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As part of GMF’s extensive immigration and integration programming this year, GMF’s office in Paris held a seminar on March 3 on immigration and minority youth.  The event focused primarily on equal access to higher education and was attended by a lively group of French and American academics, education professionals, and journalists.  Susan Martin, director of Georgetown’s Institute for the Study of International Migration, and GMF Transatlantic Fellow Patrick Weil served as co-chairs.   One of the principle conclusions drawn from the meeting was that France could benefit from American experiences in access to higher education — the University of Texas was cited as an example — in concrete ways.  U.S. experts were also informed about recent steps taken by top French universities and grandes écoles to facilitate access by minority and socially-disadvantaged students.   The seminar also looked at integration of second generation immigrants and immigrant youth from a transatlantic perspective.  Participants weighed the pros and cons of the French Republican model, which stresses public conformity to national values and norms.