Cover -- Half Title -- Series Page -- Title Pages -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Foreword -- Series Editor's Preface -- Acknowledgements -- List of Acronyms -- The French Education System -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Succeeding with, Succeeding for Them -- 3 Routes to Elite Higher Education Institutions -- 4 'The Price of the Ticket'. Class, Race, and Gender Hierarchies in Elite Higher Education Institutions -- 5 Forging a Sense of Place in Elite Academic Spaces: 'Accommodating Without Assimilating' -- 6 From the Grande École to the Middle Class: Uncertain Journeys ahead -- Conclusion