CM2. In elementary school, students are given grades, and in order to pass
to the next level, they must achieve a passing score. If not, they will have to repeat that level
(French education system, 2011; Travel and study abroad materials, 2009).
The French junior high is called le collge. It lasts for four years, starting with 6me,
which is equivalent to the American 6th grade. Instead of moving from 6th to 7th, the French
count backwards, from 6me to 3me.
Starting at the collge level, French students are graded based on a system out of 20. It is
rare and very difficult for a student to obtain a 20/20. While in the U.S., it is quite possible for a
student to earn 100% on a paper or an exam, it is very rare in France. 17/20 in a course indicates
exceptional work, and one can get by with a moyenne, or average score, of 10 or 11.
Starting in their 4me year, their second to last year at the collge level and equivalent to
the American 8th grade, students take tests that are spread throughout the year and thus are
called contrle continu [continuous assessment].2 Students grades are based on the contrles
they take. A contrle can be a written or oral test. Many of these contrles are specifically
designed to train students for the brevet, a test which students take at the end of 3me. After
taking this test, students typically continue onto le lyce. While the French collges do a lot to
prepare students for the brevet, this test is really more of a rite of passage than a requirement to
enter into high school. It is a students grades, more than anything else, that determine his or her

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eligibility for certain high schools (French education system, 2011; Travel and study abroad
materials, 2009).
In France le lyce, or high school, lasts three years. The levels are labeled la Seconde, la
Premire, and la Terminale, which correspond to the American Sophomore, Junior, and Senior
years. There are different types of lyces in France. There are lyces professionnels and lyces
denseignement gnral et technologique. The lyce professionnel is for students who want to
learn a trade. These students learn skills directly related to the profession of their choosing
(Travel and study abroad materials, 2009).
The lyce denseignement gnral and the lyce technologique, often in the same
building, are for those who intend to take a test called le baccalaurat, commonly abbreviated le
bac. Success on this test will enable students to pursue higher learning at a university. Students at
the lyce decide the orientation of their bac based on larger categories, called filires or sries.
Within the bac gnral, the filire options are as follows: L for Littraire (literary studies),
ES for Economique et sociale (economics and social studies), and S for Scientifique
(sciences). S is most popular, followed by ES and finally L. At the lyce technologique,
there are many sries available pertaining to science and technology (French education system,
2011; Travel and study abroad materials, 2009).
The success rate on the baccalaurat in 2014, with all filires considered, was a record
high for France at 87.9%. In 2013, it was 86.8%, also a record high at the time. The rate had
risen by 2.4 points from 2012. In 1960, the success rate was 60.5% (Pech, 2013). The success
rate has risen significantly over the years and continues to rise.
The bac is thought by many to be a ssame (a door opener)2 as well as a rite of passage,
marking entry into adulthood. Cousteau describes it as un passeport indispensable pour entrer

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l'universit [an indispensable passport for entering the university] (2014). However, many
critics feel that the bac has become too expensive to justify continuing the tradition. The bac
costs the French government several million dollars altogether (Cousteau, 2014; Gaudin &
Pomerol, 2013). Another critique is that l'obtention du bac ne garantit plus un niveau de
connaissances et de comptences minimum,[getting one's bac no longer guarantees a minimum
level of knowledge and competencies] (Cousteau, 2014). Because it is seen as useless and costly,
certain French citizens believe the bac should be done away with.
Presently, success on the bac allows students to attend a public university. However, the
public universities, sometimes referred to as facults, are not the most prestigious schools in
France. Many students, after obtaining their bac, continue to study and prepare for the concours,
or entrance exams, hoping to gain a spot at a prestigious French university or a grande cole.
These concours include oral exams. Many ultimately fail the tests or at least don't perform well
enough to get into the school of their choice, and any given concours can only be repeated once
(French Education System, 2011). Students, then, take these concours very seriously and often
spend a year or two preparing for the various entrance exams they will take.

Methods
Context
While in France, I stayed with host parents for eight days in a suburb of Bordeaux,
France. Bordeaux is a city in the southwest region of Aquitaine and is the prefecture of this
region. As of 2009, its metropolitan area is the sixth largest in the nation (Populations lgales
2009, 2011). Before I arrived in France, my host parents and I had been corresponding by
email. They had arranged for me to spend an entire school day at Collge CA, a public four-year

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standard middle school in another nearby suburb of Bordeaux, as part of my research.
My observation took place on Tuesday, June 10th, 2014. I accompanied the friend of my
host father, the English teacher at Collge CA; I will refer to him as Christophe. I started the day
by meeting several of Christophe's colleagues in the teachers' lounge. In the morning and early
afternoon, I was able to observe several classes, including two English classes, a social studies
class, a math class, and a class debate led by the school nurse and psychologist. At the end of the
school day, I was able to accompany Christophe to observe a late afternoon conseil de classe,
which I will describe later in detail.

Participants
I conducted interviews with five different informants: two middle school students at the
Collge CA, a lyce student, my 25-year-old host brother, and my host father. Pauline3 was the
first student I interviewed. She was in her 5me year, the equivalent of 8th grade. She earns
excellent grades in school.4 She attends Collge CA, a public middle school, and is the daughter
of the English teacher there. She will take the Brevet at the end of next school year, after which
she plans to attend a lyce gnral and choose the S srie (Science). She would like to become
a veterinarian.
Pierre is also in his 5me year and is a classmate of Pauline. He also attends Collge
CA. After taking the Brevet at the end of next school year, he plans to attend a lyce gnral and
will probably choose the S srie.
Manon is a high-school teenager who just finished her Premire year, the equivalent of
11th grade. She wants to be an architect. She attends a private high school, also a lyce gnral.
She chose the S srie and will take the bac in this srie at the end of Terminale, next school

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year.
Mryl is a 25-year-old man who is in his first year of full-time employment as an
engineer. He lives an hour outside of Bordeaux. He was my host brother, though he was only at
home on the weekend. He attended a private high school, also a lyce gnral. He chose the S
srie. He then went on to a post-secondary school specifically for engineers to obtain his Bac+5
(Bac + 5 years post-secondary).
Michel is in his 50s. He was my host father during my stay in Bordeaux. Michel is
married and is the father of two children, Mryl (described above) and Marie, both of whom are
in their 20s. Michel works full-time as an airline pilot. He went to a public high school, a lyce
gnral. He chose the S srie, because even at a young age, he knew that he wanted to be a
pilot.
I also spoke with Michels wife, my host mother, as well as the English teacher at
Collge CA, whom I will refer to as Christophe. They both contributed some insights about the
French educational system, though neither participated in a formal interview.

Research Questions
My goal in conducting this research project was to better understand how the French
perceive their own educational system. I wanted to look at how students navigate through the
system. What are the major milestones in a French student's educational trajectory? What is the
importance of grades? What is the importance of national tests?
In addition, I sought to understand how students come to make important decisions at
different milestones, including factors that influence them and factors that constrain them. How
aware of these factors are they, and how do they feel about them?

Data collection methods

The best way for me to get a glimpse of how French students and citizens feel about their
educational system was to use ethnographic research methods. Ethnography can be broadly
defined as the study of social and cultural practices from an insiders perspective (Roberts et al.,
2001, p.3). Through observation and interviews, one may better understand individuals and their
roles within a particular community.
Since it was my goal to better understand how the French perceive their educational
system and perceive themselves within that system, I used ethnographic methods of observation,
questioning and analysis. I started by creating different sets of questions based on different
stages of life. I sought to understand more about how individuals choose a lyce and also how
they choose a filire, or field of study. I also sought to better understand how the French schools
prepare students for the national tests as well as some general opinions on the national tests.
Initially, I was also curious to know more about what my informants did after school in terms of
hobbies or extracurricular activities.
I interviewed each of my five informants once, either at the school or in their home.
These interviews were audio recorded using the voice memo function on my iPhone or my iPad.
I did my best to help the participants feel at ease by showing interest, understanding, and
respect for what the subject says, as is suggested by Kvale and Brinkmann (2009). I allowed
each informant to choose a pseudonym for the research paper. I suggested that they choose a
name that sounded as if it could be their cousins name or the name of a close friend. I made
certain that they knew that I would not be sharing their identity with anyone else.
After each interview, I summarized what I felt I had understood to be the main points of

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the information they shared. I let them know when I had no further questions and asked if there
was anything else that they would like to mention or any questions they had for me. I stopped
recording at this point and answered questions about the study. In addition to interviews, I took
field notes of my observations by hand at Collge CA and took pictures using my iPad.

Data analysis
First, I created transcripts of everything that my informants said. Following the
qualitative analysis methods of Saldaa (2009) as well as Taylor-Powell and Renner (2003), I
looked for patterns within the interviews and made connections to my own observations. I used
categories and sub-categories to organize and code common patterns. Some themes included
Choosing a lyce, Choosing a filire, and Le baccalaurat. As I looked at the data some
more, other themes emerged which I hadn't anticipated prior to data collection, including the
Conseil de classe, Les Concours, and Emphasis on science. I chose to keep many of the
terms in French, because they are uniquely French concepts.
After reading the transcripts several times, I was able to analyze not only what my
informants had said, but how they had said it; thus another theme emerged from the data that of
agency. Agency refers to the socioculturally mediated capacity to act (Ahearn, 2010). In other
words, if one has agency, one has a sense of having the power to make one's own decisions. As
French students make important decisions impacting their educational trajectory, many factors
influence or constrain them. By studying the language and linguistic forms employed in my
informants' stories, I was able to better comprehend how much power my informants actually felt
they had in making important educational decisions.

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Results
Les voeux
In France, the collge and lyce are not connected by district, as they are in the American
public school system. Near the end of their final year at the collge, students go through a
process called faire les voeux (making wishes), in which they declare their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
choices for lyce. The reputation of the lyce, the influence of ones family, and having a
specific career choice are all factors which may influence a students voeux.
A schools merit has a great influence on students wishes. Manon chose the school she
did in part because she knew that it was a good lyce. It was ranked 26th in France. Likewise,
Mryl mentioned that the school he chose was one of the best schools in Bordeaux, with un
niveau denseignement assez lev [a fairly elevated level of education] (Interview). He said
that this school proposed a good program.
Family influence also played a very important role in determining my informants voeux.
Michel expressed, Je pense que cest les parents qui ont choisi. [I think that it was my parents
who chose] (Interview) and laughed. To me, the laughter indicated that this might be a common
practice, understood by many in the culture.
In a separate interview, when asked what influenced his decision of which high school he
attended, Mryl responded, Ctait surtout mes parents qui ont choisi de me mettre dans cette
cole. [It was mainly my parents who chose to put me in this school] (Interview). It could be
that in this family, it is customary for the parents to choose a school for their children, or it could
be that this is the case in many French families.
Talking to Michel and his wife on a separate occasion, they had expressed that they chose
to put their children in a private high school instead of a public high school. They said that, while

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private school teachers are not paid as well, they work harder to give their students a good
educational foundation. The parents explained that public schools have a risk of strike, which is
quite common in France, and students can miss out on an education for weeks at a time.
Based on the informants, another factor that influenced the school they chose was their
future plans. Many young people in France seem to have an idea of what career they want to
pursue from an early age. The schools there are spcialises pour chaque mtier [specialized for
each career] (Manon, Interview). She gave the following information for why she chose the
school that she did: ...en fonction de la filire que je voulais prendre, la srie que vous avez
marque ici, et du mtier que je voulais faire. [...based on the field of study I wanted to pursue,
the field of study that you marked here, and the career that I wanted to do] (Interview). Her
chosen field of study, that she pointed out, was S (sciences).
Upon analyzing the data, an agency paradox appears. The three older informants, Manon,
Mryl, and Michel, have all already been through the process of making their voeux. This
process is an important milestone in a French persons educational path. Yet, for two of the three
informants, their parents were extremely influential. Mryl displays this paradox when he seems
to claim the lyce he selected as his own choice, stating ils proposaient exactement ce que je
voulais. [They proposed exactly what I wanted] (Interview). It is clear that his parents wishes
were the main influence behind the decision. A schools merit, family influence, and career
choice are not the only factors that influence a students educational path, however, as we will
observe in the following section.

Conseil de classe and Response to les voeux

I had the opportunity to sit in on a conseil de classe at Collge CA, where I was able to

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observe the importance of grades and the influence of teachers in determining which lyce a
student actually attends. Based on my observations, these particular factors would seem to
constrain, more than influence, a students wishes.
First, I will provide some background information about the conseil de classe. The
French school year is divided into trimesters. There are three conseils a year, each at the end of a
trimester one in December, one in March or April, and one in June. In France, students are
grouped together in classes and share the same core courses with each other. At each conseil,
there is a bilan (an assessment or check up)2 of each student in the class. The following people
are present: a school administrator (either the principal or the assistant principal), the teaching
team for that class, two parent representatives, two student representatives, one psychologist, and
the CPE (Conseiller de Principale dEducation), who is responsible for school life, absences,
and discipline, possibly the equivalent of a Dean. The group moves through the list of students
alphabetically, talking about each students skills, attendance, and behavior. The overall purpose
of the conseil is to examine the personal academic performance and progress of each student in
the class.
Each trimester, students are given a total grade out of 20 for each course, which is called
la moyenne. From this, la moyenne des notes, the average of all of the grades the student earned
that trimester, is calculated. The term la moyenne, has yet another meaning: 10 out of 20. As
Pauline explains it, Cest le systme davoir la moyenne ou pas. Quand on est au-dessus de 10
points, cest correct. Si cest entre 10 et 15, cest bien. Si cest au-dessus de 15, cest trs bien.
[It is the system of having the average or not. When you have above 10, its decent. If it is
between 10 and 15, its good. If its above 15, its very good] (Interview). In the U.S., a 75% is
not considered very good, but here we can see how the French standards are set higher.

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The particular conseil de classe that I attended was special, because it was the June
conseil for a class of 3me students. These students had recently made their voeux. The principal
would start by telling the group which schools a student had chosen, by saying, for example,
Pierre demande un passage en Lyce PR, [Pierre asks for passage into PR High School]
(Observation, June 10, 2014), and then she would open it up for discussion. As indicated in the
literature review, students may attend a lyce professionnel to learn a trade or a lyce
denseignement gnral et technologique to prepare their bac, after which they generally gain
entrance into a university or a grande cole.
While in the conseil de classe, I observed that the average of all of the students
moyennes, called the moyenne gnrale, was 11. To an American, this score would seem very
low. If students at my high school had a 55% average across the board, it would indicate failure.
However, we must remember that in the French system, 11 is an acceptable score to have. It is
not considered a failing score by any means.
If a student had a moyenne of 12 or higher, he/she would typically ask for passage into a
lyce gnral et technologique, and the group agreed that this was a good fit. Students may feel
pressured to attend a lyce gnral et technologique when their grades permit them to do so,
even if they would rather attend a lyce professionnel. A quote from Mryl demonstrates this
contradiction. He stated that even if there were une personne qui tait trs bonne lcole et
qui savait exactement quelle voulait faire, on prfrerait lui dire, Non, reste dans la filire
gnrale mme si cest quelquun qui savait exactement ce quil voulait faire. [a person who
was very good in school and who knew exactly what he wanted to do, one would prefer to tell
him, No, stay on the general path, even if it was someone who knew exactly what he wanted to
do] (Interview). Here, I believe that the on he is referring to is teachers and administrators, who

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encourage continuous prestige. Students are pressured to make careful decisions based mainly on
their grades, which severely cuts into their sense of agency.
To look from a different angle, if a student on the list had a lower moyenne, there was
more variation as well as more discussion amongst the members of the conseil. Some of the lowlevel students asked for passage into the lyce gnral et technologique as well as into a lyce
professionnel. If a student had a lower moyenne but only one or two voeux, it was recommended
that this student ajoute des voeux pour rassurer sinon redoublement [add wishes to be safe
or else restart the school year] (Observation, June 10, 2014). In France, it is less frowned upon
to have to retake a school year. In fact, Mryl retook a school year simply in order to have a
better moyenne and a better chance of getting into a good school.
According to Mryl, the lyce professionnel was very devalued when he went to high
school, which was seven years ago. He stated, On mettait vraiment uniquement les mauvais
lves, ceux qui ntaient pas capables de faire une filire normale, gnral, on les mettait en
filire professionnelle. [One put really only the bad students, those who were not capable of
doing a normal path of study, the filire gnrale, they put them into the filire professionnelle]
(Interview). Here, we observe, once again, the agency paradox. Students are supposedly given a
choice, in fact, three choices. Yet, as is made clear in the above quote, they are being all but
forced onto a path, presumably by the teachers and administrators of the college. Bad students,
then, are constrained to the point that they have very little sense of agency over their own
decisions.
Christophe, the English teacher at Collge CA, believes that students voeux doivent tre
coherents avec leurs resultats car si leurs voeux sont refuss ils nauront pas dcole la
rentre. [must be consistent with their grades in school, because if their wishes are declined, they

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will not have a school at the start of the next school year] (Personal communication, July 15,
2014). Because prestigious high schools are not likely to accept students whose grades have been
low, and because there is no possibility of reapplying once ones three voeux have been
examined, students are likely to feel quite constrained by their grades as they make their
decision. Teachers feel it is their duty to advise students carefully to make the proper choices.
More than anything else, the purpose of this particular conseil seemed to be to figure out
which students the teachers and staff still needed to advise about their future plans. After
discussing certain students, someone in the group would mention that he/she would talk to him
the next day about his/her voeux. While none of my informants explicitly mentioned teacher or
administrator influence as having an effect on their choice of lyce, this definitely seems to be an
implicit factor. The influence of ones grades on ones voeux appears to be a more explicit albeit
constraining factor. Grades continue to influence ones educational trajectory into the lyce
general et technologique, when students must choose their filire at the end of their first
scholastic year.

Les filires
As was shown the case when students make their voeux, various factors come into play
when students choose a filire. The prestige and variety of options that accompany the filire
S/ Scientifique (sciences) factor in to ones decision as do family influence and career choice.
It is important to note that if a student does well at the lyce, he/she is pushed toward the filire
S. According to a French research article published in 2008, La filire S est au centre des
rflexions compte tenu de son importance numrique et sociologique, les enfants des classes
privilgies y tant sur reprsents. [The filire S is at the center of discussion given its

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numerical and sociological significance; children of the privileged classes are over-represented
in this filire] (Piednoir, 2008). Students from privileged backgrounds who are in good
academic standing generally choose the filire S. Less than a personal choice, though, it is an
assumption.
Students may also choose the filire S simply because it offers the most options. The
youngest of my informants, Pierre, stated that the filire S had many choices, and that for the
moment, he would choose S for that reason alone. However, this filire certainly does not
encompass all fields of interest. As Michel pointed out,
Ce qui sest pass lpoque, et ce qui est un peu encore le cas aujourdhui, cest que,
malheureusement, les meilleurs lves font des cursus Scientifique Pour avoir
probablement plus dopportunits lissue, ils vont de prfrence faire une filire
Scientifique, mme sils prfrent la lecture, la littrature, le cinma, voil. [What
happened in my era, and which is still a bit the case today, is that, unfortunately, the best
students choose a Scientific curriculum. ... In order to have probably more opportunities
once they get out of high school, they (the students) will normally choose a Science
filire, even if they prefer reading, literature, cinma, etc.] (Interview).
In this way, good students may feel pressured by societal expectations to choose S,
even if their passions lie in a different field.
To provide another example, Manon said that she had chosen the filire S, explaining,
Cest surtout mes rsultats scolaires. [Its especially because of my school results] (Interview).
Because she has always had good scores in science and math, and not necessarily because she
enjoys these subjects, she chose S.
On the flip side, if students struggle in school but have a passion in the science field, they

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are sometimes discouraged from pursuing their dreams. Michel was told by his teachers that he
would never be a pilot. He believes that mme si les professeurs estiment quil peut y tre une
difficult scolaire, ils doivent encourager les lves. [Even if teachers feel that certain students
are having difficulty at school, they should encourage the students] (Interview). In spite of
pressure to choose a different path, Michels sense of agency led him to pursue his dream of
becoming a pilot.
Not all students are so lucky, however. In fact, many are not even aware of the options
that exist. According to Mryl, En France, justement, on ne nous expose pas assez les
possibilits de carrires, de diffrentes tudes qui existent. [In France, they do not expose us
enough to the career possibilities, nor of the different majors that exist] (Interview). Here, I
believe that the on he refers to is teachers and administrators, but also ones parents, and even
French society as a whole.
For certain French high school students, family may influence the filire they choose.
Pierre expressed that one reason he might choose S is that his brother is a physics and
chemistry teacher. Michel said that he pushed his children, Mryl and Marie, toward science,
reasoning that, Ctait des bons lves, et on savait qu partir de l, ils auraient davantage de
choix pour entrer dans les grandes coles. [They were good students, and we knew that from this
point, they would have more choices of being admitted to prestigious universities] (Interview).
Once again, this quote demonstrates the prestige associated with the filire S.
Finally, for three out of five of the informants, career choice was a definite influencing
factor. Pauline said that she chose S because she wants to be a veterinarian. Manon chose S
because it is the field of study for her career of choice, that of an architect. Michel knew from a
very young age that he wanted to be a pilot, so S was the right fit for him as well. Based on

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various influential factors, students choose their filire at the end of their first year of lyce, and
from that point on, they prepare their baccalaurat in that field.

Le baccalaurat
At the lyce gnral et technologique, the number one goal is to help students to obtain
the baccalaurat. Results on the bac are the biggest deciding factor for entrance into universities
and grandes coles. Students prepare for the bac with le contrle continue. According to Manon,
contrles at the lyce level last two hours long in Seconde and Premire and four hours long in
Terminale. She said, Cest justement pour nous entrainer pour le bac, parce que le bac a dure
quatre heures, la plupart des preuves. [In fact, its created to train us for the bac, because most
of the bac test are four hours long] (Interview). For good or bad, the goal of the French
education system really is to help students attain the bac.
Some of my informants had strong emotions connected to the bac. Pierre said that the
bac fait un peu peur, parce que cest une grande preuve dans la vie [is a bit scary, because it is
a huge test in life] (Interview). He continued on, saying that it is, however, surmountable,
because practically the entire population succeeds. This hasnt always been the case, however.
The bac has really changed over time.
During Michels era, according to his son Mryl, only 30% of people obtained the bac.
But today, le niveau du bac est trs bas, et on donne presque tout le monde. [The level of the
bac is very low, and they give it to just about everyone] (Michel, Interview). Mryl believes
that the bac is now useless, because everyone attains it, and because it is not enough for most
careers anymore.

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In Michels opinion, changes need to be made to the French education system; the bac is
not enough. He expressed,
Moi, je pense quaujourdhui, pour valuer correctement un lve, il faudrait prendre
en compte la faon dont il travaille, la totalit des notes quil a pu obtenir au cours de
lanne, et on pourrait dire quun examen peut valider une partie de son niveau, mais pas
la totalit. Tu peux trs bien tre un trs bon lve et rien avoir au bout. [Me, I think that
today, in order to evaluate a student the right way, we must take into account the way he
works, the total of his grades that he earned over the course of the school year, and we
could say that a test can validate a part of a students level, but not the whole]
(Interview).

Michel is not the only French citizen to have this opinion. In their 2014 article, Gaudin
and Pomerol state that France should do away with the bac in favor of greater emphasis on the
concours.

Les concours
Many students, after obtaining their bac, have other challenges yet to face. As mentioned
in the literature review, prestigious French universities and the grandes coles request that
students participate in concours, which consist of written and oral exams that are different for
each establishment. Only students who score the best on these concours will qualify for that
school.
One problem in France is that there are typically many more demands than there are spots
available. certains concours, il peut y avoir 1,000 personnes pour seulement 20 places [at
certain concours, there can be 1,000 people vying for just 20 spots] (Mryl, Interview). Medical

20
school, especially, has a high percentage of applicants compared to positions available. So what
happens if a student does not earn a spot into the university of his dreams? According to my
informants, you either settle for the facult, the public university open to all who obtain their
bac, or else you spend another year preparing to retake the concours in the hopes of making it in
the second time around.

Implications
In conducting this small-scale ethnographic research project, I was able to better
understand the cultural perspectives behind important milestone decisions in the French
educational system. As students approach important decisions, such as choosing a lyce or
choosing a filire, many factors come into play. Some such factors include the prestige or merit
of certain programs over others as well as interest in a specific field of study or career. Especially
at a young age, family influence is an important factor. It seems that the French informants I
talked to seem to have some idea of those factors which influences the decisions they make, but
it was also clear to me that there were some influences of which they were not as explicitly
aware, such as the influence of the teachers and administrators, and even more importantly, the
influence of French society. Academic success or failure may also constrain a student to certain
paths, limiting ones sense of agency.
Upon analyzing my data, I gained insights into how my informants viewed their own
system, connecting what I learned to my prior knowledge of the French educational system.
Because I work in the field of education myself, I am able to make some comparisons between
my observations of the French educational system and the American system.

21
In the United States, students specialize much later in life. They are given ample time to
explore different fields of study when they are young. Even after entering college, students are
often able to take liberal arts courses the first year or two before declaring a major.
In France, students must choose early on the path they will follow. The transition from
collge to lyce is an important milestone for the French. Although becoming less important,
obtaining ones baccalaurat is also a milestone.
American students are certainly pressured to perform well on the ACT or SAT
examinations, but they are given opportunities to retake these tests, and success on these tests is
not the only factor which determines entrance into a university. American colleges and
universities look not only at a students ACT or SAT test score, but also recommendation letters
saying how he/she works, and his/her grade point average in school. The baccalaurat, therefore,
is more high-stakes than any American standardized test.
In my opinion, the American student has a far greater sense of agency in choosing his
educational trajectory than does a French student. In the U.S., we encourage students to sign up
for classes that they enjoy, to indulge in their passions and to follow their dreams. American
culture encourages students to pursue their dreams, despite any obstacles. This is often referred
to as The American Dream.
Contrary to the follow your dreams philosophy, in France, a student is greatly
constrained by his/her academic progress. If a student performs poorly in school, he/she is
encouraged to choose a lyce professionnel and learn a trade. If a student does well in school,
he/she is automatically pushed toward the lyce gnral et technologique and is pushed toward
the filire S once there. French society encourages students who are strong in school to pursue
something in the scientific field, because this will bring the most prestige. There seems to be less

22
value placed on choosing a path based on what one loves to do.
Some readers might have been surprised to learn that France puts great emphasis on the
field of science, with its international notoriety for the artistic and literary achievements. Could it
be that there is an international push for science? As an educator in the American school system,
I can say that I have noticed, in the past decade push for STEM (science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics) in American schools. I would be curious to better understand the
perspectives behind the great push for science in France and also to know if this is a cultural
phenomenon or a global occurrence.

Conclusion
The aim of this study was to discover perspectives French people have about their
educational system. In conducting a small-scale ethnographic research project, I discovered
many of the factors that influence French students as they make milestone decisions affecting
their academic future. I would have liked to interview a larger number of informants from a
variety of backgrounds but was limited by the short amount of time I was able to spend in
France. For example, I was unable to interview any students who attend lyce professionnel or
those who represent other cross-sections of France. Since my research uncovered an academic
push for science, it would be interesting to investigate what is behind that emphasis in France,
perhaps by studying French legislation produced by the Department of Education and by
interviewing more informants.

23

Footnotes
1

Translated by the author; All translations are the authors except where noted otherwise.

Translated using wordreference.com

All informants chose or were assigned a pseudonym in order to protect their anonymity.

I saw Paulines report card, and her moyenne was 18, higher than any of the students at the conseil
de classe I attended.
4

24

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