CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.3 Secondary Education to Tertiary Education
2.3.2 French College Admission Process
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As explained above, the admission by examination and placement process is offered to students who failed to gain admission through the Stars program or the application process. But not only, this program is also provided to students who didn’t or couldn’t take part in the GSAT or more often who were dissatisfied by their GSAT score.
Students taking part to the admission by examination and placement process must take the AST. The AST score is the sole factor of students’ distribution into colleges and departments. Still, they can fill out a preference list where they indicate their desire and preferences.
2.3.2 French College Admission Process
It was Napoleon Bonaparte (Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, and again in 1815) who created the Baccalaureate that we know today.67 In 1808, Napoleon re-established the old-regime universities that the Revolution had abolished (Theology, Law, and Medicine) and created two new faculties (Arts and Sciences). By decree of March 17th, 180868, he restored the " Master of Arts" which he called "The Baccalaureate." It was the first university degree which allowed students over sixteen years old to pass oral examinations on Greek and Latin authors, rhetoric, history, geography, and philosophy.
The first session was held the following year and had 31 graduates, mostly from the
“bourgeoisie.” The Bachelor of Sciences was then created in 1852.69
Contrary to the GSAT and the AST, the Baccalaureate has the double feature to put an end to high school studies and to open access to higher education (as it is considered to
67 Napoléon, fondateur du baccalauréat. (2014, May 4). Retrieved from
http://www.napoleon1er.fr/2014/05/napoleon-fondateur-du-baccalaureat/ Napoleon, founder of the baccalaureate.
68 17 mars 1808 : Organisation de l’Université impériale. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.canalacademie.com/ida2883-17-mars-1808-organisation-de-l-Universite-imperiale.html March 17, 1808: organization of the Imperial University
69 Virginie Rivière. (2013, June 14). Bac : Histoire, origines, réformes... Ce qu'il faut savoir. Retrieved from http://www.linternaute.com/actualite/education/bac-histoire-origines-reformes.shtml Baccalaureate:
History, Origins and Reforms.
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be the first university diploma)70. Success in this examination (average of 10/20) is almost mandatory to access higher education. The Baccalaureate is considered in France as the first university degree while the graduation certificate is an academic qualification awarded for the completion of high school. By obtaining this graduation certificate, students are deemed to have completed their basic schooling. The French secondary school graduation certificate (CFES – Le Certificat de fin d’études secondaires) can only be obtained by taking the Baccalaureate and being awarded a minimum total score of 871. Students who fail to acquire this score have to repeat their last year of senior high school and to re-sit the Baccalaureate.
The French higher education system only possesses a single admission channel which is called the Admission Post Bac72. Students who wish to enroll into higher education must go through this procedure. The APB process begins every year at the end of January (this year; January 20th, 2016) and ends every year at the end of March (this year; March 20th, 2016). According to the Ministry of Higher Education, the APB is a mandatory step in the university admission process.
This procedure expects students to apply to college in regards to their aspirations since a preference list is solicited to distribute students into institutions that might fit both their academic knowledge and ambition. Admittance into public universities of all holders of the Baccalaureate is an obligation imposed by the law, in principle, any selection is strictly banned but in practice, this is not entirely accurate.73 The restriction of available places into some colleges make it hard for universities to keep up with this obligation. If
70 Le baccalauréat : Repères historiques. (2007, June). Retrieved from http://media.education.gouv.fr/file/47/8/5478.pdf The baccalaureate: historical references
71 Que faire sans le bac ? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.onisep.fr/Mes-infos-regionales/Martinique/Dossiers/Que-faire-sans-le-bac/Que-faire-sans-le-bac Secondary school leaving certificate
72 « Admission Post-Bac » c'est quoi ? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.admission-postbac.fr/index.php?desc=quoi What is the APB ?
73 Jean-Claude Lewandowski. (2013, October 25). La sélection à l'université, encore un mythe qui s'écroule.
Retrieved from http://focuscampus.blog.lemonde.fr/2013/10/25/la-selection-a-luniversite-encore-un-mythe-qui-secr/ University's selection, the collapse of another myth
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students applying to a regional university are assured a place, this is not the case when students try to cross the borders of their regions.74
Several colleges are limited because of institutions’ restricted capacity (they do not have enough space to welcome as many students that apply or they do not have enough teachers, and they tend to favor quality over quantity). Usually, a draw is performed to determine students outside of the academic sector to be accepted into the college. Some colleges require students to provide additional documents and tests to perform a selection of eligible applicants. It is one of the reasons why students are required to fill their preference list with a minimum of ten choices in case their first or second choice is rejected.75According to the APB website, students can only get one admittance offer in order to avoid blocking available places in different colleges. This offer is made in regards to students’ preference list and their academic record. For example, if a student applied for ten universities and gained admittance to the college ranked first in his preference list, then all the other choices would be canceled. When an acceptance proposal is made to students, the choices they have filed after this one, are automatically canceled. The purpose of this system is to offer all students the opportunity to enroll in a college of their choice.
Students on a waiting list might sometimes wait until late August before getting informed of their admittance or refusal. This situation only occurs in the case of selective programs such as the degree in foreign languages (English and Korean) in The University of La Rochelle which only welcomes thirty new students every year (students from the academic sector of Poitiers have the priority) or the University Institutes of Technology in La Rochelle. The APB procedure has six phases76:
- The registration and choice selection: from January 20th to March 20th.
- The deadline for choice confirmation and sending application forms: April 2nd
74 Caroline Beyer. (2013, October 18). How the university organizes the selection of its students? Retrieved from http://etudiant.lefigaro.fr/les-news/actu/detail/article/comment-l-universite-organise-la-selection-3142/
75 Natacha Lefauconnier. (2014, February 25). Admission post bac: Is it true that for some licenses, APB assigns places by drawing lots? Retrieved from http://www.letudiant.fr/etudes/apb/admission-postbac-est-il-exact-que-pour-certaines-licences-apb-attribue-les-places-par-tirage-au-sort.html
76 « Admission Post-Bac » c'est quoi ? (n.d.). Retrieved 2016, from http://www.admission-postbac.fr/index.php?desc=quoi Admission Post-Bac; Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research
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- The checking of application form’s reception by the institutions: May 3rd to May 6th
- Changing choice order: January 20th to May 31st
- Second admission phase and applicants’ responses: June 23rd to June 28th - Complementary procedure and choice selection: June 24th to September 9th
The table below gives a clear picture of the college admission procedure including the APB process.
Table 2.2 The College Admission Process in France
Adapted from Post Bac Admission, by the French Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research, 2016, Retrieved from https://www.admission-postbac.fr/.
Once students are in the possession of their Baccalaureate results and have completed the APB procedure, they can then proceed to their official registration in the
French Baccalaureate – anticipated tests (second year of senior high school, June) Admission by application through post-bac
(third year of senior high school. January 20th to March 20th) Confirmation of vows and personal application
(April 2nd) French Baccalaureate (June 15th to June 22nd) College admission results
(subject to changes depending on the obtention of the baccalaureate) June 8th
Baccalaureate Results (July 5th)
Rattrapage examination (July 5th to July 8th)
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university. No further examinations will be required by students who already gained admittance into a college.
The purpose of this review was to view the evolution of higher education within the past sixty years and see how enrollment into university is performed by students in Taiwan and France. It is clear from the research reviewed that college admission systems in the two countries have widely improved and currently offer diversified opportunities to enroll in higher education. More research and testing is required to gain a better understanding of students experiences in the college admission procedure and to identify the challenges and struggles they might encounter.
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3.1 Methodology
To provide a reliable analysis of college admission systems in Taiwan and France, it is crucial to explore the university prerequisites and requirements that candidates in this two countries must fulfill, and to understand how and why they differ. Individual’s experience, preferences, and understanding of the college admission system require further analysis to determine the challenges and difficulties encountered by candidates. Secondly, this research needs to understand the factors determining the acceptance of candidates into universities. Thus the research framework for this research is as follows:
Figure 3.1 Research Framework
qualification and testing requirements to enter university
process to apply for college
entrance challenges and
difficulties encountered by
candidates
Differences between college admission in Taiwan and in France
Eventual improvements in college admission
system
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As observed in the diagram, it is the researcher’s belief that the combination of the three elements will help provide an understanding of college admission systems; the research framework allows us to determine the differences between college admission in Taiwan and France as well as the potential improvements in college admission. The figure below presents the conceptual framework of this research.
Figure 3.2 Conceptual Framework
College Admission Systems in Taiwan and
France
College Admission
Process
College Admission Requirements
Students Perception on
college admission Differences and
Smilarities in college admission
Systems
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To determine former high school students and candidate’s perspective on college admission systems, an on-line survey through social media (Facebook) was conducted to gather primary source data from former high school students. As we are comparing the present college admission system in Taiwan and France, our surveys have been provided to former high school students who enrolled in university in the last four years. The survey research method has been chosen to determine the requirements and qualifications needed for the admission of graduates into college, and the questionnaire format uses open and close ended questions. Participants were asked to answer questions about their perception of college admission requirements and qualifications based on their own experience. The survey includes questions on students’ backgrounds, students’ performances, grading standards, challenges posed by the admission requirements and qualifications, college admission systems experienced by students, and the type of assessments undergone by the students.
The elaboration of this survey was implemented in order to get a better understanding of the two different college admission systems through a Taiwanese and a French lens. Two surveys with different sets of questions were be provided to the respondents, one particular for Taiwanese and another one for French respondents according to the literature review findings. This survey has been administered to roughly 140 university students in Taiwan mostly studying in Public (National Chengchi University) and Private (Tamkang University) Universities using traditional Chinese. The French survey was administered to roughly 140 students in France mainly from non-selective universities (“L’Université de la Rochelle” – The University of La Rochelle) and selective universities (The University Institute of Technology) have been provided in French. An English version of the surveys will also be added to this research.
In-depth Interviews
depth interviews have also been implemented in order to get further analysis. In-depth interviews were provided to four university students in Taiwan and France to
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determine their paths towards college, what emerges from their experience, and what requirements and prerequisites matter the most in their perspective. Students are current and former university students from National Chengchi University and Tamkang University in Taiwan; and from “L’Université de La Rochelle” in France in order to have a more professional point of view on college admission requirements and qualifications and how college admission system could eventually improve. Nine open-ended questions were provided to the respondents according to the survey’s questions, this includes three questions on student’s background, three questions on senior secondary school, and four questions on college admission procedure and higher education.
Sampling
To gauge Taiwanese and French university students’ response and experience in college admission system, the researcher has chosen a purposefully sampling technique of students based off of three main criteria: type of university, overall grade point average in senior high school, and future prospects. Type of university is divided into two groups according to each country: private and public universities in Taiwan and selective and non-selective institutions in France. This research also hopes to explore the differences and similarities in candidates’ perception of higher education and the factors influencing their choice of university. The second criteria will be based on their overall grade point average in senior high school with the hopes to get a wider representation of student’s repartition into university. Finally, the third criteria is based on students’ future prospects with the hopes to assess differences between the two countries and the different institutions as well as to get a better understanding of students’ hope while attending higher education. This research will poll Taiwanese students in both public and private universities and French students in both selective and non-selective institutions. These ranges in institutions’ type and overall grade point average in senior high school will hopefully provide a complete analysis of college admission system in Taiwan and France.
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The survey used in this study addresses two purposes. The first purpose is to examine the perceptions of Taiwanese and French students regarding college admission process. The second objective is to determine the possible differences between Taiwanese and French college admission systems.
For this study, the researcher will use a survey technique mixing both open-ended questions and multiple choice questions. The survey is divided into two main parts:
background of the person (age, gender, university), and 12 open and multiple choice questions divided up between the research questions. The Taiwanese survey and the French survey are balanced with roughly the same categories of items to make the results as comparable as possible. The questions are also translated into Mandarin Chinese and French to avoid any issues to arise from a language barrier.
In this survey, there are three categories of questions: background of the candidates where the respondent is asked questions about is age, gender, grade level and University;
senior secondary education, where the respondent is asked questions about his performances, experience of the transition from senior high school to tertiary education;
and college admission process which provide questions on factors influencing students’
admittance into colleges and students’ prospects. The distribution of questions according to the three categories is presented in Appendix 1.
3.3 Data Collection and Analysis
Surveys including close-ended questions served as the primary data collection tool for this study. Close-ended questions in the survey consisted of multiple choice, semantic differential, and check boxes questions type. Current university students from Taiwan and France were recruited through social media (Facebook) and were invited to complete the survey online (Google form).
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The survey totaled 366 respondents from Taiwan and France, out of this number 280 were valid considering that some participants left items blank on the questionnaire or didn’t fit the requirements which include:
- An undergraduate student
- From a public or private university in Taiwan - Or a public university in France
- Or a university institute of technology in France
In addition to the survey, four students were interviewed in order to have a deeper understanding of their perspectives of the college admission process. Fourteen open-ended questions that were a continuation of the survey topics were provided to the respondents (Appendix 2). Interviews were conducted among current and former university students in both Taiwan and France and were summarized from notes taken during scheduled appointments. The shortest interview was timed at over 50 minutes while the longest at nearly 80 minutes. Findings and data analysis are presented in the next chapter.
In the qualitative data analysis process, the researcher attempts to identify factors that are common or different between the respondents based on responses to both close-ended and open-close-ended questions (survey and interviews). In this study, the survey respondents were able to leave comments after completing the online survey, this then allowed the researcher to analyze close-ended responses in addition to both comments and interviews responses. Microsoft Excel was used to analyze the data from this survey.
Analysis of the survey’s answers and interviews includes descriptive statistics.
The purpose of this chapter was to explain the research methodology of this study by providing a description of the sample selection, an explanation of the procedure used in designing the instrument and collecting the data, and an explanation on how the data would be analyzed.
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CHAPTER 4. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
In this chapter, results and analysis of the data are explored. The chapter covers three parts: the first section provides an overview of descriptive statistic which is used to analyze the essential features of the data as well as responses to the items in the survey;
this part is divided in three sections: senior secondary education, college admission process and future prospect. The second section presents the interviews’ data to support the survey’s data and to make assumptions regarding differences that might appear between the two systems. Finally, the third and final section presents a summary of the findings and discussion of the results according to the research questions of this thesis.
4.1 Descriptive Statistics
This research consisted of conducting a survey of university students from Taiwan and France with different backgrounds to gain a deeper understanding of college admission system and students’ feelings and perceptions about this process. In an attempt to collect relevant data to support this thesis, the survey was conducted through social media (Facebook) from June 6th, 2016 to June 20th, 2016. The survey totaled 366 respondents from Taiwan and France, out of this number 280 were valid because some participants left items blank on the questionnaire or didn’t fit the requirements of the surveys(which is to be a university student for the case of France; and not a student from business school or other institutions that are not considered as universities). As we compare the present college admission systems in Taiwan and France, our surveys were provided to former high school students who enrolled in a university in the last four years. Taiwanese respondents are from both public and private universities more specifically from National Chengchi University; NCCU (國立政治大學) and Tamkang University TKU (淡江大學).
Respondents from France are students from public universities and university institutes of technology (The University of La Rochelle ; “L’Université de la Rochelle” ; The National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations, Paris-Sorbonne University “INALCO, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales” ; The University Institutes of