Students in France: history and sociology of a new youth.

Summary In the middle of the 20th century, students were a narrow fringe of youth and were mostly boys from the upper classes. Today, they form a large group, numerically more important than that of craftsmen and tradesmen. Being a student has become the canonical form of youth, the preferred social model for the passage to adult status, not only in the metropolises but also in medium-sized cities, not only for boys but also for girls. The latter have even become the majority among post-baccalaureate students. However, there are still major inequalities in access to higher education according to social origin, and there are significant differences between students according to the type of studies they pursue. The increase in enrolment has been accompanied by a profound change and diversification in the ways in which students are studying. This book, which brings together the expertise of historians, sociologists, economists, statisticians and political scientists, offers for the first time an overview of the transformations that have affected the student world since the early 1960s and a particularly in-depth look at the changes that have occurred since the mid-1990s. It provides chronological and demographic benchmarks . relates institutional changes, flows and paths . analyzes forms of mobilization and representation. It looks at many aspects of student life: time allocation, money, housing, food, health, cultural practices, study conditions and success.