The Impact of Social Segregation on Educational Achievement in France

Territory dynamics have been the subject of research for many decades with regards to a set of institutions and research fields (cities, housing, social work, etc.). However, these dynamics have long remained less important in the field of education. Many problems arise when measuring and interpreting observed territorial differences. They can indeed result from a complex combination of geographical, historical, economic, demographic, and political factors.

To what extent does school success vary according to the educational institution a student attends, particularly when enrolling in, and leaving middle school? How should we interpret observed differences? What are the main factors that may account for the strongest variations observed? The aim of this paper is to answer these questions, along with questions concerning social and school segregations related to the competition between schools.

In the first part, I look at the lessons to be drawn from empirical studies regarding school inequalities, as well as social and school segregations. The second part aims at analyzing social segregation in state middle schools and in France Departments (approximately similar to counties in the US and the UK). In the third part I study the unequal academic success of French Departments in relationship to segregation processes. The latest PISA results have clearly underlined such phenomena once again.  A student’s chances of achieving excellence in France are very much related to social origin, and more so than in most other countries.