Academic rank in France

The following summarizes basic academic ranks in the French higher education system:

Contents

State university system

Maître de conférences and Professeurs des universités are both permanent positions, and since all French universities are state-run, professors are also civil servants. The permanent position is not the same as tenure, strictly speaking, but is instead due to the status of civil servant in public universities. Other academic positions exist but they are on contractual basis (ATER, allocataire moniteur). These positions have various subcategories, but the title is always the same. The subcategories (2nd class, 1st class, Exceptional Class) solely serve to determine the appropriate income they earn. No one can become Professeur or Maître de Conférence without a doctorate summa cum laude.

In Law, Political Science and Economics it is possible to be recruited directly as a full professor by passing the agrégation (distinct from the secondary school system's agrégation, more widespread). Consequently, some scholars become professors without prior experience as a Maître de conférences. This remains rare however, most of the time the aggregation is a way to accelerate career advancement for the Maîtres de conférences (this is known as the voie courte, or short way, as opposed to the voie longue).

Other academic staff include :

Grandes Écoles system

The Grandes Écoles is a parallel educational system generally attributed to Napoleon. These institutions of higher education each specialize in a specific domain, such as business, political science, or engineering. Some of them (for example Sciences Po Paris) are part of the state university recruitment system. The others - mainly the private ones - follow various guidelines. Among the business schools it is common to follow the North American terminology. That is,

Typically, anyone teaching in a Grande Ecole will identify themselves publicly as "Professeur" regardless of their internal rank. This is an acceptable practice for tenured or full-time staff ("professeurs permanents") and permanently employed part-time staff (professeurs affiliés). It is considered inappropriate for others who teach a single course (vacataires or chargés d'enseignements).

Administrative ranks

Notes