Pierre-Yves Bernard & Christophe Michaut Centre de recherche en éducation de Nantes (CREN)

1. The effects of the fight against early school-leaving: Back to education or school-to-work transition? Pierre-Yves Bernard & Christophe Michaut Centre de recherche en éducation de Nantes (CREN) www.univ-nantes.fr

2. Introduction • A french paradox: • 17% of young people leaving the education system with no qualifications • But • A large range of schemes addressing early school-leaving

3. Labour market Missions locales (young people who left school for at least six months) MGI (students aged 16 and +) Prevention schemes (compulsory school) : réseaux d’aides, PRE, dispositifs relais, … Educational system

4. The study • A longitudinal investigation involving young people identified by the Mission Générale d’Insertion (MGI) • Sample size: 1501 • Variables: • independent variables: • socio-demographic characteristics (age, sex, parents’ social background, ethnic origin, family circumstances), • experiences at school (academic performance, study options, approach to learning and relationship with figures in the school environment) • programme followed or not • dependent variable: • young people’s pathways for three years

5. Results (1):The routes taken by young people leaving the scheme

6. Results (1):The routes taken by young people leaving the scheme

7. Results(2): Effects of the scheme on young people’s pathways • Effects of young people’s social andindividual characteristics: • Sex: girls more likely to follow an uncertainty pathway than a stable employment pathway, and an education/training pathway rather than an employment pathway • Age: the younger the participant, the higher the probability of following an education/training pathway • Nationality: having a father who was born abroadreduces the probability of being in the "employment" pathway rather than any other pathway, and increases the probability of the "education/training" and the "education/training then employment" pathways • Socio-professional background: children of executives and middle-earning professions more likely than others to be in "education/training" • Level of education when joining the scheme: the lowest levels of education or training (leaving school at collège level) reduce the probability of following an education/training pathway; the highest level of education or training reduces the risk of following the unemployment pathway.

8. Results(2): Effects of the scheme on young people’s pathways • Effects of the scheme: • a protection from unemployment; • Effects of the type of programme: • Studying for a vocational qualification is a move away from education and towards employment whereas studying for the baccalaureate has the opposite effect • Effects according the level of education when joining the scheme: • following an MGI programme has no significant impact on the young people’s pathways when they have a very low level. • The MGI encourages the return to education or training for the others.

9. Conclusion • A huge uncertainty in the pathways of early school-leavers beginning their professional integration • Fight against underachieving must provide effective prevention of early school leaving by giving all young people basic knowledge and skills • Securing the pathways of young people in the labour market is essential to make effective integration initiatives possible