Gendered educational trajectories and transnational marriage among West African students in France

Abstract

French colonialism resulted in the inclusion of large numbers of West Africans into French educational institutions. Furthermore, the Senegambian region has a long history of intermarriage with French citizens. This paper draws on this history to explore the interplay between migration, education and binational marriage over several generations of West African students, with a particular focus on Senegal. Students from Francophone countries continue to seek educational opportunities in France, but in recent years they have been increasingly affected by the tightening up of immigration policies. In this context, this paper suggests that marriage to a French spouse often plays an important role in the fulfilment of educational projects, and that this role is contingent on issues of gender and class. At times, however, tensions between marriage in France and social expectations back home end up compromising education altogether.

Keywords:

• transnational marriage
• Francophone West Africa
• Senegal
• international student mobility
• citizenship
• French immigration policy

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to the Leverhulme Trust for funding the project on multinational families and new identities this study forms part of, within the Oxford Diaspora Programme (http://www.migration.ox.ac.uk/odp/).

Notes

1. Senegal had an official population of 12.5 million in 2010 (ANSD 2011).

2. The category ‘French’ includes individuals of Senegalese origin who have acquired citizenship through a first marriage or long-term residency.

3. The Senegambian region includes Senegal, the Gambia and the border regions in Mauritania, Mali, Guinea Bissau and Guinea.

4. For scholarly takes on whether the high percentage of ‘mixed’ marriages in France is indicative of the social incorporation of immigrants, see Collet (1993), Safi (2008) and Tribalat (2009). Also see Todd (1994), Alba and Nee (2005), Song (2009) and Rodríguez-García (2012) for broader discussions of the relationship between intermarriage and ‘integration’.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hélène Neveu Kringelbach

HÉLÈNE NEVEU KRINGELBACH is a project leader with the Oxford Diaspora Programme at the University of Oxford.