A Place for Humanities Graduates on the Labour Market in the so‐called Knowledge Society: The French Case1

1. This paper is based on a presentation made at an international conference on “Humanists on the Labour Market in the Knowledge Society”, 28 February 2005 at the University of Copenhagen, organized by the Danish Cultural Institute.

Abstract

The emergence of the knowledge society and the development of knowledge‐intensive employment functions do not seem to improve dramatically the situation of humanities graduates on national labour markets. This paper gives an overview of the employment situation of French humanities graduates and summarizes recent attempts to improve it. A description of how the employment for humanities graduates has developed in the course of the last decade is followed by an analysis of two complementary governmental initiatives: the development of Higher Vocational Education degrees and the professionalization of all curricula. The paper concludes with three propositions based on personal teaching experiences and a broader analysis of the French higher education system.

1. This paper is based on a presentation made at an international conference on “Humanists on the Labour Market in the Knowledge Society”, 28 February 2005 at the University of Copenhagen, organized by the Danish Cultural Institute.

Notes

1. This paper is based on a presentation made at an international conference on “Humanists on the Labour Market in the Knowledge Society”, 28 February 2005 at the University of Copenhagen, organized by the Danish Cultural Institute.

2. The surveys called “Génération 1998” and “Génération 2001” were respectively carried out in 2001 and 2004. They analyse the professional situation of students who respectively left the education system in 1998 and 2001 (CEREQ, 2001, 2004).

3. Interested readers will find detailed data on specific topics in CEREQ's publications and databases at www.cereq.fr.

4. The maîtrise degree is a former degree that was delivered four years after entering the higher education system. It was abolished with the implementation of the Bologna Process in 2002.

5. University students only make up three quarters of the total number of higher education students. This bipartition makes it difficult to integrate the French system of higher education into international comparisons.

6. General and vocational degrees have a common point: the central state plays a central role in their elaboration. The Ministry of Higher Education defines the global framework of studies (their rhythm, the structure of their contents), and university degrees; universities then fulfill this pre‐defined framework by proposing courses, assessment procedures, orientation conditions at the end of each semester. Finally, the Ministry validates these propositions with or without modifications. As a consequence, the contents of each discipline and the organization of courses may greatly differ from one university to another, even in the same geographical area (Thélot, 1998).

7. In 2001, six out of ten students leaving the higher education system without graduating came from the first of the second year of study of a general curriculum. Among them, 19 percent were studying exact sciences, 27 percent languages and literature, 24 percent other social and human sciences, 30 percent law, economics and management (Giret, Molinari‐Perrier and Moullet, 2006).

8. Three out of four professional licences were initiated through this process.

9. Source: Doctoral School of Law, Poitiers University. Overview of the CIFRE agreements.

10. The main association is the Association Bernard Gregory: http://www.abg.asso.fr