Governing School Selection with an Instrument: The Case of the College R Score of Quebec Universities
The R score (CRC in French) is the cornerstone of the governance of selection for entry to universities in Quebec. From the perspective of the sociology of quantification and of the sociopolitics of the instrumentation of public action, this article aims to grasp the sociohistorical context which led to the choice of the R score, the discourses which justify this choice and the conceptions of equity which underlie its use. The article is based on the analysis of public policy documents produced since the creation of the cegeps as well as an analysis of the mathematical properties of the R score. It shows a twofold transformation of selection governance, which tends more and more to reduce the principle of equity to a technical choice and to give weight to the strength of the collegial reference group rather than to the rank. The analysis of the mathematical properties of the R score reveals that, far from being neutral, this selection tool is based on a conception of equity in which the background of students enrolled in strong homogeneous groups in college would guarantee their future in terms of academic success. In a context of hierarchization and competition between college establishments, this instrument ultimately leads to a double standard of evaluation and reinforces social inequalities in access to university.