The Career Choices of Young Migrants : School Influence and Family Opportunities

Based on a collective survey on the educational orientation paths of young migrants in France, my communication will show how students' choices are influenced both by the school environment and also by family influence. The question of choosing a profession and a course is conditioned by various academic constraints such as grades obtained and language proficiency. Teachers or educators tend to suggest an orientation that is lower than the aspirations of young people due to the lack of places in the school system and their anticipation of a possible refusal. Young unaccompanied minors are more encouraged to choose a short vocational course to ensure they get a job, housing and a residence permit. While the majority of young people express attention to the advice or injunctions given by their teachers, on the contrary, some young people affirm more ambitious aspirations by maintaining their wish to enter a general or professional baccalaureate in order to access their ideal career. Beyond the influence of the school, our survey shows that the career choices of young people are part of the possibilities opened by the knowledge or discovery of a profession in connection with the family environment. Young people express both a freedom of choice in their career path and also they show respect for the advice or decisions of their parents, they value the legitimacy of their experience as parents. Their argument focuses in particular on the usefulness of the profession and the possibility of finding a job quickly after training. The speeches collected show that educational orientation is not only educational but that it is part of a family environment that goes beyond the school sphere and is more anchored in the valorization of professions practiced in the family or in opportunities for discovery in connection with internships.