Pursuing higher education after a vocational high school diploma: an increasingly promising path to entering the workforce?

Poursuivre dans l’enseignement supérieur après un bac professionnel: une option de plus en plus profitable pour s’insérer ?

Arnaud Dupray () and Stéphanie Moullet ()
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Arnaud Dupray: CEREQ - Centre d'études et de recherches sur les qualifications - ministère de l'Emploi, cohésion sociale et logement - M.E.N.E.S.R. - Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche, LEST - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Sociologie du Travail - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Stéphanie Moullet: AMU - Aix Marseille Université, LEST - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Sociologie du Travail - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, AMU IRT - Institut régional du travail - AMU - Aix Marseille Université

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Abstract: We examine the value of further higher education for graduates of a vocational baccalaureate – a diploma originally designed to facilitate direct entry into the workforce – over a period of about twenty years. Using data from Céreq's 1998, 2010 and 2017 Génération surveys, we assess the relative benefits of this postgraduate pursuit compared to immediate entry into the labour market. Although these benefits tend to increase from one cohort to the next, this does not rule out the possibility that a vocational background may be a disadvantage for those pursuing tertiary education compared to those with a general or technological background. However, this hypothesis is refuted for holders of a BTS, as this qualification continues to be valuable for vocational high school graduates over time, although the advantages may vary depending on the industrial or service sector specialisation of the BTS.

Keywords: higher education; educational yield; generation survey; transition from school to work; continuation of education; vocational baccalaureate; rendement de l’éducation; enquête Génération; insertion professionnelle; enseignement supérieur; poursuite d’études; baccalauréat professionnel (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-05725590v1
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Published in Formation emploi : revue française des sciences sociales , 2026, 175, ⟨10.4000/16nfk⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-05725590

DOI: 10.4000/16nfk

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