PATHWAYS IN EDUCATION AND ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT

This paper aims to compare the pathways in education and the access to employment of young French graduates from the two principal tertiary short vocational tracks: the Advanced Technical Courses (STS ) and the Technological University Institutes (IUT). The originality of this comparison lies in its re-examination of these educational pathways in the light of individual trajectories onto the labour market, and the perspectives that emerge. Not only course changes, dropouts or academic failures but also successfully completed studies are viewed here as elements in the increasing complexity of training pathways, based on which career guidance upstream and its effect on the transition options from education to employment downstream will be examined. The comparison of pathways during and following higher education revolves around three key questions: - What similarities and differences can be observed between the careers strategies and the academic profiles of students following IUT and STS tracks? - What progress is made by enrolees to these tracks during higher education and what determining factors explain the different structures? - In what ways do these differentiated educational pathways result in more or less effective access into the labour market?