Equality of Opportunity

Since 2006, the Equality of Opportunity program has focused on French and American strategies to fight discrimination and promote greater opportunities for minority and immigrant populations. Targeting education and employment as critical means for social integration, the program has aimed to facilitate the dialogue between decision makers and to influence public debate and policy making in both countries.

Equality of opportunity media library

In March 2011, the French-American Foundation launched a multimedia resource center focusing on anti-discrimination issues. Made possible by the generous support of the Ford Foundation, this “digital library” brings a unique, comparative perspective on issues of discrimination and equal opportunity.

The digital library features print, audio, and video content, in particular—interviews of French and American anti-discrimination experts, as well as clips from documentaries that shed light on “real-life stories.”

This digital library is accessible in both French and English and provides a platform for information and dialogue. Some of the experts interviewed include: in France, Dominique Sopo, President of SOS Racisme; Richard Descoings, Director of Sciences Po; François Héran, President of the COMEDD (Committee for the Measuring and Evaluation of Diversity and Discrimination); and in the United States, Dennis Parker, Director of the Racial Justice Program at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); and Jeffrey Rosen, Professor of Law at George Washington University, among others.

Visit the multimedia library at http://equality.frenchamerican.org.

Scholar-in-residency program

The scholar-in-residency program, held from 2007–2011 in partnership with Sciences Po, shared pioneering American scholarship related to equal opportunity that is not well-known in France and explored policy implications of this research. As the leading French graduate school in public policy, Sciences Po was the ideal partner for this innovative program.
 
The visiting scholars came from a variety of disciplines such as law, philosophy, social sciences, management or public policy. In 2010-2011, the invited scholar was Richard Thompson Ford (pictured at left), George E. Osborne Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and an expert on the legal and social issues surrounding discrimination, including housing and integration challenges. While at Sciences Po, he published a report entitled "Headscarves, Hairstyles and Culture as a Civil Right: A Critique."

In 2009-2010, the selected scholar was David Laitin, Professor of Political Science at Stanford, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. While at Sciences Po, Professor Laitin published a report entitled “Les Français musulmans sont-ils discriminés dans leur propre pays? Une étude expérimentale sur le marché du travail.”