Stéphane Moulin

Work Intensity and Non-Completion of University: Longitudinal Approach and Causal Inference.

Researchers focused upon the work–dropping out connection tend to show a U-shaped relationship between the likelihood of dropping out and the number of hours worked outside school, with a higher exit rate for both non-working students and for students whose working hours pass a critical threshold. Yet the data typically used by these researchers are drawn mainly from cross-sectional surveys, and as a result does not allow for any causal interpretation. The present article uses an event history analysis of Canadian longitudinal data covering seven years of a cohort, and offers original findings on the causal work–dropping out relationship at the university level. We find evidence showing that the evolution of the exit rates and the factors influencing the decision to quit a particular university programme differ substantially between students who want to enrol in another programme and those who do not. For the latter, we observe a critical threshold of 24 h of work, beyond which negative effects in terms of non-completion start to appear. We find no negative effects arising from not working vs. working a few hours. Our findings thus tend to show that the higher exit rate among non-working students evidenced in cross-sectional data should be attributed to the fact that academic difficulties cause some potential university dropouts to stop working and to devote more time to school.

Statistical Categorization of Young People’s Entry into the Labour Market A France/Canada Comparison

This article uses a sociological approach to social statistics and international comparison to compare the ways national statistics institutions present young people’s entry into the labour market in France and Canada. The history of the two systems of surveys shows their diverging development with regards to the measure of insertion. Examining the calendar variables used in two French and two Canadian recent longitudinal surveys, we argue that the differences reflect two aspects of the sets of codes, rules and laws in each national context: two training-employment schemes (sequential/combinatory) and two labour market regulations (statutory/professional).

Typology of Canadian Alcohol Users: Relationships Between Use, Context, and Motivation to Drink in the Definition of Drinking Profiles

Objectives: The aim of this paper is to propose a multidimensional typology of drinking in Canada according to use, contexts, and motivations to drink, and to explore the extent to which these profiles are associated with gender and age. Methods: Data are drawn from the 2005 Canadian Survey as part of the project “Gender, Alcohol, and Culture: An International Study.” The subsample consisted of 876 men and 848 women. Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were undertaken to ascertain drinking profiles. Results: MCA and HCA identified six sociocultural drinking profiles in which distinctive drinking patterns, contexts, and motivations were observed. Conclusions: The variability of drinking styles in Canadian society demonstrates cohabitation and hybridization of “wet” and “dry” cultures—“ideal types” of two drinking cultures. This study revealed the complexity of drinking practices among the Canadian population and the necessity of focusing on social dimensions in order to enhance our understanding of alcohol use.

Modes of Entrance By Gender and Wage Differential in the French Labour Market

This paper explores the gender wage differential after the exit from school in France. Using survey longitudinal data on young men and women leaving the French school system in 1998, we show that the residual entrance-level wage differential by gender may be explained by the expected gender differential of access to job opportunities. A hierarchical classification is used to estimate the probability to obtain easy access to non-subsidized jobs. After control for hours worked and hierarchical levels, and for the predicted values of this previous estimation, we find no significant impact of gender on entrance-level wages. Copyright 2006 The Author. Journal compilation CEIS, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini and Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2006.