Étude comparative des profils motivationnels d’adolescents scolarisés en lycée d’enseignement général,technologique et professionnel

The present research investigated motivational profiles of high school students following general, technological or vocational education. The French educational system is defined by an implicit hierarchy: the general education is considered as the most prestigious one, while specific education such as technological or vocational education is perceived as more appropriated for students with learning difficulties. Those representations could induce differences in academic engagements’ reasons. Nine hundred and forty-seven French students (552 following general, 222 following technological and 173 vocational education) completed the French version of the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS, Vallerand, Blais, Brière, & Pelletier, 1989). The AMS assesses various types of motivation defined by self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2002). Cluster analysis revealed three distinctive motivational profiles present in all three types of education. In the first cluster, students’ scores were moderate in autonomous and controlled motivation and low in amotivation (moderate autonomous – controlled profile). The second cluster was characterized by high levels of autonomous and controlled motivation and a low amotivation (high autonomous – controlled profile). Finally, the third cluster was defined by a low autonomous motivation, a moderate controlled motivation and high level of amotivation (controlled profile). In addition, we found an impact of secondary education's type on academic motivation. Technological education was associated with the controlled profile, whereas adolescents involved in vocational education were more numerous in the high autonomous-controlled profile. Students following the general education were over-represented in moderate autonomous-controlled profile. The results presented above might be of a great interest to career counseling professionals and professors, especially if discussed in line with self-determination theory, in terms of motivational remediation.