Since the early 2000s, a few studies in France have examined vocational tracks in higher education—whether Brevet de Technicien Supérieur (BTS) or Diplôme Universitaire de Technologie (DUT), created in 1959 and 1966, or professional bachelor's degrees, introduced in 1999—from the perspective of social recruitment (Beaud, 2008; Blöss & Erlich, 2000; Orange, 2010) or post-graduation trajectories (Cahuzac & Plassard, 1997). These studies have shed light on both the role of these programs in the democratization of higher education—showing how they have been taken up by students from working-class backgrounds—and the evolving selection process in the DUT, which have become less effective as a vehicle for social mobility. They have also highlighted the remarkable increase in further studies after the DUT throughout the second half of the 20th century.

However, these dynamics are likely to change with the transition from DUT to Bachelor Universitaire de Technologie (BUT), which took place in 2021. This new degree introduces two quotas: the first regulates access, requiring that 50% of admitted students come from technological baccalaureate programs, while the second influences post-graduation paths, aiming for an equal split between graduates entering the workforce and those continuing their studies.

The development of this degree is part of long-term processes that shape the structure of higher education in France. First, the phenomenon of segregated massification, widely documented (Beaud, 2003; Merle, 2000), has led to both an increase in student numbers and a growing segmentation of academic pathways. Just as STS programs have become the main postsecondary route for vocational baccalaureate holders (Orange, 2009), the creation of the BUT contributes to the establishment and recognition of the "technological track" (the combination of technological baccalaureate and technological studies) in higher education, particularly by fostering the inclusion and success of technological baccalaureate graduates. Another consequence of this massification is the framing of professional integration as a "public issue" (Hugrée & Poullaouec, 2022; Mauger, 2001). Higher education’s professionalizing tracks—particularly short-cycle programs—are increasingly promoted as facilitating employment, in contrast to other segments such as general bachelor's degrees or preparatory classes for the Grandes Ecoles (CPGE).

This study seeks to contextualize the orientation strategies of students choosing the BUT within this broader framework. In other words, do these structural trends influence how future BUT students define their academic choices, thereby reshaping the social recruitment of these programs?

To address this question, we rely on multiple data sources. First, we analyze data from the Ministry of Higher Education, the ParcourSup platform, and UGA’s information systems to quantify the profiles of students entering the technological pathway over the past fifteen years. Second, we examine the motivations behind choosing the BUT through a survey administered at the beginning of the academic year over the past two years (n=937). Additionally, we incorporate findings from a qualitative study based on interviews (n=9) with students from technological baccalaureate backgrounds.

Three main findings will be presented in this talk. First, we highlight the growing correspondence between high school diploma types and higher education pathways over the past fifteen years. Second, we identify key actors influencing this alignment—whom we term "training prescribers"—and their role in shaping students’ orientation choices. Lastly, we explore the relationship between the position of the BUT within the higher education landscape and students’ perceptions of their program. More specifically, we show that choosing the BUT is largely driven by a desire to maintain the possibility of pursuing long-term studies (up to the Master’s level) within a professionalized learning environment (work-study programs, apprenticeships, etc.).

Recent years in Spain it became public that thousands of young were unable to find a place on the vocational training program they aspired to. This phenomenon has highlighted two things: the first being that after many years of policies fostering vocational training over academic courses, the education system itself has been insufficient to provide enough places. The challenge is pressing since 50% of employment opportunities by 2030 will demand intermediate qualifications, while only 25% of the population is currently in possession of these and 35% are low-skilled. The second matter that has been addressed concerns the motivating factors that drive young people to choose vocational training, and what kind of advice and counselling is provided in secondary schools to influence these young people's preferences.

This mismatch is leading to several consequences, the most significant being that vocational training programs have grown more competitive, as academic records become the main basis for admission. Another consequence is the exponential surge in private and online training programs (460% and 240% in a decade, correspondingly), a suitable alternative for previously underperforming young, with courses where there is no means of assessing quality. The young therefore opt for the academic track (“bachillerato”), generally at the same school where they attended lower secondary education. Otherwise, they enroll in a vocational training program in branches with availability, even if it is not their first choice. All these options are associated with a high risk of early school dropout or with changes and reorientations in the educational pathways of the young, making them more complex.

These recent events challenge conventional theories about the choice of studies in the post-compulsory secondary level. Within the sociology of education there are two schools of thought that have attempted to explain this choice. The theory of reproduction emphasizes the influence of social origin (cultural, economic and social capital) on this choice, where middle-class families avoided vocational training due to the potential risk of descending mobility. This perspective implies a structure of two differentiated pathways in educational systems: the academic pathway and the vocational pathway, whose function is the reproduction of social categories. The second most significant sociological theory, the theory of rational action, introduces calculation regarding the mobility strategies of families and the young regarding academic performance, the risk involved in choosing one pathway or another and the cost of opportunity, as well as other material and cultural elements.

Within this setting, a research project is being conducted, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, with the aim of studying educational pathways after compulsory education, particularly vocational training pathways. Emphasis is placed on non-linear pathways or those that incorporate changes in these pathways. The findings include motivations related to the type of vocational training chosen, which was not initially the preferred option, with subsequent reorientation towards academic studies, non-regulated training programs or other related or altogether different vocational training fields. This strategy of change serves also to prevent dropout.

We use a mixed research methodology, with only the quantitative part being presented in this communication. Our strategy lies in the analysis of the national survey on training and labor market insertion, which allows us to analyze the diversity of trajectories, the profile of students opting for vocational training as well as the changes in the four years following the end of compulsory education. The trajectories are reconstructed through sequence analysis, while regression models are used to examine the probability of choosing vocational training based on the social and academic characteristics of young people, in addition to the likeliness of change during the trajectory.

In 2024, in France, 327,800 young people were enrolled in initial vocational education and training (VET). Despite decades of government initiatives aiming to use VET – both at the secondary and higher education levels – as a tool to combat youth unemployment (Arrighi, 2013), the sector remains historically shaped by its origins in working-class qualification pathways and its persistent low status within both the educational and social hierarchies (Jellab, 2017; Pierrel, 2024). Although school democratization policies have been implemented since the 1960s, educational inequalities and the internal hierarchies between different tracks within the French education system persist.

A substantial body of research in the sociology of education has documented the trajectories and social backgrounds of young people enrolled in initial vocational programs in France. Coming predominantly from the most precarious segments of the youth population, these apprentices often have difficult academic trajectories and maintain an ambivalent relationship with school knowledge and the educational institution. Many justify their educational pathway through a vocational discourse (Palheta, 2012; Moreau, 2013), yet an analysis of their trajectories highlights the strong influence of social and academic constraints in shaping their “choices” (Duru-Bellat, 2002). However, while acknowledging the constrained nature of these pathways, other studies emphasize the need to go beyond a strictly deterministic perspective by analyzing how these young people actively construct the meaning of their educational trajectory and experience within VET. This requires examining the strategies they employ and how they reconfigure their trajectories within a broader system of social relations (Dubet et al., 1991).

Building on this perspective, this paper aims to highlight the heterogeneity of apprentices in initial education and the diverse motivations driving them – motivations that are often ambiguous, evolving, and embedded in different temporalities. It highlights that while many young people in initial VET express a rejection of the school-based model (Vincent et al., 1994) and perceive their orientation as a means to escape traditional schooling, they nonetheless encounter a learning environment that remains structured by the very system they sought to leave behind (Denave et al., 2020). Their engagement with apprenticeship fluctuates between an instrumental approach – where the diploma functions as a “license for professional integration” – and a more involved investment in training, perceived as both an educational and social rehabilitation space. In this latter case, the diploma also holds symbolic value as a “gateway” legitimizing further education and career aspirations (Briand & Chapoulie, 1993; Pierrel, 2024). This engagement with apprenticeship is therefore not static; it evolves over time, sometimes in ways that challenge initial expectations. For some, VET confirms a pre-existing career plan; for others, it acts as a stepping stone toward reorientation or further education.

This presentation draws on two ongoing doctoral research projects conducted among apprentices in initial education in France. It is based on empirical data collected through interviews and participant observation in apprentice training centers (CFA) and companies. By adopting this approach, this study explores the processes through which apprentices (re)define their educational trajectories and professional aspirations over time, offering deeper insight into the dynamics shaping their experiences in vocational training.

Personality and identity have been identified as central factors influencing career aspirations during adolescence (Gottfredson, 2002). While fundamental personality traits are generally stable during adolescence (Hirschi, 2010; Low et al., 2005), post-obligatory education serves as a secondary orientation context in which individuals further develop their identities, gain new insights into available career options, and expand their understanding of opportunities, resulting in the refinement of their career ambitions and aspirations (Heckhausen & Shane, 2015).

This study explores the evolution of young adults' career aspirations during the transition from school to work, with a particular focus on how post-compulsory education pathways structure these aspirations. Specifically, it examines how the permeability of the Swiss education system, particularly through pathways such as the vocational baccalaureate, allows young people to refine and adjust their occupational aspirations over time. By analyzing how both the qualification level and the gender composition of aspired occupations evolve through different educational pathways, the study provides insights into both stratification and flexibility in occupational development.

Using data from the DAB Panel Study (Becker et al., 2020), which trackes nearly 2,000 participants in German-speaking Switzerland since 2012 until 2028, we study the development of occupational aspirations of young adults measured from eighth grade to their mid-twenties (in 2024) across eleven waves. Occupational aspirations are identified based on the Swiss Structural Survey, which categorizes occupations according to their qualification and gender composition. Latent growth curve models estimate individual development trajectories, while regression models assess the influence of structural and individual factors, including gender, parental education, and migration background on the development of occupational aspirations.

The results show that, on average, young adults increase their career aspirations over time, with 55% aspiring to tertiary level occupations by their mid-twenties, compared to 29% during compulsory schooling. This trend reflects the permeability of the Swiss education system, which offers multiple pathways for further education and qualification, even for occupations with initially low academic requirements. While the international literature often reports stagnation or downward trends in aspirations (Clark, 1960; Lee & Rojewski, 2009; Tomasik et al., 2009), the Swiss education and training system allows for continuous horizonal and vertical mobility, especially for students pursuing a vocational baccalaureate.

Gender differences in occupational aspirations are also evident. Young women are more likely to aspire to occupations requiring higher education qualifications, a pattern that is in line with international trends (OECD, 2022, p. 39). However, in vocational education, young men obtaining a vocational baccalaureate (FVB) are initially more likely than their female counterparts to aspire to tertiary level occupations. Within the observation window, however, this gap narrows as FVB females increase their aspirations. Despite these upward trends, career choices remain highly segregated by gender, with young women tending towards female-dominated and young men towards male-dominated occupations . Gender segregation is more pronounced among vocational students than among those in academic upper secondary education. Nonetheless, the findings suggest that while early educational transitions reinforce gendered career choices, the permeability of the Swiss education system allows for adjustments, particularly for young women seeking further qualifications. A decade after entering VET, both young men and women aspire to less gender-stereotypical occupations than at the age of 15.

In conclusion, the study highlights how post-compulsory education pathways influence the development of career aspirations. The permeability of the Swiss education system plays a crucial role in enabling young people to refine and adjust their career goals, demonstrating both the structuring effects and flexibility of educational and occupational trajectories.