Identity politics has corrupted France’s elite schools

Earlier this year, Sciences Po’s feminist association, Décollectif Féministe, organised a ‘non-mixed’ meeting, which explicitly excluded men and white attendees. Intended as a ‘safe space’ for women of colour, the event sparked an immediate backlash. An MP from Marine Le Pen’s National Rally called it ‘racist and discriminatory.’ Ultimately, the meeting was cancelled before it took place, but it highlights the deep rot that has set in at France’s elite universities.

Sciences Po – long the premier training ground for presidents, prime ministers, and diplomats from Jacques Chirac to Emmanuel Macron – has seen its status plummet. Once the jewel of French academia, corporate recruiters are increasingly turning their backs on its graduates, who are perceived more as activists than professionals. In a recent survey by Décideurs Magazine, recruiters expressed growing disillusionment with the school.