Young adults of Maghrebi descent in France : guidance and the challenges to educational and labour market integration

Abstract

France has been a host country to immigrants from the Maghreb (Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco) for more than a century. This chapter focuses on the children of these migrants, most of whom were born in France and have French citizenship. And yet, as first or second generation citizens with a Maghrebi background, they nevertheless manifest particular patterns when it comes to school achievement and subsequent inclusion in the labour market, areas in which educational and occupational guidance play a mediating role. The chapter shows that this particular group experiences cultural and linguistic difficulties at school, as well as discrimination, resulting in socially inequitable outcomes. Educational and guidance policies and practices aimed at addressing and reducing such inequalities are described, noting, however, that such efforts have a paradoxical effect: by identifying this group as targets for specific and compensatory support, policies end up reinforcing stigmatisation processes. Students with a Maghrebi background are confronted with all sorts of difficulties throughout their years in education and training, starting from the first years of schooling onwards. Most end up unfavourably positioned when it comes to making a transition to the labour market, particularly given limited opportunities in a competitive environment. The ways guidance, as part of a broader range of strategic interventions, can be mobilised to address such a situation, are examined.