Immigrant Access to Training in France

Few studies in France have focused on immigrants' access to vocational training. This lack of data is surprising in a field which has otherwise been extensively studied. Indeed, one of the stated goals of ‘lifelong learning’ is precisely to compensate for educational inequality, and immigrant access to lifelong learning is therefore essential. The recent study conducted by Gelot and Minni using data from the 2003 FQP survey is a key contribution in this area. They have shown that the rate of immigrant access to continuing education is lower than that of people of French origin and that these differences persist even after controlling for individual characteristics (age, gender, level of education, type of employment).

The aim of this paper is therefore to go one step further by focusing on the differences which exist within the immigrant population, particularly in matters of administrative status. The hypothesis tested here is that the category established by the immigration authorities when awarding first residence permits is an important line of divide, impacting immigrants' later access to continuing education.