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

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

7. Results(2): Effects of the scheme on young people’s pathways Effects of young people’s social and individual 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 abroad reduces 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