The French elite education system is based on elite schools – the so-called grandes écoles – and the preparatoryion classes (classes préparatoires) offered by some prestigious lycées. The system is characterised by its uniquely severe selection process, which has no equivalent in the rest of Europe (see Jurt, 2004, p. 92). For centuries the grandes écoles in relation to their symbolic significance – especially compared to the universities – were the dominating elite education institutions that educated the national elite in various disciplines.

Pierre Bourdieu and his colleagues (e.g., Bourdieu, 1989; Bourdieu/de Saint Martin, 1978, 1987) studied the socially highly closed elite education system in France – especially in La noblesse d’État. On that basis they developed parts of the theory of social reproduction whose paradigmatic character has mostly remained unquestioned (see Joly, 2005, p. 11). Questions on internationalisation of the grandes écoles were not considered in Bourdieu’s work. The latter is mainly based on extensive quantitative data material dating from the 1960s and 1970s.

In the course of internationalisation processes affecting the French higher education system in the last few decades the traditional, rather small and internationally less visible elite colleges came under pressure. Due to their strong foundation in the national culture and their commitment to the Republican ideal, these institutions were “particularly affected by global changes”[1] (Veltz, 2007, p. 59).

The contribution[2] will focus on the following questions: In which way are the internationalisation processes reflected in discourses of self-representation of the French elite colleges (expert interviews with professors and institutions’ websites and brochures)? Which dimensions play an important role when focusing on internationalisation? On that basis the objective is to elaborate how internationalisation has an impact on the education of the future elite in France (among other things, social and cultural diversification) and how academic identity patterns develop or shift in this context. Therefore, the focus will be on two prestigious grandes écoles – the École Normale supérieure de la rue d’Ulm and the École normale supérieure de Cachan – which regard themselves as institutions forming the future research elite (see ENS, 2014).

In a theoretic dimension, the contribution positions itself within critical research on elites. It refers mainly to the theory of Pierre Bourdieu especially his concepts on ‘habitus’ and ‘field’. These can be understood as heuristic elements which can therefore be developed and, if necessary, modified within the research process. The contribution is situated at the interface of the area of research on elite schools in France and the field of internationalisation research in the education system.

The European higher education systems are, on the whole, affected by internationalisation challenges, but react in different ways (see e.g., Teichler, 2007, p. 35f.). An examination of different higher education systems and the development of a comparative perspective – which will be established in the last part of the contribution on France and Germany – seems for these reasons to be of high interest.

[1] All translations are the responsibility of the author.

[2] The proposed contribution is based on a research project entitled “French Elite Institutions in the Process of Internationalisation. A qualitative analysis of the Écoles normales supérieures”, which is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

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