Tiberj, V. Sciences Po, dix ans après les Conventions Educations Prioritaire. Sciences Po, Paris, 2011. Pages: 26.

In 2001, L'Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) launched what it called the Priority Education Conventions scheme in order to encourage the recruitment of students from underprivileged backgrounds through ‘positive discrimination’. In doing so, Sciences Po provided a group of students with opportunities that otherwise (in all likelihood) would not have been available to them to pursue studies at this highly prestigious higher education institution in France. Several high schools from “priority education zones” (i.e. disadvantaged or violence-prone areas) were involved in the implementation of this scheme at its initial stage. The entrance examination requirements were dropped for 10% of the intake of Sciences Po in 2001 representing the Priority Education Conventions body of students. By 2011, 860 students who had been recruited through this special pathway had received their diplomas, while the overall number of participating high schools increased to 85. Sciences Po, dix ans après les Conventions Educations Prioritaire summarises the results of a study that has been conducted by Dr. Vincent Tiberj from the European Studies Center of Sciences Po to evaluate the mid-term progress of this widely criticised initiative and to track the achievements of its students. Some key findings of the study highlight that 

• Sciences Po acquired a student body of greater social and ethnic diversity, with more students coming from working class families and the share of scholarship holders increasing over time; 
• the students of the Priority Education Conventions face more difficulties in the beginning of their studies, but can quickly catch up with their peers, while their drop-out rate is ‘marginal’; and 
• the students of the Priority Education Conventions and other graduates of Sciences Po follow similar professional pathways and successfully integrate into the job market.

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