“A little more time to prepare to enter real adult life”
Leah21 years old, physiotherapy student
“In my field, the duration of the course was increased a few years ago from three to five years. We see more or less the same program as before but more spread out, with the added bonus of more internship periods. This makes it possible to learn in a more serene way and also to prolong a little the very pleasant parenthesis of studies. This gives a little more time to prepare psychologically to enter real adult life. »
“The practical experience that the work-study program gives me compensates for the lack of high diplomas”
Amanda, 18 years old, final year student in a vocational high school
“School doesn’t appeal to me. So, I chose to prepare my professional baccalaureate in services to people and territories, a sector that lacks a lot of arms. I divide my time between high school and the field. I worked in a residence for seniors, in a school, in a leisure center…
To become an animator, which is my goal, I don’t need to extend my studies beyond the baccalaureate. And it is likely that I will stop at the end of the year. I tell myself that I can always resume training in a few years if I’m tired of this job. And then, it seems to me, for an employer, the practical experience that the work-study program brings me compensates for the absence of high diplomas. »
“Everything in society pushes us to study for a long time”
Christopher, 19 years old, in second year of English license
“Currently in the second year of an English degree, I am looking to reorient myself and join the communication sector. If I succeed and if I like this area, I will go all the way. That is to say, for me, until the master.
This diploma leads to better jobs, to a better social position than the license. My mother, who left the education system with a professional baccalaureate and who now works as a market gardener, would be disappointed if I did not go to bac + 5.
Everything in society pushes us to study for a long time. This is not a concern for me who lives with my mother and benefits from her financial support. But one or two more years of study is long and cumbersome for many of my friends, who are forced to work alongside college, and who despite this, live almost in precariousness. »
“A form of insidious selection, through wear and tear”
Anthony, father of two students aged 23 and 25, respectively in law and medicine
“I have the feeling that with the extension of studies, we prolong the pleasure in a somewhat gratuitous way. That with a year or two more, you don’t necessarily learn more. Worse: in parallel with the democratization of higher education, a form of insidious selection has been set up, through wear and tear, in particular during the first years of university, where the pace of learning is not very sustained.
This selection is also based on the ability or inability to finance long studies. I saw around me several young adults, children of friends, who for lack of financial means ended up abandoning their studies along the way. »
.
