1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«Vocational education and training (VET) programs at the secondary level in Canada are not hot commodities. Indeed, most Canadian high school students aspire to a university education and take courses and programs that are designed for the passage from high school to university. […] Along the way, however, a significant number of young people either drop out of high school or do not pursue post-secondary education. In an economic and demographic context conducive to labour shortages in many sectors where graduates from VET programs should be welcomed, one would expect increased participation in these programs. But to date, this has not been an important trend. The article attends to this question in the hope of contributing to the debate about the value and perceptions of VET in relation to the education and integration of young people and labour market needs.» (p. 505-506)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«Our analysis is founded on a research project conducted among high school leavers in the province of Québec. […]The total sample of secondary school leavers is made up of 48 individuals who were registered in the general or professional (vocational education) sectors of the high school education system. The sample for this article consists of those who left the professional sector and numbers 22 young people (11 males and 11 females). Ages at leaving school ranged from 16 to 21; the average age was 19.» (p. 514)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«The final issue concerns the influence of family, particularly parents, on the schooling and employment trajectories of young people. The analysis we have provided […] shows that although parents in lower socio-economic groups can be interested in the upward social mobility of their offspring, their limited ability to encourage and support their children’s school trajectories, as well as their interventions in helping them find work, often only lead to at-risk trajectories or ‘stabilized’ trajectories in which the future is marked by uncertainty. […] In our view, this may occur because direct parental support for transitions to employment materializes through a network of ‘weak ties’ located within parental employment contacts and milieus (Molgat and Vultur 2009a, 2009b). Although this support often starts out by leading to relative employment stability, young people without formal qualifications can then encounter problems in finding work when they are laid off or in finding better employment when they are dissatisfied with their current job. From this perspective, it may make a lot of sense if researchers, in collaboration with schools, educators and the helping professions in the school system, start examining what kind of attempts could be made to reach out to parents of students who enter VET programs.» (p. 519-520)