Les déterminants du décrochage dans l’enseignement secondaire : une revue de littérature

IntroductionDropping out of school is a research topic with various dimensions: non-graduation, school leaving, absenteeism, school failure and school refusal. It involves processes determined by various factors – individual, social, familial and institutional. Individual determinants have specifically been studied in the recent literature. They involve demographic and academic indicators, behaviors, attitudes and mental health of the student, as well as specific types of school refusal. The aim of our study is to update knowledge in this specific field, and highlight underlying problems and methodological issues raised in the literature.MethodDropping out of school is defined as leaving school without a qualification. It involves a process of specific disengagement, which is non-reducible to the negative counterpart of school commitment. The present article is a review of literature from PsycInfo on the individual determinants of dropping out of school. It is based on 50 articles published between 2010 and 2017, related to the following topics: school dropouts, school leavers, school refusal, and academic failure. Five exclusion criteria were used: studies with single factor analysis, literature review, sample excluding secondary education, sample of less than n = 100, non-general, non-mixed, or composed of a sociodemographic minority.ResultsSchool performance and early risk behaviors (substance use disorders, sexuality) remain the best determinants of dropping out throughout the duration of schooling. Psychopathological factors, anxiety, depression and externalized disorders can play a direct or indirect role in the prediction of dropping out. Lack of psycho-emotional support strongly supports the intention to drop out. Motivation has an unequal predictive value, depending on the type of construct or theoretical model used. Inappropriate beliefs, low self-esteem, pessimism, creativity appear as indirect determinants of dropping out. School burnout, understood as emotional, physical and mental exhaustion due to education, directly causes a break between the student and the school.DiscussionMethodological bias can modify the significance of determinants such as gender, academic achievement and retention. Greater knowledge about the relationships between determinants, the profiles of at-risk students and temporalities should help clarify students’ trajectories and the processes at work in different school contexts. Recommendations to educational staff are put forward regarding the detection of individual indicators of dropping out.     

Profils d’apprenti·e·s reflétant des tensions de rôle en formation professionnelle en alternance en Suisse

Role stress among apprentices are a key element in defining the quality of dual vocational education and training. However, few studies have examined the perceptions and importance of role tensions in this particular context. Accordingly, this contribution focuses on the role stress perceived by dual apprentices through a questionnaire survey. Latent profile analyses allowed to distinguish four apprentices’ profiles in terms of perceptions of role stress, ranging from minimal to prominent role stress. Differences in socio-demographic characteristics, motivation for choosing the training, professional identification, and intention to terminate the apprenticeship contract were also identified. The study provides information on the importance of considering apprentices as a heterogeneous population in terms of role stress, but also on the different motivational and identity issues associated with the profiles. Discussing such issues would also improve the learning experience.