Source: French to English Tester Published on: 2026-03-31
Source: The Conversation – France (in French)– By Lisa d’Argenlieu, Doctoral Student in Management, Paris Dauphine University – PSL
The parents considered “school consumers” have driven the debate since François Dubet first mentioned, in 2013, the “strategic” attitude of certain families toward educational choices. Behind this expression lie diverse behaviors: avoiding the designated local middle school through exemption requests, moving houses, enrolling in private institutions, or intervening within the school (seeking to change educational methods, requesting grading changes).
In a study published in the scientific journalMarketing Decisions, we stopped on theresponse of the colleges to this avoidanceÂ: contrary to received ideas, some of them develop genuine brand strategies.
And these marketing strategies do not only concern favored institutions. Even struggling colleges can engage in them, provided they have resources (material, educational, financial, etc.) that they can leverage.
To conduct this research, we carried out about sixty interviews with various actors in the education system: staff from middle schools (principals, teachers, educational staff), parents of students, representatives from academic authorities, and leaders of Catholic education.
Why is this result important?
The literature prior to our research defines the school brand by its existence in official contexts of free choice. However, our investigation shows that it also appears inunofficial school markets, therefore not legislated. In this context, working on one’s brand becomes a way for colleges to regain control over their identity to combat imposed reputations.
Our research identifies two main conditions for the emergence of a school brand:
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a tension related to the student population, such asa lack of social diversityor a decrease in the number of students;
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the will and the ability to enhance a specific resource. This resource can be educational, for example a classroom equipped for music, territorial (linked to local facilities) or connected to an inclusivity project such as support for dyslexic students.
We have identified four types of brand strategies, which vary according to two dimensions: the resource of the establishment and the type of targeted school mix (support for all levels or a specific level)
The four brand strategies – traditional, inclusive, meritocratic, and experiential – are found in both private and public colleges.
In this context, school branding strategies adapt to varied audiences. Let us cite the example ofAttractiveness plan in Seine-Saint-Deniswhich aims to combat school absenteeism through the implementation of attractive options, more appealing premises, and work on the reputation of colleges, which corresponds to the establishment of meritocratic branding strategies with academically valuable options in the goal of school diversity.
What effects on the functioning of the school system?
These results change the way we understand school markets. Until now, institutions appeared passive in the face of parental choices. Our research shows, on the contrary, that middle schools are actors in these dynamics. The institutions that remain in difficulty are often those that do not have easily marketable resources. Conversely, certain public policies such as REP (Priority Education Networks) schemes provide institutions with tools to build a school brand.
Part of our investigation was conducted in REP+ middle schools, where the tools of the system could do much more than adapt to a disadvantaged audience, and be used to attract families from the area who had gone to other schools (private or outside the area), or even to obtain enrollments of out-of-area students by special exemption.
These school branding strategies now identified, a new question arises: how do they evolve over time? Upcoming surveys will aim to observe how they transform, strengthen, or disappear, as institutions and territories change over time.
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Denis Guiot received funding from the European Commission and a single interministerial Fund (City of Paris and Oséo)
Lisa d’Argenlieu and Sarah Benmoyal Bouzaglo do not work for, advise, hold shares in, or receive funds from any organization that could benefit from this article, and have declared no other affiliation than their academic positions.
–ref. Faced with parents’ school avoidance strategies, middle schools strike back –https://theconversation.com/face-aux-strategies-devitement-scolaire-des-parents-les-colleges-contre-attaquent-278910