Educational choices and occupational prestige: A gendered perspective?

Choix des études et prestige des professions: une question de genre ?

Claude Diebolt () and Magali Jaoul-Grammare ()
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Claude Diebolt: BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement
Magali Jaoul-Grammare: UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg, BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, 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

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Abstract: Educational choices are not merely the result of individual calculations; they are shaped by perceptions, aspirations, and constraints that differ according to gender. Differences in expectations, attitudes towards risk and earnings, and visions of future careers all contribute to shaping the educational trajectories of girls and boys in distinct ways. But what about the social prestige of occupations? Does its attractive power operate with the same intensity across genders? Does the phenomenon of substitution between prestigious fields of study, particularly between law and medicine, follow a gendered logic? And does the numerus clausus, by regulating access to the medical profession, also act as a revealing indicator of differences in ambition?

Keywords: School guidance & vocational guidance; Higher education; Gender; Selection; Social identity; Perception of work; Enseignement supérieur; Genre; Sélection; Identité sociale; Représentation du travail; Orientation scolaire-professionnelle (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-05725606v1
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Published in Formation emploi : revue française des sciences sociales , 2026, 175, pp.1-24. ⟨10.4000/16nfl⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-05725606

DOI: 10.4000/16nfl

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