Each year, several French and British young people make study visits and research across the Channel to develop their career and professional goals, discover different perspectives on the world and share their two cultures. The Entente Cordiale scholarship program allows students to France and the UK to spend a year in a French or British university to help them play a key role in tomorrow's society. Today Emilie Giraud demonstrates, MSc Gender, Policies and Inequality, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Why did you choose to study in the UK?
Studying in the UK was a way for me to achieve my ambitions and my professional projects. It was also an experience that I wanted to live as individuals. The fact of living in a foreign country and speaking another language helps to redefine and feed his thought original perspectives by synthesizing two cultural worlds. These cultural differences are particularly evident from an academic point of view, in the treated themes and ways to address them. Thus I study in the UK gender issues at the heart of social policies, an approach that is the subject of an entire academic department at the London School of Economics, as this area is just emerging in France. Moreover, France and the UK have very different conceptions of social policies. I hope to contribute to the exchange of good practices and develop social innovations adapted to different contexts of the two countries.
I needed financial support, a form of recognition of the relevance of my project, and a network to broadcast my ideas. I applied for the scholarship Entente Cordiale, because it corresponded perfectly to these needs; it offers substantial financial support, it comes from a prestigious institution that directly link between France and the United Kingdom, it promotes innovative projects and gives rise to interesting networking activities. Do not censor and take the opportunity to fill in the registration form to reflect its plans for the future. This is one of the few times you do not ask young people of our generation to be conformist or rational, where we do not ask ourselves whether our desires are not too utopian to get a job and what is more gainful employment. The idea of the award is to support projects of studies that bring a little something more to the company, who develop a unique and promising vision. We must dare, believe in yourself, be convincing and convinced of the scope of the project.
Where does your interest in gender studies? What are the differences between the British and French approaches to the subject?
Study, is pursuing a series of personal questions that haunt us now. As a citizen, as a sister of a transgender person, as a friend of men who suffer from having to conform to an ideal type of virilizing masculinity, as a volunteer with sex workers, I realized that gender violence is belonging and can be a real obstacle to the achievement of personal and professional projects.
But it was during an exchange student in Norway that my interest in this topic has become a professional goal. I realized in that country, which is considered one of the most egalitarian in the world that equality is largely constructed by the state apparatus. The Norwegian State has adopted a framework for gender analysis, and established policies have changed individual behaviour, advancing consistently on the road to equality. If gender equality is part of the European political agenda, this perspective remains marginal in France.
Now, if the equal rights of men and women is more or less acquired de facto equality is not and question remains regarding access to the right of transgender people. This lack of equality in fact denotes the persistence of barriers to be identified. One of these barriers, in my opinion, is that French politicians do not look social reality through the prism of gender, and thereby contribute to or maintain prejudice and inequality and even strengthen them. The state has a form of accountability to its citizens, it is urgent that equips experts on these issues and give them a proper place. Equality is a vision of society that requires political will; it is a project that enhances the feeling of justice and social well-being, and even contributes to economic efficiency according to some analysts. Everyone has an interest.
And what cultural differences between France and the United Kingdom have you recorded since you arrived?
In the UK, the relationship between teachers and students are less hierarchical. There are not a lot of lessons (and the courses are very short in general) but the list of required reading is long. We do not raise their hand, they speak freely (which can be a problem to get the right to speak, especially when the majority of the class is bilingual and students speak spontaneously during the course). The speaking is less stressful because we feel we have the right to be wrong. The expression of disagreement is much more subtle than in France, we must pay attention to the forms of politeness to really understand the position of the person in front of you.
In a more general way, the feeling of belonging to a community is very strong in the UK, at least in London. The social and geographical organization is focused on ethnic and religious communities. In academia and in analyzing social phenomena, we look at minorities with the most complete transparency, which may appear shocking to a French perspective. The "charities" are highly developed and very present in the city and the people give a lot, probably because the British welfare system is dependent on charity. The shape of the urban landscape is striking. There are a lot of parks, very few buildings, people often live in small houses with gardens. Collocation is not only a student makes, it is also developed within the workforce. But there are of course some negative aspects: untimely work in the subway during the weekend, the omnipresence of CCTV ...
What are your career goals when you finish school?
I am currently seeking funding to make a documentary about innovative social proposals that emphasize gender perspective. I also work on the realization of a field project that considers the subject of my studies, whether in the private or public sector.
What place do you want to have in society and in the world of tomorrow?
I might like to create an association that would be a place of reflection, advocacy, advice and action on gender issues. This association would aim to implement and promote initiatives for the disadvantaged because of their gender belonging; it would also help stakeholders in the public and private sectors to adopt a different approach to the genre, be it in the analysis of social problems in the implementation of their action programs or in assessing these programs.