College student pathways: education and employment queues through the lens of Sen and Bourdieu.

Summary The purpose of this thesis is to analyze inequalities in the educational pathways of young people on the one hand, and their repercussions on employment on the other. Indeed, inequalities in integration are increasing, not only between holders of different diplomas, but also between those who are comparable. In order to explain the determinants of individual choices in a context of queuing, we mobilize an original socioeconomic approach based on the concepts of Sen and Bourdieu to describe the opportunity spaces available to young people. Such an approach requires, in the first part, a critical review of the usual theories of supply. Demand-side theories offer a more complete account of the characteristics of jobs, but are limited in explaining the role of educational pathways on access to employment. The conceptualizations of Sen and Bourdieu are then combined to explain situations of social reproduction and non-reproduction. In the second part, the analyses focus primarily on the career paths of science graduates after obtaining a general degree. The weighting of career paths by economic and cultural capital makes it possible to characterize the elements that counteract or reinforce a reproduction that is nonetheless dominant. Investigations into the pathways are extended to include the dropout rate, based on the Génération 2010 data. A reading in terms of capabilities illustrates its protean nature and the influence of social background. The last part extends the perspective to the transition to the labor market. This time, the social weighting is applied to higher education exit trajectories, which do not produce the same effects on employment capabilities according to social background. Finally, the investigations into the support systems for integration suggest that they can facilitate transitions but struggle to reduce inequalities.