VOCATIONAL TRAINING
NO 36 EUROPEAN JOURNAL
Cedefop
33
Bénédicte
Gendron
Maître de
Conférences -
Habilitée à diriger des
Recherches, University
of Montpellier III
Introduction
Until the vocational baccalauréat diploma
was created, the French hierarchical educa-
tional system rested on strong structuring
dualisms: on one hand, the opposition be-
tween general and technological education,
and vocational education; and on the other
hand, the opposition between short and long
studies. At the secondary level of education,
the general baccalauréat, considered pres-
tigious, welcomed students who were to fo-
cus on higher education. At the opposite ex-
treme, the vocational Certificat d’Aptitude
Professionnelle (CAP) and the Brevet d’É-
tudes Professionnelles (BEP) were consid-
ered as the route of relegation and exclu-
sion, reinforcing negative characteristics in
students encountering learning difficulties.
But since the creation of the vocational bac-
calauréat, this structure has been modi-
fied (see appendix). This vocational bac-
calauréat must offer students who failed in
general education a path for continuing their
studies or catching up through options that
are socially more prestigious. As a result,
this programme could play an important,
if not determining, role in schooling for
young people excluded in the battle against
academic failure. But do young people ex-
cluded from the élite track find in this op-
tion, as Alice lost in Wonderland, a chance
to create their own pathway? Some 20 years
after its creation (1985) we could question
whether this diploma has fulfilled its objec-
tives. This paper will not attempt to answer
this question but will focus on an addi-
tional important aspect: has the vocational
baccalauréat programme contributed to in-
novation and opinion changes in French ini-
tial secondary education? More precisely,
has the social perception of vocational ed-
ucation changed since this baccalauréat was
created? A Leonardo da Vinci project enti-
tled Analysis and comparison of social rep-
resentations of VET in different European
countries (VET-Cultures) suggested that
for students, this vocational education pro-
gramme seems to be a space, time and pe-
riod for a plural transition: from failure to
success, from weak self-esteem to self-con-
fidence, from dependence to autonomy, from
childhood to adulthood, from school to work.
In this paper, we analyse some of those tran-
sitions, occurring mainly during the student
period, via case-studies examining the dy-
namic of social representation of VET.
A victim of the role that the institution itself
has forced it to play, vocational education
and training in France has always seemed a
negative and exclusive model in the eyes of
the public at large (Pelpel and Troger, 1993)
until, perhaps, the arrival of a new voca-
tional diploma: the French vocational bac-
calauréat diploma. Created in 1985, this new
diploma, undertaken in two years after an
initial period of vocational training and al-
lowing immediate entry into working life,
was not only intended to attest to skills adapt-
ed to the new technological demands and
changes in work organisation but also to re-
new interest in VET. Now, 20 years after
its creation, it could be questioned whether
this diploma has met its original goals. The
aim of this paper is more modest, raising the
issue of whether the vocational baccalau-
réat programme has contributed to innova-
tion and opinion changes in French initial
secondary education. More precisely, has
the social representation of vocational edu-
cation changed since this baccalauréat was
created?
From different studies (Marquette, Mériot
and Kirsch, 1994), the vocational baccalauréat
seems to be an interesting success. Even
though it does not lead to well-established
recognition in the occupational field con-
cerned, and while the companies making
The French Vocational
Baccalauréat Diploma:
space of a plural
transition for the youth
The French secondary hier-
archical educational system
resting upon strong struc-
turing dualisms, has been
modified by the creation of
the vocational baccalauréat.
This aims at offering students
who failed in general educa-
tion a path for continuing
their studies or catching up
through tracks that are so-
cially more prestigious. Some
20 years after its creation, do
students find in this diploma
a chance to create their own
pathway? Has it changed the
social perception of vocational
education and training (VET)?
From our research, this track
seems to be, for students, a
space, time and period for a
plural transition: from fail-
ure to success, from weak self-
esteem to self-confidence,
from dependence to autono-
my, from childhood to adult-
hood, from school to work.
Using case-studies, we analyse
the diverse transitions oc-
curring, mainly during the
school period, through the
dynamic of social represen-
tation of VET.
VOCATIONAL TRAINING
NO 36 EUROPEAN JOURNAL
Cedefop
34
use of this diploma do not exactly coincide
with the objectives underlying the creation
of the diploma, vocational baccalauréat
holders are successful in finding employ-
ment and remain happy to have undergone
such training.
If those students belong to ‘the children of
the educational democratisation’ qualified
by Beaud (2002), the focus of this article
should be on that last point, complement-
ing a study carried out by the Regional Ob-
servatory of Higher Education (ORFS) in
1999 in the Low-Normandy region. There-
fore, what does this new diploma do for
trainees and how has this diploma contributed
to a change in vocational initial education
and training social representations?
To answer this question, this paper is or-
ganised as follows. The first part gives the
framework of French vocational initial edu-
cation and the original objectives of the
French vocational baccalauréat. The sec-
ond part attempts to analyse, using case stud-
ies, the plural transition during the school
period that constitutes vocational baccalauréat
training for trainees; the process uses analy-
sis of the dynamic of social representation
of VET.
Initial secondary vocational
education and the role of the
vocational baccalauréat
Vocational education institutions in
initial secondary training
There are three vocational branches in ini-
tial secondary training (see appendix): one
which prepares students for a CAP (
1
), one
which prepares them for a BEP (
2
) and fi-
nally, one preparing them for the vocation-
al baccalauréat (
3
). Those vocational diplo-
mas are mainly (
4
) earned through vocational
lycées (
5
).
Different branch roles
The branches leading to a CAP or a BEP pre-
pare students over two years for the same
level of qualification
-
that of skilled work-
er
-
but are different both in purpose and
content. The CAP gives practical skill in par-
ticular areas (catering, hairdressing, car-
pentry), allowing immediate professional in-
tegration. The BEP, on the other hand, gives
skills in the more demanding technological
areas in which professional integration re-
quires higher qualifications (accounting
assistant, nurse assistant) and can, therefore,
lead to further study for a vocational or tech-
nological baccalauréat.
Different branch study topics
The specialisations in each branch also vary
from one diploma to another. There were
more than 200 CAPs preparing students
for specific employment in the industrial sec-
tor, for example in electricity, plumbing, car
maintenance mechanics, in the tertiary sec-
tor, such as hairdressing, cooking and sales,
and the agricultural sector, such as labour-
ing, gardening or wine growing. There were
39 BEPs preparing students for the same sec-
tors, such as car body work specialist, ad-
ministrative communication and secretariat,
sales and accounts, transport, wines and
wine growing, horticulture, growing of fruit
trees, etc. The branch leading to a vocational
baccalauréat, attainable after a CAP or a
BEP, offers courses adapted to the needs of
the business world, at a level between qual-
ifications for workers and skilled workers,
and those for higher technicians. Introduced
in 1985, there are some 30 vocational bac-
calauréats, in various specialities. In the in-
dustrial sector, for example, there are spe-
cialities in electrical equipment and instal-
lations, in industrial product definition, and
car maintenance. In the tertiary sector, there
are subjects such as catering, sales and rep-
resentation, and artistic careers; in the agri-
cultural sector, there are maintenance and
operation of agricultural machines, the tim-
ber industry, etc.
Differences between centres for
training apprentices (CFA) and
vocational lycées
A centre for training apprentices is the in-
stitution where apprenticeship students learn
a trade. Apprenticeship is a type of voca-
tional training allowing young people from
16 to 25 years of age to learn a trade un-
der a private work contract lasting from one
to three years. They are under the control
of a master and also follow courses in al-
ternation with their practical work.
There are two categories of lycée: for gen-
eral and technological education (LEGT) and
focused on vocational studies, the vocational
lycée (LP). But, in accordance with the frame-
work law of 1989, all technological and vo-
cational diplomas may be studied for under
(
1
) The certificate of professional ap-
titude (CAP, Certificat d’aptitude pro-
fessionnelle).
(
2
) The technical school certificate
(BEP, Brevet d’études profession-
nelles) is a national diploma which
becomes a springboard for entering
into courses leading to a vocation-
al or technological baccalauréat.
(
3
) Baccalauréat. A national sec-
ondary school leaving diploma or-
ganised at an académie (regional)
level. The baccalauréat is the first
stage in university education, since
it gives access to higher education.
There are three types of baccalau-
réat: the general, the technological
and the vocational baccalauréats,
the last being created in 1985.
(
4
) Vocational baccalauréat can al-
so be earned through an appren-
ticeship status in Apprentice Train-
ing Centres (CFA). Apprenticeship
(apprentissage) is a type of voca-
tional training allowing young peo-
ple from 16 to 25 years of age to
learn a trade under a private work
contract lasting from 1 to 3 years in
alternation with their practical work,
in an institution called an appren-
ticeship centre (CFA, centre de for-
mation des apprentis).
(
5
) Lycées: State or private second-
ary schools at higher level. There
are two categories of lycée: those
for general and technological edu-
cation (LEGT, lycée d’enseignement
général et technique), and those for
vocational studies (LP, lycée d’en-
seignement professionnel).
the apprenticeship system. While initial train-
ing in formal schools remains the main pur-
pose of vocational lycée courses, the Min-
istry of National Education wants State schools
also to remain open to apprenticeship. Ar-
ticle 57 of the five-year law on employment
and vocational training dated 20 December
1993 allows apprenticeship sections or units
for training in apprenticeship to be opened
in all lycées, in close partnership with the
business community and with the agreement
and assistance of the region. In both these
cases, the head teacher is responsible for
the content of the courses.
Differences in curriculum and
organisation
Whatever the branch, a vocational training
programme is based on general education
courses (
6
), plus technological courses and
practical internship periods in the profes-
sional world. Hours vary depending on the
specialities chosen by the students in the dif-
ferent branches (Table 1).
Vocational courses vary according to the spe-
ciality and the skills required, but they are
always organised in the same way:
❑ technological core subjects for several
similar specialities, or within a single pro-
fessional sector, for instance, all the cours-
es for office jobs such as law, economics,
accounting, etc.;
❑ specialised or practical courses, more
particularly linked to future work;
❑ training periods in industry, introduced
in 1992.
Those two tracks (lycées and CFA) are also
two different ways of training for voca-
tional diplomas. The characteristic of the first
track is that courses are mainly carried out
in school (lycée). Although there is a com-
pulsory period of internship in industry, the
proportion of theoretical and practical train-
ing in a workshop or laboratory in a lycée
is much higher. Vocational training through
an apprenticeship contract, carried out in
CFA, follows exactly the opposite method;
most of the training takes place in industry
and compulsory education is added. The ap-
prentice is no longer in school but is re-
cruited by the company under a paid work
contract.
Differences regarding studies in further
education
At the end of CAP and BEP training, students
can pursue their studies through vocational
or technical paths, leading to a baccalau-
réat diploma. But this decision rests mainly
with the teaching team and the class coun-
cil decision as it is particularly important
to have full knowledge of each pupil’s pro-
file before choosing the type of study. Un-
like the vocational baccalauréat the tech-
nological option prepares students not so
much for immediate entry into working life
but for further study in higher education,
particularly in higher technical studies. There-
fore, access to the technological branch is
recommended for students who have shown
‘considerable motivation and willpower, au-
tonomy and capacity for hard work render-
ing them capable of succeeding in studies
leading to a higher technical or even engi-
neering diploma’ during the two years of
CAP and BEP general studies. Also, in order
to assure every chance of success for stu-
dents choosing the technological baccalauréat,
they are first guided towards adaptation first
level classes (
7
) (premières d’adaptation), in
which they undertake general revision,
before joining the technological final class-
es common to all students, of whatever ori-
gin. Then, according the candidates’ wish-
es and places available, the committees de-
cide whether to send students to vocation-
al first class or adaptation first class.
Vocational baccalauréat: a new level
A new and original place
The history of the vocational baccalauréat
started in 1983-84 with a discussion in the
vocational consultative commission (CPC,
commission professionnelle consultative)
and a report by the Employers’ Union of
the Metalworking and Mining Industries
(UIMM); the latter made a pressing demand
for the quantitative and qualitative devel-
opment of vocational skills and qualifica-
tion at the French level IV of education
VOCATIONAL TRAINING
NO 36 EUROPEAN JOURNAL
Cedefop
35
General and technical courses (hours per week) and Table 1
practical training in different diplomas
General courses Technical courses Training periods in industry
CAP From 14h30 to 16h From 12h to 17h 12 weeks
BEP From 14h to 22h From 16h to 20h 8 weeks
Voc.Bac. From 12h to 14h From 16h to 18h From 16 to 20 weeks
Source: French Ministry of Education
(
6
) General education comprises
French, a modern language, histo-
ry and geography, art, civics, math-
ematics, physics and social and pro-
fessional life for all branches. For
departments preparing for a CAP
and a BEP there are additional class-
es in mathematics and family and
social economics. The purpose of
this teaching is to provide basic cul-
ture for the modern world with a
professional orientation.
(
7
) Adaptation first level class (pre-
mière d’adaptation): this class of-
fers students having gained good
marks in the last year of BEP the op-
portunity to continue their study
at the technological baccalauréat
or certificate of technician levels.
through a new diploma ‘vocational bac-
caluréat’. Its request emerged in response
to a reduction in school leavers after the
technical baccalauréat (as those students
increasingly pursue their studies in higher
education). Since 1984, the union of the
deans of vocational lycées had faced the
same issue. Thus, the Ministry of Education
suggested the creation of this new diplo-
ma at level IV (see appendix) called vo-
cational baccalauréat. This was announced
in June 1985 with the law being passed in
December.
The purpose was to promote and revalue
vocational education in schools now called
vocational lycées and thereby to allow stu-
dents in such schools to be recognised as
‘bacheliers’, a dignified title before only giv-
en to general and technical education schools
students. The desire to make education more
democratic, was marked by Ministry of Ed-
ucation objectives in the Guidance 1989 Law
which stated that the ‘Nation wants to lead
80 % of a typical age group to the bac-
calauréat level’. Such an objective implied
that technical and vocational education should
take part in this national effort: the pro-
portion of CAP and BEP holders wishing to
pursue their studies and not enter working
life was only 20 %. The revision of voca-
tional education happened also at level V
through the creation of technical classes at
the fourth and fifth grade. In addition, the
BEP was revised, which now prepares up
to the vocational baccalauréat level.
A pluralistic objective of VET
baccalauréat
The crisis in youth employment and im-
portant structural changes in production
and labour organisation implied new train-
ing and qualifications. Therefore, the na-
tional Ministry of Education wanted, through
this guidance law of July 1989, to re-
form the guidance and tracking system
and to highlight two major objectives: to
lead 80 % of a typical age group to the bac-
calauréat level and the others to a diplo-
ma at level V. It was in this framework that
the vocational baccalauréat diploma was
created. Its creation also allowed the ho-
mogenisation and reduction of the number
of vocational branches. This diploma ap-
peared to be the minimum requested as a
vocational certificate, leading to the inval-
idation of lower vocational diplomas, such
as the CAP and BEP.
Its goals were plural. The first was to respond
to the growing demand from businesses for
highly qualified production and maintenance
workers with qualifications between those
of advanced technicians, who hold an ad-
vanced technical certificate (BTS) or tech-
nological university diploma (DUT), and qual-
ified workers who hold a CAP or BEP. The
level of the latter appeared increasingly in-
sufficient to keep up with the development
of new technologies in the production of
goods and services (computer-assisted de-
sign and manufacturing, robotics, office
automation, automated production tech-
niques, and computer science for industrial
and management applications). A second ob-
jective was to respond to the development
of new maintenance techniques for person-
al electronic and computer equipment (such
as video recorders, personal computers, and
video disks). Moreover, its creation was al-
so to boost vocational education and to
enhance cooperation and the relationship
between business and schools through the
compulsory internship period. The vocational
baccalauréat were created in close collabo-
ration with employers and take into account
specific vocational requirements for direct
employment. They differ from technological
baccalauréats in that they are targeted at spe-
cific occupations, whereas the technological
baccalauréats are broader in scope (elec-
tronics, mechanics, etc.).
Vocational baccalauréat principles
Vocational baccalauréat training lasts two
years, and constitutes the final cycle in the
vocational route (first and terminal voca-
tional classes). Unlike the technological bac-
calauréat, the vocational baccalauréat is
primarily a vocational certificate leading di-
rectly to an occupation; although its diplo-
ma also entitles holders to enter university
studies, less than 15 % entered in 1995. The
vocational baccalauréat provides qualifying
training for a particular occupation and
admits candidates holding a BEP (or a CAP
prepared in two years after the third class)
corresponding to the vocational baccalau-
réat concerned. Even though the trend of
moving from secondary to tertiary educa-
tion was less common among technological
baccalauréat graduates 10 years ago, now,
more than one third of students go further.
The vocational baccalauréat maintains its
aim and role of terminal diploma: 15 % of
vocational baccalauréat graduates nowa-
days continue their studies.
VOCATIONAL TRAINING
NO 36 EUROPEAN JOURNAL
Cedefop
36
Purpose of the paper, methodology
and data collection
Origins of the research
This paper is part of a European Project
called ‘Analysis and comparison of social
representations of VET in different European
countries’, covering five European countries.
This comparative research aims to shed some
light on the differences and commonalties
of socially shared meanings and represen-
tations in the different countries influencing
the newly established path to common Euro-
pean policies for employment and training.
Its main aim is to depict how VET is per-
ceived by different social actors (those di-
rectly involved as learners in training ac-
tivities, those belonging to the world of busi-
ness, and those who perform roles of teach-
ers/trainers), and to explore the evolving
paths of mutual understanding and learning
among them. This paper presents the learn-
er group data (
8
).
Methodology and data
The data were collected mostly through fo-
cus group interviews. Six vocational lycées
from Low-Normandy were investigated and
five groups of people were interviewed
(learners, trainers, deans, baccalauréat hold-
ers, employers, workers). In all, 60 people
were interviewed.
Rather than use existing occupational cate-
gories it was decided to make a distinction
between three broad types of work as fol-
lows: learners training for a job primarily
with documents, primarily with people and
primarily with products or objects.
The investigation used interviews with stu-
dents trained respectively for accounting and
secretarial jobs, for business, commerce and
sales, and for maintenance in automated me-
chanical installation tasks and in climatic en-
gineering. The trainees were between 18 and
22 years old and enrolled in the last year of
the two-year vocational baccalauréat pro-
gramme in vocational lycées; there were none
from centres for training apprentices, CFA. All
of them had experienced in-company train-
ing periods of 16 weeks introduced into the
two-year vocational baccalauréat programme.
The data were collected through focus group
interviews of six or eight learners in each
group, totalling 26 students. The focus-group
interviews lasted about two hours and cov-
ered the following topics and issues:
❑ VET and the labour market/employment:
how did you get involved in your current
course? How well will the course you are
doing help to prepare you for getting a
job when you have finished?
❑ VET and education: how do you feel
about your current course? How does this
course compare with your previous experi-
ence of education?
❑ VET and social exclusion and inclusion:
do you think that people doing your current
course are given the respect and social stand-
ing they deserve? Do you think that people
doing your current course will be given the
respect and social standing they should have
in the job they are going to do in the future?
❑ VET and corporate identity: do you think
that your current course will give you the
respect and social standing you deserve in
the organisation in which you work or are
likely to be working in the future?
❑ VET and lifelong learning: do you think
that what you are learning now provides a
solid foundation for things that you might
want to learn about in the future?
❑ VET and life project: what role does your
current course play in your overall educa-
tional career? What role does your current
course play in your future plans concerning
how you want to live your life?
❑ VET and preparation for work and for
the new economy: do you think your course
will prepare you for the new economy and
for future changes in the work that you do?
Will your course help you to contribute to
innovation in your workplace?
Student representation of the
vocational baccalauréat
Vocational baccalauréat training
programme: a new meaning?
Vocational baccalauréat holders, from
a half-tone employment situation ...
At the beginning of the 1985-86 academic
year, only 1 300 young people followed their
BEP diploma with a vocational baccalau-
réat; nowadays, almost 170 000 students are
enrolled in the vocational baccalauréat pro-
VOCATIONAL TRAINING
NO 36 EUROPEAN JOURNAL
Cedefop
37
(
8
) For the complete research find-
ings, see Gendron B., Social repre-
sentations of Vocational education
and training in France through the
French vocational Baccalauréat
Case Study, ITB-Arbeitspapiere,
Universität Bremen, Bremen: In-
stitut Technik und Bildung Press,
2004b.