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VOCATIONAL TRAINING NO 36 EUROPEAN JOURNAL

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BénédicteGendronMaître deConférences -Habilitée à diriger desRecherches, Universityof Montpellier III

Introduction

Until the vocational baccalauréat diplomawas created, the French hierarchical educa-tional system rested on strong structuringdualisms: on one hand, the opposition be-tween general and technological education,and vocational education; and on the otherhand, the opposition between short and longstudies. At the secondary level of education,the general baccalauréat, considered pres-tigious, welcomed students who were to fo-cus on higher education. At the opposite ex-treme, the vocational Certificat d’AptitudeProfessionnelle (CAP) and the Brevet d’É-tudes Professionnelles (BEP) were consid-ered as the route of relegation and exclu-sion, reinforcing negative characteristics instudents encountering learning difficulties.But since the creation of the vocational bac-calauréat, this structure has been modi-fied (see appendix). This vocational bac-calauréat must offer students who failed ingeneral education a path for continuing theirstudies or catching up through options thatare socially more prestigious. As a result,this programme could play an important,if not determining, role in schooling foryoung people excluded in the battle againstacademic failure. But do young people ex-cluded from the élite track find in this op-tion, as Alice lost in Wonderland, a chanceto create their own pathway? Some 20 yearsafter its creation (1985) we could questionwhether this diploma has fulfilled its objec-tives. This paper will not attempt to answerthis question but will focus on an addi-tional important aspect: has the vocationalbaccalauréat programme contributed to in-novation and opinion changes in French ini-tial secondary education? More precisely,has the social perception of vocational ed-ucation changed since this baccalauréat wascreated? A Leonardo da Vinci project enti-tled Analysis and comparison of social rep-

resentations of VET in different Europeancountries (VET-Cultures) suggested thatfor students, this vocational education pro-gramme seems to be a space, time and pe-riod for a plural transition: from failure tosuccess, from weak self-esteem to self-con-fidence, from dependence to autonomy, fromchildhood to adulthood, from school to work.In this paper, we analyse some of those tran-sitions, occurring mainly during the studentperiod, via case-studies examining the dy-namic of social representation of VET.

A victim of the role that the institution itselfhas forced it to play, vocational educationand training in France has always seemed anegative and exclusive model in the eyes ofthe public at large (Pelpel and Troger, 1993)until, perhaps, the arrival of a new voca-tional diploma: the French vocational bac-calauréat diploma. Created in 1985, this newdiploma, undertaken in two years after aninitial period of vocational training and al-lowing immediate entry into working life,was not only intended to attest to skills adapt-ed to the new technological demands andchanges in work organisation but also to re-new interest in VET. Now, 20 years afterits creation, it could be questioned whetherthis diploma has met its original goals. Theaim of this paper is more modest, raising theissue of whether the vocational baccalau-réat programme has contributed to innova-tion and opinion changes in French initialsecondary education. More precisely, hasthe social representation of vocational edu-cation changed since this baccalauréat wascreated?

From different studies (Marquette, Mériotand Kirsch, 1994), the vocational baccalauréatseems to be an interesting success. Eventhough it does not lead to well-establishedrecognition in the occupational field con-cerned, and while the companies making

The French VocationalBaccalauréat Diploma:space of a plural transition for the youth

The French secondary hier-archical educational systemresting upon strong struc-turing dualisms, has beenmodified by the creation ofthe vocational baccalauréat.This aims at offering studentswho failed in general educa-tion a path for continuingtheir studies or catching upthrough tracks that are so-cially more prestigious. Some20 years after its creation, dostudents find in this diplomaa chance to create their ownpathway? Has it changed thesocial perception of vocationaleducation and training (VET)?From our research, this trackseems to be, for students, aspace, time and period for aplural transition: from fail-ure to success, from weak self-esteem to self-confidence,from dependence to autono-my, from childhood to adult-hood, from school to work.Using case-studies, we analysethe diverse transitions oc-curring, mainly during theschool period, through thedynamic of social represen-tation of VET.


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use of this diploma do not exactly coincidewith the objectives underlying the creationof the diploma, vocational baccalauréatholders are successful in finding employ-ment and remain happy to have undergonesuch training.

If those students belong to ‘the children ofthe educational democratisation’ qualifiedby Beaud (2002), the focus of this articleshould be on that last point, complement-ing a study carried out by the Regional Ob-servatory of Higher Education (ORFS) in1999 in the Low-Normandy region. There-fore, what does this new diploma do fortrainees and how has this diploma contributedto a change in vocational initial educationand training social representations?

To answer this question, this paper is or-ganised as follows. The first part gives theframework of French vocational initial edu-cation and the original objectives of theFrench vocational baccalauréat. The sec-ond part attempts to analyse, using case stud-ies, the plural transition during the schoolperiod that constitutes vocational baccalauréattraining for trainees; the process uses analy-sis of the dynamic of social representationof VET.

Initial secondary vocationaleducation and the role of thevocational baccalauréat

Vocational education institutions ininitial secondary training

There are three vocational branches in ini-tial secondary training (see appendix): onewhich prepares students for a CAP (1), onewhich prepares them for a BEP (2) and fi-nally, one preparing them for the vocation-al baccalauréat (3). Those vocational diplo-mas are mainly (4) earned through vocationallycées (5).

Different branch roles

The branches leading to a CAP or a BEP pre-pare students over two years for the samelevel of qualification - that of skilled work-er - but are different both in purpose andcontent. The CAP gives practical skill in par-ticular areas (catering, hairdressing, car-pentry), allowing immediate professional in-tegration. The BEP, on the other hand, givesskills in the more demanding technologicalareas in which professional integration re-

quires higher qualifications (accountingassistant, nurse assistant) and can, therefore,lead to further study for a vocational or tech-nological baccalauréat.

Different branch study topics

The specialisations in each branch also varyfrom one diploma to another. There weremore than 200 CAPs preparing studentsfor specific employment in the industrial sec-tor, for example in electricity, plumbing, carmaintenance mechanics, in the tertiary sec-tor, such as hairdressing, cooking and sales,and the agricultural sector, such as labour-ing, gardening or wine growing. There were39 BEPs preparing students for the same sec-tors, such as car body work specialist, ad-ministrative communication and secretariat,sales and accounts, transport, wines andwine growing, horticulture, growing of fruittrees, etc. The branch leading to a vocationalbaccalauréat, attainable after a CAP or aBEP, offers courses adapted to the needs ofthe business world, at a level between qual-ifications for workers and skilled workers,and those for higher technicians. Introducedin 1985, there are some 30 vocational bac-calauréats, in various specialities. In the in-dustrial sector, for example, there are spe-cialities in electrical equipment and instal-lations, in industrial product definition, andcar maintenance. In the tertiary sector, thereare subjects such as catering, sales and rep-resentation, and artistic careers; in the agri-cultural sector, there are maintenance andoperation of agricultural machines, the tim-ber industry, etc.

Differences between centres fortraining apprentices (CFA) andvocational lycées

A centre for training apprentices is the in-stitution where apprenticeship students learna trade. Apprenticeship is a type of voca-tional training allowing young people from16 to 25 years of age to learn a trade un-der a private work contract lasting from oneto three years. They are under the controlof a master and also follow courses in al-ternation with their practical work.

There are two categories of lycée: for gen-eral and technological education (LEGT) andfocused on vocational studies, the vocationallycée (LP). But, in accordance with the frame-work law of 1989, all technological and vo-cational diplomas may be studied for under

(1) The certificate of professional ap-titude (CAP, Certificat d’aptitude pro-fessionnelle).

(2) The technical school certificate(BEP, Brevet d’études profession-nelles) is a national diploma whichbecomes a springboard for enteringinto courses leading to a vocation-al or technological baccalauréat.

(3) Baccalauréat. A national sec-ondary school leaving diploma or-ganised at an académie (regional)level. The baccalauréat is the firststage in university education, sinceit gives access to higher education.There are three types of baccalau-réat: the general, the technologicaland the vocational baccalauréats,the last being created in 1985.

(4) Vocational baccalauréat can al-so be earned through an appren-ticeship status in Apprentice Train-ing Centres (CFA). Apprenticeship(apprentissage) is a type of voca-tional training allowing young peo-ple from 16 to 25 years of age tolearn a trade under a private workcontract lasting from 1 to 3 years inalternation with their practical work,in an institution called an appren-ticeship centre (CFA, centre de for-mation des apprentis).

(5) Lycées: State or private second-ary schools at higher level. Thereare two categories of lycée: thosefor general and technological edu-cation (LEGT, lycée d’enseignementgénéral et technique), and those forvocational studies (LP, lycée d’en-seignement professionnel).

the apprenticeship system. While initial train-ing in formal schools remains the main pur-pose of vocational lycée courses, the Min-istry of National Education wants State schoolsalso to remain open to apprenticeship. Ar-ticle 57 of the five-year law on employmentand vocational training dated 20 December1993 allows apprenticeship sections or unitsfor training in apprenticeship to be openedin all lycées, in close partnership with thebusiness community and with the agreementand assistance of the region. In both thesecases, the head teacher is responsible forthe content of the courses.

Differences in curriculum andorganisation

Whatever the branch, a vocational trainingprogramme is based on general educationcourses (6), plus technological courses andpractical internship periods in the profes-sional world. Hours vary depending on thespecialities chosen by the students in the dif-ferent branches (Table 1).

Vocational courses vary according to the spe-ciality and the skills required, but they arealways organised in the same way:

❑ technological core subjects for severalsimilar specialities, or within a single pro-fessional sector, for instance, all the cours-es for office jobs such as law, economics,accounting, etc.;

❑ specialised or practical courses, moreparticularly linked to future work;

❑ training periods in industry, introducedin 1992.

Those two tracks (lycées and CFA) are alsotwo different ways of training for voca-tional diplomas. The characteristic of the firsttrack is that courses are mainly carried outin school (lycée). Although there is a com-pulsory period of internship in industry, theproportion of theoretical and practical train-ing in a workshop or laboratory in a lycéeis much higher. Vocational training throughan apprenticeship contract, carried out inCFA, follows exactly the opposite method;most of the training takes place in industryand compulsory education is added. The ap-prentice is no longer in school but is re-cruited by the company under a paid workcontract.

Differences regarding studies in furthereducation

At the end of CAP and BEP training, studentscan pursue their studies through vocationalor technical paths, leading to a baccalau-réat diploma. But this decision rests mainlywith the teaching team and the class coun-cil decision as it is particularly importantto have full knowledge of each pupil’s pro-file before choosing the type of study. Un-like the vocational baccalauréat the tech-nological option prepares students not somuch for immediate entry into working lifebut for further study in higher education,particularly in higher technical studies. There-fore, access to the technological branch isrecommended for students who have shown‘considerable motivation and willpower, au-tonomy and capacity for hard work render-ing them capable of succeeding in studiesleading to a higher technical or even engi-neering diploma’ during the two years ofCAP and BEP general studies. Also, in orderto assure every chance of success for stu-dents choosing the technological baccalauréat,they are first guided towards adaptation firstlevel classes (7) (premières d’adaptation), inwhich they undertake general revision,before joining the technological final class-es common to all students, of whatever ori-gin. Then, according the candidates’ wish-es and places available, the committees de-cide whether to send students to vocation-al first class or adaptation first class.

Vocational baccalauréat: a new level

A new and original place

The history of the vocational baccalauréatstarted in 1983-84 with a discussion in thevocational consultative commission (CPC,commission professionnelle consultative)and a report by the Employers’ Union ofthe Metalworking and Mining Industries(UIMM); the latter made a pressing demandfor the quantitative and qualitative devel-opment of vocational skills and qualifica-tion at the French level IV of education


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General and technical courses (hours per week) and Table 1practical training in different diplomas

General courses Technical courses Training periods in industry

CAP From 14h30 to 16h From 12h to 17h 12 weeks

BEP From 14h to 22h From 16h to 20h 8 weeks

Voc.Bac. From 12h to 14h From 16h to 18h From 16 to 20 weeks

Source: French Ministry of Education

(6) General education comprisesFrench, a modern language, histo-ry and geography, art, civics, math-ematics, physics and social and pro-fessional life for all branches. Fordepartments preparing for a CAPand a BEP there are additional class-es in mathematics and family andsocial economics. The purpose ofthis teaching is to provide basic cul-ture for the modern world with aprofessional orientation.

(7) Adaptation first level class (pre-mière d’adaptation): this class of-fers students having gained goodmarks in the last year of BEP the op-portunity to continue their studyat the technological baccalauréator certificate of technician levels.

through a new diploma ‘vocational bac-caluréat’. Its request emerged in responseto a reduction in school leavers after thetechnical baccalauréat (as those studentsincreasingly pursue their studies in highereducation). Since 1984, the union of thedeans of vocational lycées had faced thesame issue. Thus, the Ministry of Educationsuggested the creation of this new diplo-ma at level IV (see appendix) called vo-cational baccalauréat. This was announcedin June 1985 with the law being passed inDecember.

The purpose was to promote and revaluevocational education in schools now calledvocational lycées and thereby to allow stu-dents in such schools to be recognised as‘bacheliers’, a dignified title before only giv-en to general and technical education schoolsstudents. The desire to make education moredemocratic, was marked by Ministry of Ed-ucation objectives in the Guidance 1989 Lawwhich stated that the ‘Nation wants to lead80 % of a typical age group to the bac-calauréat level’. Such an objective impliedthat technical and vocational education shouldtake part in this national effort: the pro-portion of CAP and BEP holders wishing topursue their studies and not enter workinglife was only 20 %. The revision of voca-tional education happened also at level Vthrough the creation of technical classes atthe fourth and fifth grade. In addition, theBEP was revised, which now prepares upto the vocational baccalauréat level.

A pluralistic objective of VETbaccalauréat

The crisis in youth employment and im-portant structural changes in productionand labour organisation implied new train-ing and qualifications. Therefore, the na-tional Ministry of Education wanted, throughthis guidance law of July 1989, to re-form the guidance and tracking systemand to highlight two major objectives: tolead 80 % of a typical age group to the bac-calauréat level and the others to a diplo-ma at level V. It was in this framework thatthe vocational baccalauréat diploma wascreated. Its creation also allowed the ho-mogenisation and reduction of the numberof vocational branches. This diploma ap-peared to be the minimum requested as avocational certificate, leading to the inval-idation of lower vocational diplomas, suchas the CAP and BEP.

Its goals were plural. The first was to respondto the growing demand from businesses forhighly qualified production and maintenanceworkers with qualifications between thoseof advanced technicians, who hold an ad-vanced technical certificate (BTS) or tech-nological university diploma (DUT), and qual-ified workers who hold a CAP or BEP. Thelevel of the latter appeared increasingly in-sufficient to keep up with the developmentof new technologies in the production ofgoods and services (computer-assisted de-sign and manufacturing, robotics, officeautomation, automated production tech-niques, and computer science for industrialand management applications). A second ob-jective was to respond to the developmentof new maintenance techniques for person-al electronic and computer equipment (suchas video recorders, personal computers, andvideo disks). Moreover, its creation was al-so to boost vocational education and toenhance cooperation and the relationshipbetween business and schools through thecompulsory internship period. The vocationalbaccalauréat were created in close collabo-ration with employers and take into accountspecific vocational requirements for directemployment. They differ from technologicalbaccalauréats in that they are targeted at spe-cific occupations, whereas the technologicalbaccalauréats are broader in scope (elec-tronics, mechanics, etc.).

Vocational baccalauréat principles

Vocational baccalauréat training lasts twoyears, and constitutes the final cycle in thevocational route (first and terminal voca-tional classes). Unlike the technological bac-calauréat, the vocational baccalauréat isprimarily a vocational certificate leading di-rectly to an occupation; although its diplo-ma also entitles holders to enter universitystudies, less than 15 % entered in 1995. Thevocational baccalauréat provides qualifyingtraining for a particular occupation andadmits candidates holding a BEP (or a CAPprepared in two years after the third class)corresponding to the vocational baccalau-réat concerned. Even though the trend ofmoving from secondary to tertiary educa-tion was less common among technologicalbaccalauréat graduates 10 years ago, now,more than one third of students go further.The vocational baccalauréat maintains itsaim and role of terminal diploma: 15 % ofvocational baccalauréat graduates nowa-days continue their studies.


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Purpose of the paper, methodologyand data collection

Origins of the research

This paper is part of a European Projectcalled ‘Analysis and comparison of socialrepresentations of VET in different Europeancountries’, covering five European countries.This comparative research aims to shed somelight on the differences and commonaltiesof socially shared meanings and represen-tations in the different countries influencingthe newly established path to common Euro-pean policies for employment and training.Its main aim is to depict how VET is per-ceived by different social actors (those di-rectly involved as learners in training ac-tivities, those belonging to the world of busi-ness, and those who perform roles of teach-ers/trainers), and to explore the evolvingpaths of mutual understanding and learningamong them. This paper presents the learn-er group data (8).

Methodology and data

The data were collected mostly through fo-cus group interviews. Six vocational lycéesfrom Low-Normandy were investigated andfive groups of people were interviewed(learners, trainers, deans, baccalauréat hold-ers, employers, workers). In all, 60 peoplewere interviewed.

Rather than use existing occupational cate-gories it was decided to make a distinctionbetween three broad types of work as fol-lows: learners training for a job primarilywith documents, primarily with people andprimarily with products or objects.

The investigation used interviews with stu-dents trained respectively for accounting andsecretarial jobs, for business, commerce andsales, and for maintenance in automated me-chanical installation tasks and in climatic en-gineering. The trainees were between 18 and22 years old and enrolled in the last year ofthe two-year vocational baccalauréat pro-gramme in vocational lycées; there were nonefrom centres for training apprentices, CFA. Allof them had experienced in-company train-ing periods of 16 weeks introduced into thetwo-year vocational baccalauréat programme.

The data were collected through focus groupinterviews of six or eight learners in eachgroup, totalling 26 students. The focus-group

interviews lasted about two hours and cov-ered the following topics and issues:

❑ VET and the labour market/employment:how did you get involved in your currentcourse? How well will the course you aredoing help to prepare you for getting ajob when you have finished?

❑ VET and education: how do you feelabout your current course? How does thiscourse compare with your previous experi-ence of education?

❑ VET and social exclusion and inclusion:do you think that people doing your currentcourse are given the respect and social stand-ing they deserve? Do you think that peopledoing your current course will be given therespect and social standing they should havein the job they are going to do in the future?

❑ VET and corporate identity: do you thinkthat your current course will give you therespect and social standing you deserve inthe organisation in which you work or arelikely to be working in the future?

❑ VET and lifelong learning: do you thinkthat what you are learning now provides asolid foundation for things that you mightwant to learn about in the future?

❑ VET and life project: what role does yourcurrent course play in your overall educa-tional career? What role does your currentcourse play in your future plans concerninghow you want to live your life?

❑ VET and preparation for work and forthe new economy: do you think your coursewill prepare you for the new economy andfor future changes in the work that you do?Will your course help you to contribute toinnovation in your workplace?

Student representation of thevocational baccalauréat

Vocational baccalauréat trainingprogramme: a new meaning?Vocational baccalauréat holders, froma half-tone employment situation ...

At the beginning of the 1985-86 academicyear, only 1 300 young people followed theirBEP diploma with a vocational baccalau-réat; nowadays, almost 170 000 students areenrolled in the vocational baccalauréat pro-


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(8) For the complete research find-ings, see Gendron B., Social repre-sentations of Vocational educationand training in France through theFrench vocational BaccalauréatCase Study, ITB-Arbeitspapiere,Universität Bremen, Bremen: In-stitut Technik und Bildung Press,2004b.

gramme. The increase was very rapid dur-ing the initial years after the introduction ofthis new diploma but has since graduallyslowed, though it still increases by more than2 % annually.

However, this overall trend hides significantdifferences from one training specialisationto another; while the industrial sector com-bines a smaller number of students with avery large range of training specialisations,the service sector has a great number of stu-dents and a limited range of specialities,as can be seen in the 1994 figures for thevocational baccalauréat (Table 3).

Studies from the French Centre for Researchon Employment and Qualification (Centred’études et de Recherché sur l’Emploi et laQualification) and the regional observato-ry of higher education (ORFS, ObservatoireRégional des Formations Supérieures), onyoung people coming out of these new train-ing programmes, one at a national level andthe other one regional, assess job entry amongthose who go directly into working life. Theyshow that, despite a favourable situationin the labour market with rapid job entry forthose students, (better than that of those witha lower level of occupational qualificationsuch as BEP and CAP), their work activitiesand job mobility have not measured up toexpectations. For instance, two years afterthe class of 1990 left training, over two-thirdsof the men with manufacturing specialisa-tions still held a job as ‘skilled worker’ andmore than 85 % of the women in servicesremained ‘office workers’ or clerks in com-panies. None of those in manufacturing bac-calauréats was employed as a ‘shop tech-nician’, the reference job designated at thevocational baccalauréat diploma’s creation.Even the work of baccalauréat holders em-ployed as operational agents in maintenancedepartments is also far from what had beenexpected at the origin in the referential em-ployment of the baccalauréat diploma.

To a positive image of the Vocationalbaccalauréat training programme

Though demands from companies makinguse of them do not exactly coincide with theanticipated objectives of the diploma, boththe ORFS and this study indicate that stu-dents still remain satisfied with their voca-tional baccalauréat training and would re-peat their decision. Based on questionnairesaddressed to baccalauréat holders (1994,1995 and 1996 year) from Low-Normandy,2 500 baccalauréat holders from 1996 wereinterviewed (O.R.F.S. 1999) a few monthsafter earning their diploma, about their two-year training programmes and their jobs.

They retained a positive image of theirtwo years spent at the vocational lycée, ir-respective of the ultimate employment, forseveral reasons. First, the majority quotedthe quality of the education provided, withmore than 60 % (both men and women) de-claring that this training programme was ‘areal chance’ in their educational trajectory.Regarding their job, 7 in 10 women said theyhad been well prepared for their work eventhough only 4 in 10 had a direct link be-tween their actual job and their training pro-gramme. All indicated that their employersappreciated the diploma and that the vo-cational baccalauréat degree was, for mostof the men, useful for getting a job. Despitehaving a different job from that expected,trainees see the vocational baccalauréatas a success. This observation raises the ques-tion of how that can be explained. Is VETchanging in trainee perceptions?

A positive vocational baccalauréat rep-resentation

Vocational baccalauréat holders seem tobenefit from a longer period of schoolingand to keep in mind the quality of their train-ing programme. So, how does this new de-gree differ from the other training and vo-cational training courses? And how do theyperceive this new training programme andthis new diploma? Some answers can befound from the French hierarchical educa-tional structure and among trainee points ofview collected through French monographsfrom the VET-Culture research described ear-lier.


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Number of specialisations and students in first-year vocational Table 3baccalauréat (state schools only)

Sector Subject areas Male students Female students Total students

Industrial 31 22 915 1 779 24 694

Services 16 9 679 22 959 32 638

Total 47 32 594 24 738 57 332

Source: French Ministry of Education, 1994.

Promoting vocational education in ahierarchical educational system

This change of perception seems to dealwith institutional, economic, environmentand pedagogical aspects of such a trainingprogramme, which offers important transi-tion steps for trainees.

Before the vocational baccalauréat was cre-ated, vocational education accumulated neg-ative perceptions of enrolling all studentsdoing poorly in general education. With thevocational baccalauréat came changes, evenif too slowly. It offered students who fail ingeneral education a path for continuing theirstudies, or catching up, in ways that are so-cially more prestigious. Vocational bac-calauréat holders seem to benefit from alonger period of schooling.

‘We were all special cases, not social casesbut ... all of us had some problems ... or hada little something which was not runningwell ... and all of us had to deal with it byourselves ...’ (female student, document spe-ciality) (9)

‘At the end of the first stage, I was not goodand then when I started the BEP programme,my school grades went up, and therefore thatway I become more satisfied’ (male student,production speciality)

‘I didn’t choose this track, but at the end ofmy vocational baccalauréat programme, Itold myself, yes, I have finally found some-thing I am completely satisfied with’ (malestudent, production speciality)

‘I wanted to do vocational studies, but mymother wanted me to enrol in a general ed-ucation programme, but after two yearsspent, I was disgusted with school ... I wasdiscouraged and I wanted to drop out ...but my mum enrolled me in a BEP pro-gramme and then, that runs better, and Ifelt better ...’ (Male student, people contactspeciality)

In addition, it has contributed to the spreadof new forms of knowledge generated bythe technological revolution of the late 1960sand the transformation of work tools thatthis entailed.

As long as validation through the labour mar-ket was able to counterbalance the tenden-cies of the education system, a form of equi-

librium was maintained. Indeed, the systemwas accused of functioning in a discrimina-tory manner. But a favourable situation ofemployment at that time permitted com-pensation for the inequalities of cultural cap-ital, and manifested a concern for egalitari-anism that was deeply rooted in the nationalculture. With the employment crisis, this frag-ile equilibrium was broken.

The rupture took two forms:

❑ Orientation of education towards sharpcompetition for the increasingly rare jobsavailable to young people. This situation in-creased competition between young peopleat different levels of training, on the onehand, and between young people and adultsalready on the labour market, on the other.

‘With a BEP diploma, we cannot find a jobeasily... the baccalauréat diploma is nowa-days a minimum ... and parents are awareof the fact that times have changed, we arenot living in the context that they experiencedthemselves’ ... ‘if you don’t have the bac-calauréat degree that will be very tough...’(dean of a lycée).

Students and their families reacted to thiscompetition by extending the length of stud-ies on the basis of the generally confirmedobservation that the higher the diploma lev-el, the greater the chances of entering thelabour market. This resulted in a hierarchyof tracks and fields of specialisation that, byaccentuating vocational education’s missionto encourage the pursuit of studies, tend-ed to ‘devocationalise’ it.

‘Because you have to get your baccalauréatdegree, and again my parents told me, at theend of my BEP diploma, they wanted me toreturn to adaptation first classes (10)’ (malestudent, people contact speciality)

‘My mother wanted me to enrol in a gener-al education programme’ (male student, peo-ple contact speciality)

❑ The growing domination of general ed-ucation over technical and vocational edu-cation. With decreasing opportunities foremployment, the assignment of studentsto vocational education, especially in thefirst stages of choosing options, was basedincreasingly on an implicitly remedial mod-el. This led to an increased gap between anormal general education and a less pres-


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(9) The selection of the specialitiesof VET training programmes hasbeen done according to three cate-gories; rather than using existing oc-cupational categories, it was decid-ed to use a distinction between threebroad types of work. Also the cate-gories used by sociologist and in theEuropean VET-Culture group, thesecategories are, in our case-study:work primarily with people or peo-ple contact (commerce and sales,business, waiter), work primarilywith products (maintenance in au-tomated mechanical installations, cli-matic engineering, graphic indus-try), work primarily with documents(accounting, secretary).

(10) See note 7.

tigious vocational one considered as a meansof rescuing students with academic prob-lems.

As a result, the Ministry of national Educa-tion decided to undertake reorganisation ofthe initial vocational training tracks in the vo-cational lycées, promoting modernisation andupgrading the system. The desire to extendstudies in the vocational lycées was unani-mous. A clear statement of the government’sintention was to develop technical and vo-cational instruction and to introduce a bac-calauréat level training in lycées. This newhigher vocational degree at the second stageof initial training, the vocational baccalau-réat, was impelled to adopt the values andevaluation criteria of general training in or-der to benefit from the identical status.

The mission was to give to the vocationalbaccalauréat both its name and its final form:a two-year training programme after initialvocational training, plus innovative peda-gogical tools involving in-company experi-ence. Implementing such a vocational de-gree at the baccalauréat level contributedto a positive innovation and has been ap-preciated by students and their family aswell.

‘Because I have to get my baccalauréat de-gree, and again my parents told me, at theend of my BEP diploma, they wanted me toreturn to adaptation first classes but I saidto them: “no, if I have to continue I am go-ing to enrol in a vocational baccalauréat pro-gramme” and they agreed, so I went to thevocational lycée’ (male student, people con-tact speciality)

‘I prepared first for a BEP diploma, and then,because I got great marks, I decided to con-tinue with a vocational baccalauréat pro-gramme’ (female student, people contactspeciality)

‘I wanted first to attend general education,but I didn’t have the level requested, there-fore, they told me to attend a vocational track,I didn’t have the choice, therefore I preparedfor a BEP degree over two years and becauseI was enjoying that, I went to a vocationalbaccalauréat programme’ (male student, pro-duction speciality)

‘I was doing well in the BEP programme,so I said to myself “why not continue?” ...families, teachers, all of them incite us to

reach the baccalauréat level’ (male student,people contact speciality)

Moreover, priority was given to ‘the pro-motion of the greatest number (i.e. 80 % ofa given age at the baccalauréat level) butalso the promotion of the best’ (Solaux,1990). It reinforced the role of the bac-calauréat degree as the unique centre ofgravity in French initial education, whichat the same time reduced the value of low-er training levels. This level IV helps to re-promote the vocational track by openingthe door to further studies in the higher ed-ucation system. Indeed, the ‘vocational bac-calauréat’ constitutes an academic rank likethe other baccalauréats and can there-fore open the way to further studies. Toachieve this level and to earn this diplomawas a challenge and something very im-portant for them. This was mentioned fre-quently in the trainee discourses.

‘Today, that’s 80 % (who will earn their bac-calauréat diploma)! And I wanted to be partof them; that’s all. We grew up with this ideaand that’s also my parents who entertain thisone’(female student, production speciality)

By its title - baccalauréat - the vocationalbaccalauréat created an unprecedented sit-uation in the educational system, whichalso brought some ambiguities (Leroux, 1998).Through in-company experience, it aims notonly at giving qualifications to trainees:

‘To earn the baccalauréat, that’s also gain-ing qualification’ (male student, productionspeciality)

It also aims to ensure that holders have a ti-tle ‘the baccalauréat’; this is still used as afilter and remains the academic referencefor getting a job.

‘To have been accepted in a vocational bac-calauréat programme, this is like goingthrough a net ... step by step, people havebeen kicked out but ... there are still peopleremaining, and here we are, still here!’ (fe-male student, contact speciality)

‘To earn the baccalauréat that’s importantfor more responsibilities. Therefore, we needto pursue studies after the BEP and more-over, in a professional sector. With a BEP de-gree, we are at the bottom, but the higher yougo as with a vocational baccalauréat degree,and eventually with a BTS, the better posi-


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tion you get’ (male student, production spe-ciality)

‘For qualification, a lot of employers seek vo-cational baccalauréat holders. Just for in-stance, this year, we got a lot of job offers be-fore the end of our training programme’(dean of a lycée)

Therefore, after a chaotic beginning in theeducational system, for some of them, thisdiploma seems to give them space for tran-sitions allowing them to regain their digni-ty, self-esteem and confidence.

‘I thought that those who were enrolled ina BEP programme were not normal, therewas something wrong with them, but the cluewas because I was not working at school,and I didn’t care for school ... but now, I amok, everything is going well, fine’ (male stu-dent, people contact speciality)

‘This vocational baccalauréat gives a secondchance, to people like me, who didn’t reachthe level requested in general education tocontinue our studies’ (female student, doc-ument speciality)

‘In academic lycée, we were too numerous,teachers didn’t care, so I came here and Iloved it right away, and moreover I got greatmarks, I felt better’ (female student, docu-ment speciality)

‘I don’t want to finish my studies with a vo-cational baccalauréat, I want to pursue a BTSprogramme; therefore I will try to find a bossto do it through apprenticeship’ (female stu-dent, document speciality)

In that new framework, more autonomy andresponsibilities have been given to studentswhich helps in recovering self-confidencelost from their failure in general educationor at collège level.

Moreover, the vocational baccalauréat pro-gramme was set up with innovative peda-gogical tools and a new logic of trainingcombining fundamental knowledge - justi-fying the title baccalauréat - and in-com-pany vocational experience.

The creation of the baccalauréat was sup-posed to respond to profound changes inwork organisation, such as decentralisedpreparation, decompartmentalisation, andintegration of the different functions, in the

case of the processing industries. Thesechanges were supposed to ensure greaterautonomy for the operators, allowing themto deal with certain problems encounteredin the course of their activity. Therefore, inthis aim, more autonomy classes and cours-es have been developed and given to thestudents to prepare their classwork on theirown or with their classmates. In such a con-text, students have to learn how to handletheir free time and to learn from each oth-er. Also, the qualification of skilled workershas been developed in terms of kind of workand the forms it takes in the different activ-ities more than in terms of greater occupa-tional know-how.

‘That’s completely different ... teachers aretaking us into account ... because before,when we didn’t succeed or understand, wewere put at the end of the classroom; here,instead of that, they explain until we un-derstand’ (female student, document spe-ciality)

‘We are more free but always well advised’(female student, people contact speciality)

‘Even teachers look at us differently, and dif-ferently from BEP students ... we are no longerBEP students where they were asking us tounderline in red colour such a sentence oranother. In the baccalauréat programmme,they ask us to know how to take notes, andto be autonomous in our work. If we have adeadline for homework, we have to deal withit on our own; if you encounter some diffi-culties or if you need help, teachers are al-ways around ... and at the beginning of theschool year, they explain what they expectfrom you ... That’s our lookout! One has toextricate oneself’ (female student, peoplecontact speciality)

‘We are no longer in BEP classes, ... we havedocuments, tables ... that we have to discussand to analyse together, we have to knowhow to take notes ... that’s more relaxed, ...even teachers are more relaxed ... In a BEPclassroom, teachers are teaching behind theirdesk and give their course, and then whenthat’s over, they are gone ... here, they canbe sitting on their desk, they ‘live’ their cours-es ... that’s linked to the selection at the en-trance ... because the students who choseto continue in a vocational bacccalauréatprogramme are motivated, more than theywere in BEP because they were enrolled insuch training without their agreement, whether


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you follow or not ... who cares? (femalestudent, people contact speciality)

The relationships between teachers and stu-dents in such a programme seem to be uniqueor special for several reasons: the numberof students per course, the student ages, andthe selection process. These different fac-tors may allow new teaching experiencesand entail new behaviours. Teachers aremore available and experience new ways toteach in their classrooms.

‘Because of small classes (classes are sepa-rated into two parts), if there is someone whohas a problem, he can take him aside to-take more time to explain to him’ (female stu-dent, document speciality)

‘We stop if someone doesn’t understand, theteacher will explain to him and during thattime, we will focus on something else or wewill listen’ (female student, document spe-ciality)

‘We know that we are not alone, they are sup-portive ... If I have some trouble in preparingmy homework, I’ll try to find out for a whileand then, if I am still stuck, I will ask themtomorrow, and thus I hope to understand.Whatever, I think they are always available’(female student, document speciality)

‘If there is something wrong, they will get itright away, and would like to discuss it ...they take an interest in us’ (female student,people contact speciality)

‘The selection at the entrance has an impacton teacher behaviour (because they have infront of them students who wish and wantto belong to the vocational baccalauréat pro-gramme, they (students) want to succeed,they have decided to be prepared for a job,and to learn and to do their maximum ...and when we forget that, teachers don’t for-get gently to remind us that ‘you have cho-sen to be here and if you are not satisfiedyou can go out ...’ we can be angry with thatbut we cannot blame them ... that’s the re-ality and we have to deal with ...’ (femalestudent, document speciality)

This autonomy seems to be well appreci-ated among students; it is considered as aproof of mutual confidence between facul-ty and students, and becomes part of thetraining and professional knowledge someof them need to acquire. The fact that they

are no longer considered as anonymous butas a complete person or an adult helps themregain their self-confidence. Self-esteem canalso be developed through mutual help, andby learning in a group.

‘That belongs to the professional knowledge,we have a lot of hours in “autonomy class-es”, we also have a lot of personal work, andteachers expect from us something differ-ent (from the BEP level) ... that creates somelinks between the pedagogical team and thefaculty ... if we want to have a break of 10minutes to talk with the teacher, we do, or ifwe meet the teacher at the cafeteria, we sayhello and we discuss with him or her natu-rally ... we are no longer anonymous, there’sno longer the barrier students/teachers, it’sface to face or adult person in front of anadult person respecting each other’ (femalestudent, document speciality)

‘Autonomy in our work ... that’s very en-joyable ... they give us work to manage with,a deadline, and then tell us “you will haveto sort it out yourself, you have at your dis-posal a computer room, you can use what-ever material you want, do whatever youwant until the work has to been done ontime” and that’s for me what I call autono-my’ (female student, document speciality)

‘During the autonomy hours, we can use com-puters, work with our files which are storedall year if we want in a cabinet and there arealways teachers around if we need help forinstance in computer science, or we can workwith our classmate and we can help each oth-er to manage our work ... that’s interestingand a great atmosphere, we, students in thevocational baccalauréat programme, are closeto each other and we help each other betterthan the others’ when someone has a prob-lem, we talk together, and we try to solve it’(female student, document speciality)

‘The vocational baccalauréat allows more au-tonomy, self-management, we learn to sortout ourselves, I find that more gratifying ...’

‘Teachers put together students who got greatmarks with ones who had some difficultiesto prepare exercises together which allow theformer to explain to someone else what heunderstood’ (female student, people contactspeciality)

Beyond that, this trend of pedagogical in-novation was encouraged by faculty changes,


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with fewer and fewer people who haveworked in production and more coming fromtraining. More important is the introductionof in-company training periods: an averageof 16 weeks distributed over the two-yearprogramme. This internship and school-basedalternation training plays an important rolefor such students. It contributes to their per-sonality building and professional identityformation. That seems to be also an oppor-tunity for them to find out what would andcould be their role in the company and al-so in society: they feel useful.

‘Moreover, we have 16 weeks of internshipsthat allow us to acquire some vocational ex-perience’ (female student, document spe-ciality)

‘We arrive motivated when we have an in-ternship, what we learn at school can be ap-plied during our internships, therefore, thatis the reason why we have to learn’ (malestudent, production speciality)

‘We are convinced that we can work; that’salready stimulating’

‘What we learn at school, we try applying andusing this knowledge in the company, so that’sgreat, and they give us some responsibilities... we practice, therefore I am satisfied ... em-ployers gave us some responsibilities, ... weare not only internship students for them ...they consider us as employees’ (male student,production speciality)

‘We’ve already had six weeks of internships,so we had time to learn and to be trainedat the end of the in-company period, somy boss told me ‘I am going on vacation,could you replace me’; at least, I felt ofvalue, that’s very pleasant because that meansthat she gives me all her responsibility’and if something happens, we will assumeit, but nevertheless, she trusts me. That’s dif-ferent from the BEP internships where wewere still considered as kids ... In the voca-tional baccalauréat in-company period, wefeel more adult, and we have some experi-ence through some previous internships. Weknow what we are talking about, and that’salso true that sometime we can bring themsome knowledge.’ (female student, docu-ment speciality)

‘In our internship in BEP, we didn’t have anyresponsibilities, but at the baccalauréat levelthey treat us as adult and responsible persons

... they give us very important tasks, they trustus’ (male student, production speciality)

‘In such a training, we feel integrated wher-ever and whatever the company ... we aretrained at integrating ourselves easily what-ever the place, the topic and to be immedi-ately operational’

‘To introduce ourselves ... like to sell ourselves... even for looking for an internship ... themail, phone calls ... I will say the first monthof looking for an internship, we have alreadyto overcome barriers but then, we take ourbags and go to prospect for an internshipcompany which will welcome us ... that al-so helps a lot for our future ...’ (female stu-dent, production speciality)

‘At the beginning, we arrive with our schol-arly benchmarks, I will say, like to smile onthe phone, to type ... that’s our ability to adapt... and then, with the customer contact andour colleagues, we react differently, we learnfrom the organisation, from the company weare working with ... we forget the scholarlythings, that’s become a reflex ... natural, andvery spontaneous ... and we bring our owntouch, and learn more’ (female student, con-tact speciality)

A new and confusing situation

The period of transition from school to work-ing life is tending to become longer andmore complicated. Young people with lowlevels of schooling and from low vocation-al level tracks are particularly affected bychanges which keep bringing ‘an awarenessof the infernal character of the spiral thatwas thus set off, tied to recognition of a cri-sis in occupational socialisation’ (Kirsch,1994). This problem highlights two dimen-sions of youth socialisation: the transitionfrom school to work, and the building of oc-cupational identity.

The occupational transition constitutes thepath between school and working life. It rep-resents the period when prior social codes,corresponding to those of school life, havebeen lost but those of their future work col-lective have not yet been acquired. Duringthe previous economic period, this transitionwas treated by the solidarity of immediatesupport networks, companies and/or voca-tional guidance counsellors. Family marriage,neighbourhood and social network werechannels for finding a job. With the unem-


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ployment crisis, this natural regulating processwas no longer guaranteed. The trend towardsrecruiting young vocational baccalauréatgraduates for jobs traditionally held by CAPor BEP holders may lead to a downgradingof the new diploma. This risk is accentuat-ed still further by the fact that the number ofthose former diploma holders is decliningbecause of the increasing number of peopleobtaining the diploma (and its impact de-scribed by Beaud, 2002) and the race forlonger studies. Therefore, the success or fail-ure of the vocational baccalauréats is just asmuch at stake within the company, throughwork organisation and recruitment choicesin a youth unemployment crisis. Demographictrends, and their economic and labour mar-ket impacts, are expected to slow down; itwill be interesting to observe the companyrecruitment attitudes.

The building of occupational identity amongyouth raises the same kind of questionsfor Kirsch (1994). During full employment,the process occurs naturally on the basis ofmodels provided by the family environmentand surroundings, and the young people’sdifferent socialisation groups, and by the in-termingling of generations that takes placewithin the company. In the economic crisisframework, this natural process stoppedas companies ceased their role of smooth-ing youth entry into working life, by selectingoperational, experienced and skilled work-ers. Moreover, in this diploma massificationand increasing job-competition, employersbecome more demanding, resulting in a hi-erarchy of tracks and fields specialisationthat, by encouraging further studies, tendsto ‘devocationalise’ it. In this context, voca-tional baccalauréat students are still splitbetween negative and positive opinions ofVET.

‘That’s well known, it’s a dead end, if youcannot attend general education, thereforeyou will be enrolled in the vocational track’(male student, production speciality)

‘The (vocational baccalauréat) programmebrings good things but it’s a pity that peo-ple look at it as different from the general ed-ucation track. General education is an openroute for people who don’t know what theywant to do. In contrast, the vocational track,that’s for people who know exactly where theywant to go, we have already some infor-mation about our professional future life’(female, production speciality)

‘I went backward selecting the vocationaltrack ... That’s clear, people believe thatthe vocational education level is below gen-eral education; that’s the position and be-fore getting involved in vocational educa-tion I shared this opinion, but now that I amenrolled in such a programme, I agree thatthe level is lower but the vocational knowl-edge is another matter, another field, andthat’s as interesting and fruitful as the gen-eral one’ (female, production speciality)

‘I enrolled in the vocational track with sometrepidation because it has a ‘bad’ reputa-tion ... that’s adult people who talk about itthat way ... not especially my family or myfriends, but when I was at the lycée in gen-eral education, we were talking about the dif-ferent baccalauréats, it always came outthat “vocational”, the BEP or CAP programmeswere trash, were composed of “crazy people”’... They were for sure far below us regardingthe level of education ... and we got the sameopinion for vocational baccalauréat, and worsefrom teachers who think the same way andtalk about it the same way; I met several peo-ple from different backgrounds who promotethis false perception. Because now I am in thistrack, I changed completely my opinion, youngpeople from my generation got a wrong im-age of it from adults or teachers’ (male stu-dent, production speciality)

If the vocational baccalauréat holders seemto benefit from a longer period of school-ing and even if their work activities and jobmobilities have not measured up to expec-tations, their way of seeing VET and theirVET point of view and representation arechanging; those changes have to functionwithin organisational and social contexts,leading nonetheless to a confusing situationwhich could also depend on the studentgoal: earning a diploma, access to a quali-fication recognised by employers or labourmarket entry. If vocational training is still insearch of identity, the VET baccalauréattwo-year programme was, for the trainees,a time for plural transitions.

Conclusion

Before the vocational baccalauréat, theFrench undergraduate educational systemrested upon structuring dualisms. Especial-ly at secondary level, the vocational trackwas considered as the track of ‘relegationand exclusion’ (for students who failed inacademic courses). But since the creation of


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the vocational baccalauréat, this structurehas been modified and thus, contributed toa main innovation in French initial sec-ondary education. This programme offersstudents who have failed in general edu-cation a path for remedial education, con-tinuing their studies or catching up studiestoward more socially prestigious courses. Asa result, this vocational education programmeplays an important, if not determining, rolein developing schooling for young peopleexcluded from, and in the fight against,academic failure. In this framework, thosevocational baccalauréat holders seem tobenefit from the plural characteristics of thisprogramme (longer period of schooling, mat-uration, new pedagogical methods, i.e. an-other way to learn and to be taught). If someyoung workers interviewed stated that theyhave not obtained the job expected, as em-phasised in Beaud research (2002), theyall stressed that if they had to choose againamong secondary education tracks, they optfor VET’. This programme appeared to be,

for those young people excluded from theélite track, a real chance to build a way for-ward, as Alice in Wonderland, regainingthrough this vocational programme their self-esteem, confidence and desire in education.Such results are already significant in an in-dividual and personal development per-spective: they are focused on emotional com-petences which remain too often ignored intraditional education, even if they are cru-cial for work and above all to allow humancapital growth (Gendron, 2004a). Is not theprime aim of education and training devel-opment of the whole person? Have we for-gotten what Aristotle says when he main-tains that education must allow man to ful-fil himself and find out what he truly is? Thevocational baccalauréat programme appearsto be a space, time and period for a pluraltransition: from failure to success, from weakself-esteem to self-confidence, from de-pendence to autonomy, from childhood toadulthood, and from school to work.

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Gendron, B. Social representations of vocation-al education and training in France through theFrench vocational baccalauréat case-study. Bre-men: Institut Technik und Bildung Press, 2004.(ITB-Arbeitspapiere, N° 52). Available from Intranet: http://www.itb.uni-bremen.de/down-loads/Forschung/AP-52.pdf [cited 7.4.2005].

Gendron, B. Emotions, learning, and success:which links? The emotional capital: a case studyon students at the vocational school leavingcertificate level in France. In European Confer-ence on Educational Research, EERA, Crete, 2004.Glasgow: EERA, 2004.

Gendron, B. Social representations of VET inFrance through the French vocational baccalau-réat case study. In Leonardo research report: VET-culture - analysis and comparison of social rep-resentations of VET in different European coun-tries, June 2001.

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diploma. International seminar ‘Focus point north-ern Europe’ about ‘Learning with school structuresand at work places’, Akershus University College,Center for research on education and work, Os-lo, Norway, April 2001.

Gendron, B. The French vocational ‘baccalau-réat’ and its impact on the change of VET repre-sentations. Working paper, European forum onvocational education and training, North Wales,UK, July 2000.

Gérard, F. et al. Profils professionnels, formationet pratiques des tuteurs en entreprise en Allemagne,Autriche, Espagne et France: rapport de synthèse.Paris: Centre Inffo, 1999. Available from Internet:http://www.centre-inffo.fr/maq100901/pdf/ rapportleonardo.pdf [cited: 29.3.2005].

Kirsch, J. L. New directions for vocational edu-cation in France? Training & Employment, 1994,No 15, pp. 1-4.

Leroux, J. Y. Le bac professionnel: des objec-tifs ambitieux, des résultats mitigés. Education& Formation, Décembre 1998, No 54, p. 109-117.

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Marquette, C.; Mériot, S.A.; Kirsch, E. Créationd’un baccalauréat professionnel productique pourles industries de process. In CPC-Documents. Paris:Ministère de l’Education nationale, 1994, No 94-3.

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Solaux, G. Le baccalauréat professionnel et soncurriculum. Formation Emploi, 1995, No 49, pp.31-45.


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Key words

Vocational training,training evaluation,learning, pedagogy,individual development,sciences of education.

Bibliography


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A simplified diagram of the French secondary and tertiary educational system Figure 1(and the apprenticeship system)