Immigrant Dreams Shattered: Sciences Po Graduate Faces Joblessness and Discrimination in France

Camélia, 26, a Sciences Po graduate, has been unemployed for two years. The French woman of Algerian origin is trying to survive on welfare. Born to a truck driver father and a cleaning lady mother, the young woman grew up in public housing in Lyon. Despite their modest situation, her parents enrolled her in a private Catholic school. "As in many immigrant families, school is our only way out, so we put everything into it because we don’t have any economic capital or legitimate cultural capital," she confides to Mediapart.

The Franco-Algerian woman did not expect to find herself unemployed at the end of her studies, because she strongly believed in meritocracy. "I lived by that word. For me, you get what you deserve. I was always told ’work hard and you’ll have a good job’. Today, I feel betrayed and the word is weak. I have degrees but no network or connections," fumes Camélia, who has submitted over 1,000 job applications without success.

The Sciences Po graduate no longer knows which way to turn. She says she is a victim of hiring discrimination because of her Algerian origins. "I can always gain experience, but I can’t change my Arab head, so it’s hopeless..." she laments. Without a job and without income, the young woman is struggling to meet her basic needs. Unable to continue paying her rent and feeding and clothing herself, she has resolved to move back in with her parents. With her 559 euros of welfare, she contributes as best she can to the family’s expenses.

In this unemployment situation, Camélia is withdrawing. She no longer goes out with her friends, no longer goes on vacation, spending her days at home reading novels. She feels that "it’s humiliating" to have these pleasures paid for.