Gentrification does not mean less school segregation

Residential gentrification in the Paris metropolitan area does not necessarily translate into “school gentrification” in local public middle schools. School catchment boundaries and the widespread use of private education to opt out of assigned public schools help explain this decoupling between neighbourhood and school change. 

Lise Lécuyer and Marco Oberti analyse the social background of students living in historically working-class or mixed neighbourhoods of Greater Paris that are undergoing gentrification with the arrival of upper-middle-class households, using a multi-scalar approach (neighbourhood, catchment area, school) to link residential recomposition and school segregation. 

Their results show that, across the Grand Paris area, the share of managers and professionals has increased by 5 percentage points to reach 36% of the working population, and that many gentrifying neighbourhoods are located in the former “red belt” (ceinture rouge), where a large stock of social housing maintains a certain level of social mix. Yet, even in these changing areas, the social composition of local public middle schools has often remained remarkably stable. To understand why, the authors turn to school-avoidance strategies, highlighting one key mechanism: upper-middle-class families, especially those in private-sector executive and liberal professions, are particularly likely to choose private schools over their assigned public middle school. 

The study thus shows that greater residential social mix does not mechanically lead to lower school segregation, as socially differentiated school choices and private schooling sustain persistent gaps between neighbourhoods and public schools.

Lise Lécuyer, Marco Oberti, “Does residential gentrification lead to school gentrification? Evidence from the Paris metropolitan area, methodological challenges and diversity of configuration”, Educational Review, July 9th, 2026.