Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

ThrowMeAway_DaddyPls t1_iteg64a wrote

Reply to comment by Namas31 in [OC] Chances to attend a "Grande Ecole (Top university) in France. If you want to attend "ENA", the best university in France, you have 330x chances if your father graduated from there. by pacmanpill

It's still astounding than in our country that strives for more equality (it's in our words, after all), we have those incredibly high level schools, the cradle of our elite (supposedly), being such powerful instruments of social reproduction.

9

Namas31 t1_iteim54 wrote

Yeah, I guess that's the case in pretty much every country. You're way more likely to receive a good education from your parents if they're well-educated too.

At least we don't have institutionalized nepotism and corruption like they do in the US ( like Dean's list, "legacy" admissions, stuff like that). For instance it's well known that Jared Kushner, Trump's son in law, got into Harvard because his rich father donated a few million $ to them. And that's totally legal, which is insane. Colleges like X or HEC in France have tough entrance exams, and you can't buy your way in. Some people say entrance exams are biased but that's still the most fair way to choose people imo.

10

anomalily t1_iteoz1r wrote

Dean’s list in US in my experience (attended multiple public and private Unis in US) is not nepotism, just a list of the students with the best grades? Unlike legacy

11

ExpensiveHand4181 t1_iteypsq wrote

What do you believe is nepotistic or corrupt about the “Dean’s List”?

5

lalaria t1_itgl9oz wrote

I think the ENA is a blessing for France. Look at other governments and see how nepotism places people completely unprepared in government jobs solely because they're part of the ruling party. The ENA leads to technocracy, and elitism, but I believe it's much better than unprepared people.

6

Prae_ t1_iti0x27 wrote

I mean, the data presented here suggests that ENA is basically nepotism with extra steps.

Although the extra steps are possibly of importance. ENA entrance exam is reputed to be extremely hard regardless of cooptation, at least being born from a diplomat is not enough.

8

Namas31 t1_ithcn9a wrote

Absolutely, I don't think there was anything wrong with it. I guess it was shut down because it was politically toxic.

2

ThrowMeAway_DaddyPls t1_itj0hpy wrote

Well I suppose, because of my political alignment and tendency to criticize things within their context, as good as the ENA has been for France in the ways you describe, it also contributes to reinforcing social reproduction in France.

1

Elben4 t1_itj2zca wrote

Well, that just painfully annoying to read. Excellence and equity are not mutually exclusive.

1