• According to the report of the Observatory of inequalities published this Thursday, the gaps between social backgrounds increase over the course of schooling. It is in the middle school that the sorting is gradually carried out which will separate the students into several groups.
  • The proportion of working-class children accessing higher education is stagnant. At university, the children of executives are three times more numerous than the children of blue-collar workers.
  • Only the BTS receive praise from the Observatory of inequalities in terms of social openness, because they welcome 23% of the children of workers.

The good news: the level of education has risen in France over the decades. The bad: not for everyone. According to the report of the Observatory of Inequalities published on Thursday, inequalities in access to higher education have increased in recent years. "The education system has not yielded any of its social elitism," says Louis Maurin, director of the Observatory. Between the generations born in the early 1980s and those born in the early 1990s, the rate of access to higher education has almost stagnated for the working classes (from 39.5% to 41.1%), while it has increased by seven points for the privileged classes (from 65.5% to 72.6%), the report says.

As a result, the children of blue-collar workers represent 10% of university students, 7% of students in preparatory classes for the grandes écoles and 2% of students in higher teacher training colleges. Conversely, the share of children of senior managers is increasing: 33% of university students, 53% in preparatory classes and 63% in teacher training colleges. In the end, over ten years, if the proportion of young graduates of a bac + 5 has increased at the national level, the gaps between social backgrounds have increased. In 2018-2020, 40% of children of managers and intermediary professionals aged 25 to 29 obtained a master's, doctorate or diploma from a college, compared to 13% of children of white-collar and blue-collar workers. In 2008/2010, these proportions were 22% and 6%, respectively.

The college, a selection chamber

This breakdown in the democratization of higher education has its origins in the students' school history. Because as the report shows, it is at the end of the 3rd that the paths diverge. The children of blue-collar workers represent one third of CAP or vocational baccalaureate students, but make up only 19% of classes in the general or technological lycée. The children of executives, on the other hand, are very rare in CAP (4.5%) and bac pro (8%). But with 30% of the workforce, they are over-represented on the benches of the general or technological high school.

"The 3rd is a key moment for orientation. This is the period when the academic difficulties encountered by some students crystallize. And those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds have already internalized the fact that some courses were not made for them. There is a form of social determinism and the phenomenon of self-censorship can already be seen," says Louis Maurin. This is evidenced by a 2020 study by the Ministry of Education, which shows that only 59% of the children of workers with a diploma grade between 10 and 12/20 request an orientation in general high school, compared to 91% of the children of executives with the same grade. Sociologist Jules Donzelot, associate education researcher at the Centre Émile Durkheim (Ehess), goes further. He sees it as "the failure of secondary school to make socially disadvantaged students succeed academically". According to him, it is at the end of middle school that "socially disadvantaged students are more often than others failing the academic requirements of grades 4 and 3, partly due to the effect of a lack of cultural capital at home."

The social biases of Parcoursup

In addition, for working-class children who go to the general stream, the cost of higher education can be a hindrance when making their choice: "If you live in the provinces, going far to study is sometimes impossible, especially since the price of housing has become inaccessible for many," continues Louis Maurin.

In addition, Parcoursup contains some social biases, noted by Jules Donzelot. First of all, it is clear that to fill out your application, parents often represent valuable coaches. "However, there are very strong inequalities in the ability of families to provide such support, depending on social origin in particular. It would therefore be necessary to internalize the preparation for Parcoursup, with dedicated schedules in the schedules, and teachers mobilized to best help each student according to his needs, "he says. According to him, it would also be necessary to "anonymize the high school of origin, in order to avoid that some high schools are advantaged over others because of their reputation or their geographical location".

The social openness of the grandes écoles remains very limited

Another finding of the Observatory of inequalities: the most selective courses (engineering or business schools, medicine, etc.) that lead to the most advantaged social positions remain closed to the children of workers and employees. However, many grandes écoles set up social openness schemes in the early 2000s, which generally consist of offering support to students from disadvantaged backgrounds so that they acquire the academic and cultural capital they lack. "But they serve above all to support the communication of elitist institutions," says Louis Maurin.

For Jules Donzelot too, this approach has limited effects. To be more effective on the subject, the grandes écoles should, according to him, "modify the content of the paths of excellence to make them more compatible with the culture and profile of these young people. As they say in England, "More means different". To accommodate more disadvantaged young people, it is necessary to change the internal structure, instead of arranging the entrance. It would be necessary to "de-elitize" the paths of excellence: to extract everything that is arbitrary culture from the self-esteem of privileged families, and to focus only on knowledge and skills. »

The BTS, training that has succeeded in social diversity

In the end, only one higher education sector receives praise from the Observatory of inequalities in terms of social openness: the BTS, which welcome 23% of the children of workers. "The fact that these courses give pride of place to practice and that the trades to which they lead are identifiable is a factor of attraction for them," notes Louis Maurin. The introduction of quotas for technological and professional baccalaureate holders at the entrance of BTS and BUT has also had positive effects on social diversity. An example to follow?

  • Society
  • Higher education
  • High school
  • Parcoursup
  • Student
  • Inequalities