Christine Guégnard

Choices and Enrollments in French Secondary and Higher Education: Repercussions for Second-Generation Immigrants.

In France, the proportion of second-generation immigrants enrolling in tertiary education has increased as education has undergone a process of “democratization.” This article analyzes their postsecondary choices, access to tertiary programs, dropout, and transition to the labor market, compared to those of students of French origin. Youths of Portuguese origin are more likely to enter vocational higher programs concordant with their preferences and have better chances of completing a tertiary degree and finding a job. Despite their preference for selective vocational higher programs, some students of North African origin are diverted toward academic university courses, leading to higher dropout rates. This unequal access to higher education affects both degree completion and entry into the French labor market.

The Vocationalisation of University Programmes in France: its Consequences for Employability and Mobility

France has a multi-track higher education system which includes four key components: Grandes Ecoles, short vocational training tracks, specialised higher education institutions (in social work, healthcare and the arts), and universities. Access to higher education is traditionally defined by the contrast between universities (which enrol all holders of the baccalaureat without any selection process) and the extremely selective Grandes Ecoles. The other tertiary courses are not directly accessible to all baccalaureat holders who wish to enrol because the number of study places is limited; applications to these tracks involve a selection process (based on educational records or a competitive entrance exam, test, interview, etc.).

Do Vocational Pathways Improve Higher Education Access for Women and Men from Less Privileged Social Backgrounds

Educational policy developments in France and Switzerland have increased eligibility for higher education. This paper explores the extent to which vocationally orientated pathways to higher education reduce social inequalities in France and Switzerland. More specifically, we analyse how the vocational pathway facilitates access to higher education for male and female students from lower cultural capital backgrounds. We refer to gender theory to link young people’s subjective self-image and its corresponding institutional fit with different educational pathways. We use panel data from France (panel DEPP) and Switzerland (panel TREE) and multinomial logistic regression to analyse the accessibility of different institutional pathways to higher education for male and female students separately. Our results show different consequences of the two national educational systems with regard to social reproduction and gender inequalities. An intersectional analysis highlights that, in France, vocationally oriented programmes foster higher education access for young women with lower cultural capital. In Switzerland, the vocational pathway to access higher education is primarily used by young men from privileged educational backgrounds as a compensation for their underrepresentation in the traditional general education pathway to higher education.

Vocational bachelor graduates in France: labour market integration and social mobility

Purpose – In France, the vocationalization of higher education has resulted in an increase in the number of graduates and created new opportunities. The access of these vocational bachelor graduates to the labour market raises the issue of their professional prospects amid changing economic and social circumstances. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – To provide insights into these issues, the employment situation of bachelor graduates during the first years of active working life will be compared with other tertiary graduates entering the labour market in the same years, using econometric models that estimate the effects of vocational courses “all other things being equal”, incorporating a range of individual characteristics. Findings – Overall, vocational bachelor graduates experienced fewer difficulties in seeking to enter the labour market during difficult economic circumstances. They did not achieve upward social mobility with a lower probability of obtaining a manag...

Do vocational pathways improve higher education access for women and men from less privileged social backgrounds? A comparison of vocational tracks to higher education in France and Switzerland

Educational policy developments in France and Switzerland have increased eligibility for higher education. This paper explores the extent to which vocationally orientated pathways to higher education reduce social inequalities in France and Switzerland. More specifically, we analyse how the vocational pathway facilitates access to higher education for male and female students from lower cultural capital backgrounds. We refer to gender theory to link young people’s subjective self-image and its corresponding institutional fit with different educational pathways. We use panel data from France (panel DEPP) and Switzerland (panel TREE) and multinomial logistic regression to analyse the accessibility of different institutional pathways to higher education for male and female students separately. Our results show different consequences of the two national educational systems with regard to social reproduction and gender inequalities. An intersectional analysis highlights that, in France, vocationally oriented programmes foster higher education access for young women with lower cultural capital. In Switzerland, the vocational pathway to access higher education is primarily used by young men from privileged educational backgrounds as a compensation for their underrepresentation in the traditional general education pathway to higher education.

Pathways fostering mobility to higher education for vulnerable immigrants in France, Switzerland and Canada

ABSTRACT In this article we wish to clarify not only if, but also how – through which institutional settings – higher education (HE) is accessed by students from vulnerable immigrant groups in France, Switzerland and Canada. We are interested in the possible educational mobility that immigrant youths can experience arising from country-specific educational policies designed to increase the enrolment in HE, particularly the flow from upper-secondary vocational educational tracks to HE ones. We analyse using panel data in each country the accessibility of different pathways to HE while taking into account the characteristics of the students. In terms of educational mobility, in France the democratization of the educational system, including the development of the vocational baccalauréat, has enabled more youths of immigrant background to access HE. In Switzerland and Canada there is more ‘cooling down’ and down-streaming of their educational aspirations towards non HE and more labour market-oriented pathways.

How Do Second-Generation Immigrant Students Access Higher Education? The Importance of Vocational Routes to Higher Education in Switzerland, France, and Germany

Abstract We analyse the access to different institutional pathways to higher education for second-generation students, focusing on youths that hold a higher-education entrance certificate. The alternative vocational pathway appears to compensate to some degree, compared to the traditional academic one, for North-African and Southern-European youths in France, those from Turkey in Germany, and to a lesser degree those from Portugal, Turkey, Ex-Yugoslavia, Albania/Kosovo in Switzerland. This is not the case in Switzerland for Western-European, Italian, and Spanish youths who indeed access higher education via the academic pathway more often than Swiss youths. Using youth panel and survey data, multinomial models are applied to analyse these pathway choices. Zusammenfassung Wir untersuchen die Zugänglichkeit unterschiedlicher institutioneller Pfade zur Hochschule für Jugendliche der zweiten Generation und konzentrieren uns dabei auf Jugendliche mit einer Hochschulzugangsberechtigung. Der alternative berufsbildende Pfad scheint den traditionellen akademischen Weg für nordafrikanische und südeuropäische Jugendliche in Frankreich, für türkische Jugendliche in Deutschland, aber auch für portugiesische, türkische, exjugoslawische sowie (kosovo)albanische Jugendliche in der Schweiz bis zu einem gewissen Grad kompensieren zu können. Dies gilt jedoch in der Schweiz nicht für westeuropäische, italienische und spanische Jugendliche, die die Hochschule vergleichsweise häufiger als Schweizer Jugendliche über den akademischen Pfad erreichen. Zur Analyse der Wahl verschiedener Hochschulzugänge mit Jugendpanel und -surveydaten wurden multinomiale Regressionsmodelle verwendet. Résumé Nous analysons l’accessibilité des jeunes d’origine immigrée de deuxième génération à l’enseignement supérieur via différents parcours scolaires dans trois pays, en nous focalisant sur ceux qui possèdent un diplôme permettant l’accès aux études supérieures. Le parcours professionnel alternatif favorise la poursuite d’études supérieures dans une certaine mesure, par rapport à la voie traditionnelle ou académique, pour les jeunes en France originaires d’Afrique du Nord et d’Europe du Sud et, à un moindre degré, pour ceux en Allemagne originaires de Turquie, et ceux en Suisse originaires du Portugal, de Turquie, d’ex-Yougoslavie et de l’Albanie/Kosovo. Ce n’est pas le cas en Suisse pour les jeunes originaires d’Europe occidentale, d’Italie et d’Espagne qui en fait accèdent davantage aux études supérieures par la voie scolaire académique que les jeunes Suisses. A partir des données de panels et d’enquêtes auprès des jeunes, des modèles de régression sont utilisés pour analyser ces choix de parcours.

The long-term outcomes of early educational differentiation in France

The French school system has long been divided clearly into two distinct tracks (Baudelot and Establet 1971). Since the end of the nineteenth century, primary-level school was designed to provide a common republican culture to all the pupils of the French nation, thereby leading to a long tradition of centralized education. In contrast, secondary education was designed to teach children from the elites rather than favouring social mobility for all children (Prost 1992). As in many European countries, education in France experienced a long process of democratization during the second half of the twentieth century resulting in a progressive unification of secondary education and in a wider participation on all levels (Duru-Bellat and Kieffer 2000). For example, whereas the share of those passing the upper secondary school diploma [baccalaureat ] in a cohort was 5 per cent in 1950, it reached 20 per cent in 1970 and 74 per cent in 2013. In 1980, 40 per cent of 18 to 24 year olds dropped out after completing lower secondary education (college ) compared to 11.4 per cent in 2012 (DEPP 2014).

Erleichtern berufsfeldorientierte Mittelschulen den Hochschulzugang für Jugendliche aus hochschulbildungsfernen Milieus? Eine geschlechtersensible Analyse im französisch-schweizerischen Vergleich

Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht, inwieweit berufsfeldorientierte Mittelschulen in der Schweiz und in Frankreich mannlichen und weiblichen Jugendlichen mit Eltern ohne tertiare Ausbildung den Ubergang an eine Hochschule erleichtern und damit Bildungsdisparitaten zu reduzieren vermogen. Ein Vergleich von Frankreich mit der Schweiz bietet sich aufgrund der unterschiedlichen Entstehung ihrer berufsfeldorientierte Hochschulzubringer an. Wahrend die lycees professionnel in Frankreich durch eine ‚Verberuflichung’ des akademischen Bildungspfads entstanden, sind die Schweizer Berufsmaturitatsschulen eher das Resultat einer ‚Akademisierung’ der beruflichen Bildung. Dabei interessiert, welche Strategie sich als erfolgreich(er) erweist, um Bildungsdisparitaten vorzubeugen, bzw. ob sich letztere besser uber Reformen des allgemeinbildenden oder aber des berufsbildenden Systems reduzieren lassen.

Una tipología de desajustes entre competencias y educación utilizando un análisis comparativo entre países

This paper aims to discuss the value of the diplomas and the situation of downgrading on the labour market. Its novelty is to compare skills both acquired and required in employment, using a self-assessment carried out by young higher education graduates across nine countries of Europe, Japan and Canada. More precisely, we illustrate the incidences of diploma and skill mismatches using three higher education graduate surveys, two international surveys (CHEERS, REFLEX) and a Canadian survey (NGS). We define possible over-education and skill mismatches and then present an empirical typology to show the most frequent cases of mismatches. The ideal situation which corresponds to a perfect match both in terms of diploma and skills only covers a quarter of the graduates. Norwegian and Dutch graduates are more likely to be in this situation. Our results also indicate difficulties for the different educational systems in producing the necessary skills even if a proportion of graduates are overeducated. The mismatch of certain skills is more marked that others in the typology. This is notably the case for the ability to solve problems and analytical thinking.