This presentation will focus on the introduction of a new admissions procedure at Sciences Po. Examining the transposition of the US model of holistic admissions onto this French elite higher education institution, reveals the ambivalent character of this mode of admission in general and more specifically when it merges with a different national perspective on merit that rewards the possession of legitimate cultural capital. Using data from interviews with selectors, the analysis will highlight both the persistence of a classical view on merit, focusing on past educational performance and students’ scholastic culture and linguistic style on essays and oral presentations, and the emergence of a new perspective favouring a whole-person approach and focusing on students’ authenticity. It will also relate these two ideal typical valuation modes to selectors’ social identities and relationship to Sciences Po. The conclusion will discuss these changes and variations in light of contemporary social and symbolic struggles between different class fractions and different professional groups, both at Sciences Po and in French society at large.

About the speaker:
Professor Agnès van Zanten is Professor of Sociology at Sciences Po and CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research). She has received honorary doctorates from the University of Turku (Finland), the University of Geneva (Switzerland), and the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium), and was elected a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy in 2017. That same year, she was awarded the CNRS Silver Medal. Professor van Zanten is the author of numerous books and scholarly articles. Her research focuses on educational inequalities and segregation, school dynamics and local educational policies. She also works on cross-national comparisons of educational systems and policies, and on regulation of European educational systems and the production of inequalities.

This public seminar is hosted by the Centre for Skills, Knowledge, and Organisational Performance (SKOPE) and the Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE).

Lecture followed by drinks reception.

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