The Grandes Écoles is a parallel educational system generally attributed to Napoleon. These institutions of higher education each specialize in a specific domain, such as business, political science, or engineering. Some of them are grands établissements (for example Sciences Po Paris) are part of the state university recruitment system. The others - mainly the private schools - follow various guidelines. Among the business schools it is common to follow the North American terminology. That is,
Chargé d'enseignement or vacataire: Instructor, temporary position.
Professeur affilié: Adjunct professor.
Professeur assistant: Assistant professor.
Professeur associé: Associate professor.
Professeur: Full professor.
Chaired professorships can be given to associate and full professors.
Typically, anyone teaching in a private school will identify themselves publicly as "Professeur" regardless of their internal rank. This is an acceptable practice for tenured or full-time staff (professeurs permanents) and permanently employed part-time staff (professeurs affiliés). It is considered inappropriate for others who teach a single course (vacataires or chargés d'enseignements).