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INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE
IN FRANCE

GENEVA

"••"*' "*";/-

1954
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¿'•U LABOW

STUDIES AND R E P O R T S
New Series, No. 39

P U B L I S H E D BY THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR O F F I C E
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

Published in the United Kingdom for the INTERNATIONAL
by Staples Press Limited, London

LABOUR OFFICE

PRINTED BY "IMMtlMEBIES BÊONEES S.A.", LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND

PREFACE
When the International Labour Conference adopted the
Vocational Guidance Recommendation, 1949, it also adopted a
resolution recommending the Governing Body, among other
things, to instruct the Office to assist member States by conducting
surveys and publishing manuals on vocational guidance. The
present study on vocational guidance in France has been prepared
in furtherance of the above resolution.
In view of the practical character of the requests for advice
and assistance in this field coming to the International Labour
Office from a growing number of the technically less developed
countries, it has seemed desirable to give a detailed description
of the evolution of vocational guidance in France since its inception
and to provide extensive illustrations of the procedures and
methods used. It is hoped that illustrations of this sort may
be of practical value for newly developing vocational guidance
services in other countries.
In order to prepare this study the author, Mrs. M. Thibert,
former Chief of the Women's and Young Workers' Division of the
International Labour Office, went to France in 1951 and 1952 to
obtain first-hand information from officials in the French vocational guidance and selection services. Grateful thanks are due
to the many officials who gave their assistance and especially
to those who read and offered suggestions concerning the
manuscript and who supplied recent additional matter for inclusion in the final text. Particular mention should be made of
Mr. G. Giraud, Chief Inspector of Technical Education and Chief
of the vocational guidance inspectorate of the Paris academic
region (Ministry of National Education), and his collaborators
Messrs. Abraham and Desmarets, and of Miss R. Lafouge, Deputy
Director of Employment, Manpower Division (Ministry of Labour
and Social Security), and her collaborator Miss Rivallain.

CONTENTS
Page
PREFACE

Ill

INTRODUCTION

PART I
ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION OF VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE
CHAPTER I. Guidance Services for Young Persons
Legislation
Structure of the Services
Finances
Staff
Operation of the Services

7
7
11
17
20
27

CHAPTER I I . Guidance Services for Adults
Legislation
Structure of the Services
Finances
Staff
Operation of the Services

38
39
39
40
41
44

CHAPTER I I I . Auxiliary Services
The University Educational and Occupational Statistics and
Documentation Office
The School Psychology Services
The Observation Centres of the Reformatory Education Department
Guidance Services for Disabled Young Persons
The National Labour Research and Vocational Guidance Institute
The Vocational Psychology Study and Research Centre . . .
The Vocational Supervisors' Training Institute
The National Centre for Scientific Research
The Laboratory for Applied Psychology and the Laboratory for
Child Psychology
Selection and Guidance Services Attached to State Technical
Undertakings
Guidance or Selection Centres Administered by Occupational
Associations
Special Services for North Africans
Special Services for the Guidance and Placement of Immigrants
and Refugees

57
58
60
62
65
67
68
69
69
70
70
71
72
73

CONTENTS

PART I I
METHODS OF VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE
Page

CHAPTEB TV. Occupational and Employment Information
Knowledge of Trades and Professions
Vocational Training Facilities
The Employment Situation and Prospects
CHAPTEB V. Personal Guidance
Collection of Information Prior to Interview
Interviews
Conclusions Drawn from Personal Examination

77
77
82
84
89
89
113
117

CHAPTER VI. Collective Guidance

122

CHAPTEB VII.

126

Follow-up

CONCLUSIONS

130

FIGURES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Confidential School Report
93-95
Information Form to be Filled in by School Attenders. . . .
96
Questionnaire to be Filled in by the Child at School . . . .
98
Medical Report
101-104
Investigation into Family Circumstances and Social Situation 106-108
Example of a Psychological Profile
119
Follow-up Card
120

INTRODUCTION
It is only over a long period of development, during which
many different influences have been at work, that France has
come to recognise the value of vocational guidance and that
official services have finally been organised to help solve the problems of those faced with the choice of an occupation.
The origins of the movement probably date back more than
150 years to the Revolution of 1789 which, by abolishing the
guilds and sweeping away the privilege of hereditary positions,
has made it possible for the population as a whole to become
occupation-minded and to believe in the principle that every citizen
has a right to make full use of his individual abilities so far as
existing possibilities allow.
Nevertheless, many circumstances have combined in recent
years to bring this movement to maturity, to reveal the full significance of the complicated factors influencing the choice and
subsequent successful practice of a trade, and to create a more
favourable setting for the development of methods to assist individual applicants in making their choice with the best prospects
of success.
An account of the historical background may be found in two
studies recently published under the sponsorship of the Ministry
of National Education, the first by the Secretariat of State for
Technical Education, Youth and Sports 1 , and the second by the
Conservatoire national des arts et métiers.2 A brief reference to
some of the salient historical facts is nevertheless necessary for an
understanding of the subsequent account of the vocational guidance
services and their methods.
A number of circumstances have drawn attention to the desirability of fitting individual aptitudes to job requirements.
First, there has been the industrialisation of the country, which
has made it necessary to train skilled men in the use of different
1
" L'orientation professionnelle en France ", in Documentation
française.
Notes et études documentaires, Série française CCLXXIX, No. 1378, 12 Sep. 1950.
2
BINOP
(Bulletin de l'Institut national d'étude du travail et d'orientation
professionnelle), special number for the 25th anniversary of the National Labour
Research and Vocational Guidance Institute, Sep. 1953.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N FRANCE

and improved equipment, to maintain competitive standards by
increasing productivity and to prevent industrial accidents by
ensuring from the outset that the workers are fully fitted for
their jobs. Next, there have been the wars with their enormous
calls for reserves of men and women to serve in the armed forces and
work in armament production, all of whom have had to be allotted
to their tasks in such a way as to ensure quick and satisfactory
returns. And lastly, there have been the disabled workers and
ex-servicemen, the product of industrial accidents and wars, all
needing individual rehabilitation adapted to their residual capacities.
Other circumstances have been instrumental in improving
vocational guidance methods. There has, for example, been the
progress in psychology which, even if purely speculative, has
offered a better insight into individual human personalities than
was possible with the old concept of a personality common to all
human beings. More particularly, great headway has been made
in experimental psychology and the measurement of psychological
phenomena ; technical developments have made it possible to
undertake psychological research into the adaptability of workers
to their jobs, and especially to jobs involving a considerable degree
of danger (e.g., on the railways or in the air).
These circumstances have clearly shown the need not only to
provide assistance for every adolescent starting out in life or
preparing to embark on a career but also, in many cases, to guide
adult workers into other walks of life. At the same time they have
often combined to produce appropriate vocational guidance and
selection methods. The experiments of the first French psychophysiologists, such as Lahy, Piéron and Laugier, which established
a sound basis for the selection of adult workers for transport services and various other civilian occupations, as well as similar
experiments in the selection of air force pilots, contributed to the
general progress of vocational psychology and were as valuable
in improving juvenile guidance methods as they were in facilitating the selection of adults. Vocational guidance profited by
them in much the same way as it benefited from the progress
made in child psychology (particularly as a result of the investigations of Binet and Simon into the level of intelligence of children
of different ages).1
1
As regards the work of Lahy, Piéron, Laugier, Binet and Simon, as well
as other French pioneers in the field, see in particular BINOP, special number,
Sep. 1953.

INTRODUCTION

Vocational guidance and selection methods still continue to
develop, both independently and jointly, in the services responsible for assisting adults and young persons to find a suitable
occupation, and the two main agencies responsible for such work
are faced with both vocational guidance and selection problems,
though to differing extents, depending on the cases they are called
upon to study.
To draw a dividing line between juvenile and adult guidance
or between vocational guidance and selection in order to limit the
present study to a single aspect of the problem would consequently
be arbitrary and unwarranted. What will be done is to present
the French experiment in its entirety, as it is now, with such
references to the past as are necessary to an understanding of the
present. This general approach, moreover, is in keepmg with the
spirit of the Vocational Guidance Recommendation, 1949, for it
advises member States of the I.L.O. to provide vocational guidance
facilities not only for young persons but also for " all other persons
who require counselling on employment and related vocational
problems ".
* * *

Although, in the chapters devoted to juvenile guidance, liberal
use has been made of the material contained in the two general
studies recently published under the sponsorship of the French
Ministry of National Education 1 , these two studies are warmly
recommended to anyone wishing to acquire a more extensive
knowledge of the theory and practice of the French juvenile vocational guidance services. One of them also provides material for
further study in its bibliography of the main works on the subject
published in France.2
The reader is also recommended to consult an article already
published by the International Labour Office and written by no
less an authority than the General Secretary of the National
Labour Research and Vocational Guidance Institute. This article,
which discusses vocational guidance in France, gives a necessarily
brief but very clear survey of the organisation and running of
juvenile vocational guidance services.3

See above, p . 1.
" L'orientation professionnelle en France ", op. cit.
3
C. BÉNASSY-CHAUFFABD : " Vocational Guidance in France ", in International
Labour Review (Geneva, I.L.O.), Vol. L X , No. 4, Oct. 1949, pp. 391-408.
a

PART I
ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION
OF VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE
In France the main responsibility for organising vocational
guidance facilities and for actual counselling work is shared
between the Ministry of National Education (Secretariat of State
for Technical Education, Youth and Sports 1 ), and the Ministry of
Labour and Social Security (Directorate of Manpower).
As in vocational training, with which vocational guidance has
much in common, the line of demarcation separating the responsibilities of these two Ministries is determined by the age and
educational status of the applicants. In principle, the guidance
services run by the Secretariat of State for Technical Education,
and those the Secretariat subsidises and controls, handle the cases
of young persons under 18 years of age who are still at school or
have just left and have not started work. The Ministry of Labour
is responsible, either directly or through its agencies, for the
guidance of adults who, for various reasons (such as a lack of initial
technical instruction, unemployment, disability and so on) wish
or need to enter another walk of life.
This line of demarcation, however, is more or less precisely
drawn only in vocational guidance work in the strict meaning of
the term, i.e., in the counselling of applicants. For practical
purposes, it does not apply to all the reference and research work
done to provide counselling officers with the extremely varied
items of information they need for their work. The results of this
research are of interest to juvenile and adult guidance services
alike, and it is consequently done by offices attached to either of
these services, and sometimes even to both. In some cases it is
also undertaken by independent agencies. Research work is, in
fact, a joint undertaking calling for constant co-operation among
1

Hereafter referred to as the Secretariat for Technical Education.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

all the services concerned with vocational guidance, and the
administrative duties it involves are not by any means the exclusive province of one department.
Nor is vocational guidance work itself entirely confined to the
official services mentioned above. Private institutions under their
control, and more or less responsible to them depending on the
subsidies they receive, also do an appreciable amount of guidance ;
b u t the number of such institutions is decreasing since many
that did pioneer work in earMer years have now been taken over
by the official services.
Other ministerial services have also taken an interest in the
vocational guidance of special cases such as the mentally deficient,
delinquents and so forth.
A comprehensive survey of the work of all these services would
be impossible in a study such as the present. However, after the
structure and operation of the regular vocational guidance services
have been analysed, an attempt will be made to give at least some
idea of the part played by special institutions and, more particularly, to show how all the various official, semi-official and private
bodies concerned with vocational guidance work together.

CHAPTER I
GUIDANCE SERVICES FOR YOUNG PERSONS
LEGISLATION

The official vocational guidance service for young persons is
run b y the Secretariat for Technical Education, which is part of
the Ministry of National Education. The regulations governing
this service appear in a series of legal texts issued on various occasions between 1922 and 1952 ; they form a body of legislation
which is still imperfectly co-ordinated and consequently contains
a number of disparities.
Proof t h a t further evolution is still possible is afforded b y the
fact t h a t the French Parliament at its last legislature was
presented with two Bills, both aimed at bringing some uniformity
into the legal system. Neither, however, was discussed. I n 1951,
as a temporary solution to the most serious practical difficulties
encountered in the operation of the system, a number of clauses
were included in the Act to fix the budget of the Ministry of
National Education. 1 These clauses seem to be the first step
towards a radical transformation of the guidance service, for they
assign the State a greater degree of responsibility in its finances
and in the supervision of its staff.
Briefly, the historical background is as follows.
A decree issued on 26 September 1922 defines vocational
guidance as " all the activities . . . which precede the placing of
young persons of both sexes in employment in commerce and
industry, and which aim at discovering their physical, intellectual
and moral capacities". The decree entrusted the responsibility
for such guidance to the Secretariat for Technical Education. I t
further provided—
(a) t h a t vocational guidance offices might be set up with
the financial help of the Secretariat for Technical Education "for
the purpose of assisting public employment exchanges in their
1

See below, p . 10.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N FRANCE

work and facilitating the placement of adolescents in employment
in a rational manner" ;
(b) that any offices established by public employment exchanges or occupational associations might be subsidised by
the Secretariat for Technical Education, on the recommendation
of a special board set up as part of the Secretariat ; and
(c) that all public vocational guidance offices and all private vocational guidance offices subsidised by the State should be
supervised by the Technical Education Inspectorate.
This idea of attaching vocational guidance offices to the employment exchanges was based on a few pioneer experiments ; it was
not, however, followed up to any great extent after the decree was
published and it is only recently, after an interval of 30 years,
that it has taken shape in any official schemes. The decree was
nevertheless the starting point of the Secretariat's efforts to
co-ordinate the work of the various vocational guidance offices
and to encourage individual enterprise by the award of subsidies.
In 1924 the appointment of a vocational guidance inspector
marked the beginning of a general inspection service within the
Secretariat. At the same time guidance offices were given the
backing of the State, and an order of 18 December 1928 laid down
the membership of a vocational guidance committee responsible
for assisting the Secretariat in allotting subsidies. This advisory
committee was subsequently reorganised by an order issued on
7 March 1945.1
Also in 1928 a number of persons interested in vocational
psychology founded a vocational guidance institute to investigate
the subject and train counselling officers. A decree of 25 June
1930 made it into an official institution subordinate to the Secretariat for Technical Education. Later, an order of 14 February
1941 changed its name to the " National Labour Research and
Vocational Guidance Institute " and incorporated it in the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers.
Vocational guidance tests were first made compulsory by an
Act of 10 March 1937 respecting the organisation of apprenticeship
in handicraft undertakings.2 These tests had to be passed by
young persons wishing to enter handicraft undertakings as apprentices in any of the trades covered by the Act. For the purpose
1
Journal officiel de la République
12 May 1945, p . 2697.
2
Ibid., 12 Mar. 1937, p . 2904.

française (hereafter referred to as

J.O.),

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOR YOUNG PERSONS

of these tests the Act provided for a vocational guidance service
to be set up by the chamber of trades concerned x, and a decree
of 28 February 1938 2 indicated in detail how such services were
to be organised and run. This second alternative (of guidance
services attached to the chambers of trades) nevertheless yielded
few practical results, probably because shortly after the Act
was issued a legislative decree of 24 May 1938 3 tackled the whole
problem of organising vocational guidance facilities quite differently, its object being to introduce a more general system.
The remarkable feature of this legislative decree, which introduced the system still followed in the organisation of juvenile guidance services, was that, as one of a series of decrees issued in
application of the Financial Recovery Act of 13 April 1938, it
closely associated vocational guidance with the economic recovery
of the nation. I t borrowed directly from the findings of a committee
of inquiry into national production, which had just drawn attention
to the crippling effect of the shortage of skilled workers and the
continuing crisis in apprentice training. At the same time as it
encouraged vocational training and even made it compulsory
for all young persons, the decree required every young person
under 17 years of age intending to enter industrial or commercial
employment to undergo a guidance test, the idea being, as was
explicitly stated in the preamble to the decree, that " vocational
training is all the more effective when given to young persons
whose aptitudes and tastes are suited to their occupation ; hence,
no training without preliminary guidance ". This implied t h a t
vocational guidance facilities had to be easily accessible, and the
decree accordingly instituted a nation-wide system of vocational
guidance centres, supplemented by administrative services to coordinate and supervise their work.
Like its predecessors, the entire system was entrusted to the
Secretariat for Technical Education. The State did not, however,
assume full financial or administrative responsibility ; part—
and a large part, as far as the administration of the operational
centres was concerned—devolved upon the local authorities,
in this case, those of the départements.

1
These chambers of trades, which were instituted by an Act of 26 July 1925
(J.O., 30 July 1925, p . 7190), represent the occupational and economic interests
of craftsmen, master craftsmen and journeymen with the local public authorities.
One of their duties is to assist in organising the training of handicraft apprentices.
2
J.O., 6 Mar. 1938, p . 2606.
3
Ibid., 25 May 1938, p . 5904.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N FRANCE

The organisation and running of the rather intricate machinery
—intricate, because of the implicit subdivision of responsibility—
are governed by a number of decrees and ministerial orders, supplemented by numerous circulars. The most important include—
(a) a decree of 21 February 1939 1 respecting the recruitment
of vocational guidance secretaries, and an order of 21 March 1939 2
on the same subject ;
(b) a decree of 24 February 1940 3 respecting the coverage
of the expenses incurred by departmental vocational guidance
secretariats and vocational guidance centres ;
(c) a decree of 6 April 1939 4 respecting the staff of compulsory
vocational guidance centres ;
(d) a decree of 18 February 1939 5, as amended by a decree
of 5 July 1939 6 respecting the conditions governing the opening
and running of voluntary vocational guidance centres ;
(e) a decree of 2 September 1939 7 to determine the membership
and duties of the Administrative Vocational Guidance Committee
and the operation of the vocational guidance secretariats ;
(f) a decree of 27 January 1944 8 to institute a state vocational
guidance diploma ;
(g) an interministerial order of 18 August 1947 respecting
standard rules of employment in compulsory vocational guidance
centres. 9
I n conclusion, under a Budget Act (No. 51-630) of 24 May
1951 1 0 the State has assumed a greater financial responsibility
than before for the upkeep of the official vocational guidance
services (now known as regional vocational guidance inspectorates
and public vocational guidance centres), which will result in
greater uniformity in the organisation of the services throughout
the country. Several regulations have already been issued under
the Act, and will be quoted later, where appropriate.
1
2
3
4
6
6
7
8
9
10

J.O., 3 Mar. 1939, p. 2904.
Ibid., 22 Mar. 1939, p . 3730.
Ibid., 3 Mar. 1940, p . 1568.
Ibid., 14 Apr. 1939, p . 4809.
Ibid., p . 4808.
Ibid., 13 J u l y 1939, p . 8923.
Ibid., 8 Sep. 1939, p . 11212.
Ibid., 1 F e b . 1944, p . 347.
Bulletin officiel de l'Education nationale,
J.O., 27 May 1951, p . 5553.

18 Dec. 1947, p . 1262.

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOR YOUNG PERSONS

STRUCTURE OF THE SERVICES

The vocational guidance service functions at three levels—
national, regional and local.
National

Organisation

The Directorate of Technical Education, which is part of the
Secretariat of State for Technical Education, Youth and Sports,
has a department responsible for the general administration of
vocational guidance. I t is through this administrative department
that contact is maintained between the central authority (including
the Inspector-General of Vocational Guidance) and the regional
and local authorities. As will be seen later, the main work of this
department is to receive and handle applications for the grant
of subsidies.
The Directorate of Technical Education also has an AdvisoryCommittee on Vocational Guidance. The order of 7 March 1945 1
which reorganised this committee laid down that, apart from the
technical education authorities (the director, assistant-director
for apprenticeship, etc.), the membership of the committee was
to include representatives from the Ministries of Labour, National
Economy, Industrial Production and Public Health, as well as
the Director of the National Labour Research and Vocational
Guidance Institute.
Regional

Organisation

At the regional level there are co-ordinating and supervisory
services, referred to as " vocational guidance secretariats " in the
1938 legislative decree, but renamed " inspectorates " by the
Act of 24 May 1951. 2
The original intention was to set up one of these secretariats
in each département, though the possibiuty was not excluded
that one secretariat should cover a number of départements. The
latter alternative has become the general rule ; the départements
have been grouped in such a way as to correspond to the academic
regions (académies), so that there are in fact as many regional
vocational guidance inspectorates as there are academic regions,
i.e., 17 in France (including one in Algeria). Similar services
1
a

See above, p. 8.
See above, pp. 9 and 10.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

have been set up in Morocco and Tunisia, but here they have been
made responsible to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The number of staff employed by an inspectorate is obviously
dependent on the locality. As a general rule there is a vocational
guidance expert (originally called a secretary, b u t later given
the title of inspector), who is in charge of the inspectorate. He
has an assistant, who may also be a counselling officer, and one
or two typists or clerks. I n the Paris academic region the inspectorate has to co-ordinate and supervise the work of a considerable
number of vocational guidance centres and it is headed b y an
officer with the rank of chief inspector of technical education.
He is assisted by three ordinary inspectors and an administrative
staff.
Under the 1938 legislative decree each of the vocational
guidance secretariats (or, since 1951, inspectorates) is subject
to the prefect of the département in which it is located and is
also answerable to the school inspector for its academic region.
The head of a vocational guidance inspectorate, however, is appointed directly by the minister responsible for technical education,
and his work consists in co-ordinating and supervising the activities
of the vocational guidance centres in the region and in maintaining
contacts, with the help of the technical education inspection services,
among the different centres and the schools and employment
offices.
I n agreement with the regional school inspector, the vocational
guidance inspector issues instructions to each of the centres under
his control indicating the local primary schools for which they
are to be responsible and in which they are to organise the statutory
examinations. Another of the inspector's duties is to collect information on vocational training centres and general educational
establishments and to assemble material on different trades and
occupations, for communication to the centres. H e is also required
to supply the centres with specimen cards for use in vocational
guidance tests and counselling work.
The authority of these regional agencies has steadily increased
—as Parliament was informed when reference to the vocational
guidance services was made in Act No. 51-630 of 24 May 1951. When
the vocational guidance secretariats were given the title of " inspectorates ", it was really no more t h a n an official recognition of
a change t h a t had already come about gradually. I n 1938 the
secretariats were first and foremost administrative bodies ; the
supervisory work entrusted to them was limited in scope, and

GUIDANCE SEBVICES FOE YOUNG PERSONS

was shared with the General Inspectorate of Technical Education *
and the inspectors for the academic regions who, under decrees
of 18 February and 2 September 1939 2 regarding the voluntary
and compulsory centres, were empowered " to supervise vocational
guidance work in the département " and " t o be present at all
vocational guidance tests organised by public or private compulsory
or voluntary centres ". The inspectors were nevertheless authorised by law to delegate their supervisory duties and, in practice,
entrusted them so regularly to the vocational guidance secretaries
that the latter became de jacto inspectors as well as administrators,
as was subsequently recognised in Act No. 51-630 of 24 May 1951
which gave them their new title.
The 1938 legislative decree laid down that the regional vocational guidance secretariats (inspectorates) were to be assisted
by an administrative committee. In addition to the inspector
for the academic region, each committee was to be composed of
permanent members representing various local administrative
authorities (the inspectorate of technical education, the inspectorate
of labour, the manpower offices, public health services, technical
agricultural instruction services, and public and private primary
education), and elected members representing the local corporations and authorities (the departmental council, the municipal
councils, the chamber of agriculture, the agricultural apprenticeship
committee, the departmental primary education council, the
medical association, the departmental technical education committee, and representatives of employers, wage earners and craftsmen). As the secretariats (inspectorates) have been organised
to correspond to academic regions, however, the use of these
committees has proved to be virtually impossible, since the number
of members in each committee increases with the number of départements covered by the academic region, and is sometimes as high
as 150.
Local Organisation
It is at the local level that the real vocational guidance work,
such as testing and counselling young persons, is done. The
services responsible are the vocational guidance centres, of which
there are two kinds—those now known as " public " (since the
1
Decree of 18 Feb. 1939, section 13 and decree of 6 Apr. 1939, section 16. See
above, p . 10.
2
See above, p . 10.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

term " compulsory " was dropped by the Act of 1951) and those
normally known as " voluntary ".
Public (Compulsory)

Centres.

The legislative decree of 24 May 1938 and the ministerial
decrees of 6 April 1939 and 24 February 1940 x provided t h a t a
public (compulsory) centre was to be set u p in the chief or largest
town of each département. The centres were to be estabhshed
b y ministerial order, after discussion of the matter in the local
council concerned. However, no definite legal obligation to set
up centres of this type was ever imposed on the public authorities,
with the result t h a t most of them have been estabhshed only
after laborious negotiation, in which the vocational guidance
inspectorates have played a major part.
The basic network of departmental public centres is now
more or less complete. 2
The main centre, which is often located in the capital of the
département, frequently has subsidiary centres covering other
towns in the same area. Each centre has its history, which would
make instructive reading if space were available to tell it. Initially,
many of the public centres were organised by the municipalities, by
occupational associations (such as the chambers of commerce and
of trades), b y social groups (such as the Young Catholic Workers'
Movement) or even by private individuals (members of the teaching profession, for the most part). A decree of 1943 expressly
states t h a t municipal or other voluntary centres can acquire the
status of public centres by ministerial decree. The nature, and
sometimes even the administrative structure, of all these institutions still bear the traces of their historical development. I n
the département de l'Ain, for example, the departmental centre
was originally set up by the Chamber of Commerce, which still
houses it and is in practice responsible for its administration.
The size of the departmental centres varies considerably,
depending on their location. I n the département de la Seine
the centre is divided into 13 sections in Paris itself and some
20 sections and branch offices in other places ; it had a total
staff of 82 counselling officers in April 1950.3 I n the Lyons aca1

See above, p p . 9 and 10.
For a list of these centres see " L'orientation professionnelle en France ",
op. cit., p p . 23-27.
s
" L'orientation professionnelle en France ", op. cit., p p . 20 and 26-27.
1

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOB YOUNG PERSONS

demie region, which covers four départements, the four public
(compulsory) centres had a total of 21 full-time and five parttime directors and counselling officers at the beginning of 1951 ;
for example, in one of these départements (Rhône) the departmental centre formed a single unit, with a technical staff of a
director and six counsellors.
The standard complement for the staff of a public vocational
guidance centre, as fixed in current legislation and the model
regulations mentioned earlier, is one director, one or more counselling officers, one welfare worker, one administrative secretary,
one or more medical practitioners and one or more typists. A
centre may fall into one of six different categories, depending
on the number of vocational guidance officers it employs. Thus
centres in the first category have only one counsellor working
on his own, while centres in the other categories have a director
and from one to more than 18 counsellors.1
In December 1952 a total of 702 persons were employed in
the vocational guidance inspectorates and public vocational
guidance centres. This total was made up of 117 directorcounsellors, 304 counsellors, 18 welfare workers, 84 correspondence clerks, 46 office assistants and 133 typists and shorthand
typists.
Lack of funds has prevented most of the centres from having
their own welfare workers but, by arrangement with the social
services of other ministries, many have obtained the assistance
of welfare officers in investigating their most important cases.
Various arrangements have been made, many of them with school
welfare services, some with the public health authorities, and
others with the social security scheme, municipalities and so on.
No centre would appear to pay for the services of a full-time
medical practitioner, except the departmental centre for the
Seine, which has its own medical officer. Medical examinations
are carried out by visiting practitioners on a fee basis.
The public vocational guidance centres are each governed by
a board, which supervises their activities and, where necessary,
suggests improvements to the prefect. One of its main duties
is to pass an opinion on the budget estimates prepared by the
director of the centre. The model draft regulations suggested
by the Directorate of Technical Education, which are nowadays
generally adopted by the centres, also empower the board to
1

Order of 5 Jan. 1951. J.O., 21 Jan. 1951.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N FRANCE

consider any other matters of a technical or administrative nature
submitted to them by the centre or the prefect. Under the model
regulations the boards have an extremely comprehensive membership. The permanent members include the following officers or
their deputies : the prefect, the president of the departmental
council, the school inspector for the academic region, the presidents of the chambers of commerce, trades and agriculture, the
mayors of the communes concerned, the director of the departmental labour and manpower service, the general secretary of the
labour exchange, the vocational guidance inspector, and the director of the centre. The appointed members include representatives
of employers' and workers' organisations, the medical profession,
primary teaching staff and family and social groups. In addition,
the board may co-opt as many as five persons whose studies or
occupations have given them an expert knowledge of vocational
guidance.
The model regulations suggest (and the suggestion is usually
adopted) that the board should appoint one or more of its members
to be permanently at the disposal of the director of the centre
to assist him in the dispatch of urgent business. This facilitates
the working of this cumbersome administrative machinery.
The director of a centre is responsible for its technical and
administrative work. The latter he shares with his counselling
officers. He submits all necessary documents and information
on his management to the supervisory authorities and prepares
an annual report on the operation of the centre for the vocational
guidance inspectorate. He draws up a draft budget for the centre
and submits it to the board for approval.
As regards the technical work, the director is responsible for
deciding on the centre's testing methods, for making the necessary
arrangements for the schoolchildren in his area to undergo their
tests and for taking steps to check the results of the centre's
counselling. He reports to the authorities on the work of his assistants and ensures that any trainee-counsellors allotted to him
are given the requisite practical instruction.
The director is also responsible for maintaining the centre's
contacts with the vocational guidance inspector, the inspector for
the academic region (so that tests can be arranged in schools),
headmasters (through the primary education inspectors), employers'
associations and workers' unions, and the employment offices.
He is also required to organise public lectures on vocational
guidance and to attend meetings where the work of the vocational

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOB YOUNG PERSONS

guidance services can be brought to the notice of the general public
and any organisations t h a t are likely to be interested.
Voluntary

Centres.

Voluntary centres are organised either by the communes
or by occupational unions or associations. Where they are subsidised by the State, they are incorporated into the departmental
system, and the regional vocational guidance inspectorate assigns
them a certain number of local primary schools, whose pupils
can thus be given the compulsory guidance test.
Other voluntary centres not in receipt of subsidies have a particular objective and serve an entirely separate public. For example,
the vocational guidance centres organised by the French National
Railways are open to the children of persons in the employment
of the company, irrespective of the schools they attend. In the
Paris area the Family Allowance Fund has also opened a guidance
centre for the children of its members.
The work of the subsidised centres is subject to inspection,
both from a technical standpoint and as regards the employment
of their funds. All the voluntary centres are subject to technical
supervision, since children hable to a compulsory guidance test are
free to consult the centre of their choice, and the inspection authorities must consequently ensure t h a t the counselling officers
employed are qualified and the methods used satisfactory. Regulations governing the opening, running and supervision of voluntary
centres were issued in a decree of 18 February 1939, as amended
by a decree of 5 J u l y 1939. 1
FINANCES

The system of financing vocational guidance has so far been
a major obstacle to the operation of the services not only because
the available funds are relatively small in view of the work to be
done but also, and more particularly, because of the constant
uncertainty surrounding the budget on which all the different
institutions depend.
The fact is that not all the expenses of the vocational guidance
system figure in the national budget. Until Act No. 51-630 of
24 May 1 9 5 1 1 was passed only an extremely small part (the cost
of the central services and the salaries of the regional secretaries)
1

See above, p. 10.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

was covered by the State and a sum which varied every year
was earmarked to subsidise the centres.
The idea behind the legislative decree of 24 May 1938 x and the
various decrees subsequently issued to apply it was t h a t each
département should assume full responsibility for the upkeep
of the official vocational guidance services within its boundaries,
though any département could, if necessary, endeavour to lighten
its burden by collecting voluntary contributions from a number
of different sources. On the other hand no specific obligation
was imposed on the départements. A decree of 24 February 1940 2
regarding the financing of vocational guidance services lays down
t h a t a departmental vocational guidance fund may be set up
" after discussion in the departmental council " (thus leaving
its establishment entirely optional) and t h a t its income and expenditure are to be entered in the departmental budget. The capital
of this fund, according to the decree, is to be derived from a departmental grant, supplemented by subsidies, if any, from the State,
the communes and different public institutions, subscriptions
from occupational associations, and individual contributions.
Despite their general moral responsibility, the départements
have consequently never provided more t h a n a fraction, varying
from one département to another, of the total funds available to
the vocational guidance services. Before the changes made in
1951 state subsidies represented about 40 per cent, of the total
funds available t o the compulsory centres, the corresponding
figure for the subsidised voluntary centres being 20 per cent.
One fluctuating but relatively substantial source of income
to the vocational guidance centres is the apprenticeship tax. Undertakings liable t o this t a x have been not only empowered but even
recommended to pay u p t o 10 per cent, of the amount directly
to the vocational guidance service in their area. I n 1950 the receipts
derived from this tax by the departmental centre of one industrial
area (Rhône) represented 33 per cent, of the centre's total income.
Every year, to meet their services' commitments, the vocational
guidance inspectorates and public vocational guidance centres
were consequently obliged—and still are to some extent—to
secure the income they needed to balance their budget by appealing to a large number of public bodies, occupational associations
and even private undertakings. These appeals were not made
1
2

See above, p . 9.
See above, p . 10.

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOB, YOUNG PERSONS

any easier by the fact that they had to be renewed each year,
as the centres were precluded from building up reserves that
they could carry over from year to year, since any centre holding
such reserves was automatically ineligible for the state subsidy
so vital to its operation.1
Up to 1951 a great deal of time and energy was consequently
spent in making the necessary arrangements preparatory to
drawing up the budget. In addition, to obtain more money some
centres that found it impossible to acquit themselves fully of
their essential duty of organising compulsory guidance tests were
obliged to undertake secondary duties such as the selection of
apprentices in large undertakings, in exchange for which they
were paid a subscription or a fee. Despite strenuous efforts on
the part of the directors the funds of many of the centres remained
notoriously inadequate and, in the worst cases, the impossibility
of balancing their budgets compelled some of the departmental
centres and their local offices to close, to the detriment of the population they served. The state of the vocational guidance budget
varied a great deal from one département and academic region
to another.
It was the realisation of these shortcomings that brought
about the partial reform of 1951 ; under the arrangements then
made, all expenses of the regional vocational guidance inspectorates
were in future to be covered by the State, which would also assume
responsibility for paying the staff of the public centres (formerly
known as compulsory centres).2
As a result the regional inspectorates are now free of all budgetary worries and can devote more of their attention to their administrative and technical responsibilities. On the other hand, the
same is not yet entirely true of the public centres, although the
1
Applications for subsidies, with full details of the various items of income
and expenditure appearing in the budget of each centre, are centralised for the
whole of an academic region b y t h e regional vocational guidance inspectorate
and submitted for consideration to the prefect in his capacity as chairman of the
departmental technical education board. They are subsequently forwarded b y
the regional vocational guidance inspectorate to the Directorate of Technical
Education, with a report b y the inspectorate attached (Circular No. 1804/7 of
11 Apr. 1951, in Bulletin officiel de l'Education nationale, 26 Apr. 1951, p . 1179).
2
An indication of how this new principle was to be applied was given in a
circular issued in 1952 stating t h a t from 1 January 1953 the salaries of all vocational
guidance staff were to be charged to the technical education budget and paid
out by the rectors of the academic regions in the case of office staff employed b y
the vocational guidance inspectorates and by the inspectors of t h e academic
regions in the case of staff working for the public vocational guidance centres
under their responsibility.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N FRANCE

changes have meant an improvement in their position and their
staff now have some assurance of stability.
A sum of 250 million francs was allocated by Act No. 51-630 of
24 May 1951 to cover the salaries of vocational guidance staff and
subsidies to the vocational guidance service in 1951. In 1952 the
corresponding amount was 600 million francs. Any comparison
of the 1953 vocational guidance budget estimates with those for
previous years is complicated by the radical change made to the
form in which the estimates have been submitted ; they have been
more closely integrated in the general technical education budget
than hitherto, but it is still obvious that the state contribution
to the vocational guidance system, though it now covers all expenses
relating to the staff, is not intended to provide for the complete
upkeep of existing centres, much less for the establishment and
equipment of new ones. The départements, communes and occupational associations still have an essential part to play. For
example, a circular issued in January 1953 stipulated that the
State is not responsible for reimbursing travelling expenses incurred
by the staff of public vocational guidance centres in visiting schools
for the purpose of organising tests, such expenses still being
chargeable to, the budgets of the départements concerned.

STAFF

Qualifications Required
The regulations governing vocational guidance require technical
staff to have similar general qualifications to those demanded of
candidates for other administrative posts (as regards nationality,
age, character, health, etc.). In addition, they must be technically
proficient, the qualifications required of them in this respect
being laid down in a large number of occasionally conflicting
texts. Broadly, these qualifications can be summarised as follows :
(1) Vocational guidance inspectors (formerly known as secretaries)1 and the directors and counselling officers of public 2 and
voluntary 3 centres are required to Iiave the State Vocational
Guidance Diploma. In the initial stages of the organisation of
these services, however, when qualified officials were difficult to
1
2
3

Decree of 21 Feb. 1939 and order of 21 Mar. 1939. See above, p . 10.
Decree of 6 Apr. 1939 and order of 18 Aug. 1947. See above, p . 10.
Decree of 18 Feb. 1939. See above, p . 10.

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOB YOUNG PERSONS

find, other equivalent qualifications were accepted, b u t their
only interest now is probably historical. As an instance, some
vocational guidance posts were open to medical practitioners and
officials of various government departments (teachers and manpower officers, for the most part) holding the certificates issued to
persons completing the supplementary course run by the National
Labour Research and Vocational Guidance Institute. One exception, still recognised b y the voluntary centres, allowed persons to
engage in vocational guidance work provided they held a foreign
diploma recognised by the Minister of National Education.
(2) I n addition to their diplomas, vocational guidance inspectors have to hold a certificate of proficiency obtained by passing
an examination after three months' practical experience in a specially designated centre (unless they can prove t h a t they have had
equivalent experience).
(3) No official may be appointed director of a centre unless he
has worked as a vocational guidance counsellor for at least three
years. 1
(4) No evidence of special training is required of medical
practitioners attached to vocational guidance centres, but the
model regulations drafted for the centres by the Directorate of
Technical Education state t h a t in the selection of medical practitioners preference should be given to those Usted as holding vocational guidance diplomas. 2
Status of the Staff
The status of vocational guidance workers has been as uncertain
as t h e financial stability of the services themselves, and this precisely because the finances of the system have been so precarious.
I t is noteworthy t h a t the legislative decree of 24 May 1938, after
providing for the institution of compulsory departmental centres
and the establishment of voluntary centres on the initiative of
municipalities or occupational associations, states that this provision should not result in the " creation of any public post ".
As a general rule, therefore, the officials employed by the
vocational guidance services have so far not had the status of civil
servants and have been working under contract. Thus they have
no superannuation scheme though they are covered by social
i Order of 18 Aug. 1947. See above, p . 10.
2
For details, see below, p . 26.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

insurance. The regional vocational guidance inspectors are
government servants appointed by the Minister of National Education and drawing their salaries from the Ministry. Originally,
they occupied the same position in the salary scale as secretaries
to the inspectorates of academic regions ; now, however, a special
salary step has been created for them in the scale.
Until 1951 the directors and counselling officers of the compulsory centres (now known as public centres) were employed
under contract by the responsible authorities (the départements
or municipalities, as the case may be) and were appointed by the
prefect or the mayor. The differences in the conditions offered
them in different centres were so striking that an order was issued
on 18 August 1947 suggesting model conditions of employment
for the staff of compulsory centres with a view to standardising
recruitment, remuneration, holidays and other conditions of
employment, and so affording the staff greater security of tenure.
The conditions outlined in the order were simply suggested to the
départements running guidance services and were not compulsory.
Their standardising influence was consequently limited. The
security enjoyed by officials under contract still remained extremely
relative, since their engagement depended on a balanced budget.
The model conditions of employment recognised this instability
and limited the length of engagements offered to one year, the
contracts being tacitly renewable.
It may be worth noting, however, that a steadily increasing
number of guidance workers enjoy better conditions of employment than these, since a high proportion of the technical staff are
elementary or other teachers or members of various public services
who have taken special guidance courses after entering government employment. In 1951, for example, of the 54 candidates
accepted for training in the diploma courses run by the National
Institute 26, or 48 per cent., were teachers.1 The laws and regulations governing the vocational guidance services have recognised
the right of established government officials to be seconded to the
vocational guidance services and, at the same time, to retain their
status as well as their promotion and retirement rights, as laid
down in section 33 of the Detachments Act of 30 December 1913.
1
The percentage of teachers following these courses and graduating from t h e
Institute has varied a great deal from one course to another, but it has generallybeen fairly high in t h e courses since t h e war, in which teachers have been particularly successful. For details, see BINOP, special number, Sep. 1953, p p . 27-38
and 46-47.

GUIDANCE SEBVICES FOR YOUNG PERSONS

A special promotion board has even been set up for them. 1
At the present time, under Act No. 51-630 of 24 May 1951,
the State is responsible not only for the salaries of the regional
inspectors but also for all the expenses of the inspectorates. As
a result uniform conditions of employment are offered in all academic regions to administrative vocational guidance staff as well
as to the inspectors themselves. As regards the public centres
the Act of 1951 laid down t h a t the State would pay the salaries
of the directors, counselling officers and administrative staff and
would also cover the fees of visiting medical practitioners. The
conditions of employment of staff working under contract in
these centres have consequently now been standardised, but
differences of individual status as between established and contractual officials still remain. I t is noteworthy in this latter
respect that the Act also provides for the permanent appointment
of the directors and counselling officers of public centres to proceed by stages, in conditions to be determined by decrees countersigned by the minister responsible for the civil service and the
minister responsible for the budget.
Training

of Staff

Basic training is given in the courses run for the State Vocational Guidance Diploma. 2
The courses, which were originally intended to last one year,
were lengthened to two years in 1945. Shorter courses have
nevertheless been organised from time to time in special circumstances, in response to an urgent demand for staff. Training is
given at the National Labour Research and Vocational Guidance
Institute or some other recognised centre. At the present time
the only other centre that has been so recognised is the Institute
of Biometrics and Vocational Guidance 3 , which is a branch of
the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Aix-Marseilles. Students from the Institute of Biometrics in Algiers are allowed to
join the second year of the courses run by the other two institutes.
To be eligible for admission to such courses applicants must
be at least 21 years of age and have reached matriculation standard
1
See Circular No. 1520/7, of 25 Apr. 1950, in Bulletin officiel de l'Education
nationale, 1 J u n e 1950.
a
Instituted by a decree of 27 J a n . 1944 (as amended b y decrees of 9 May
1947 and 20 Mar. 1952, and supplemented in respect of the conditions in which
the diploma is awarded by orders of 16 Feb. 1944, 6 Feb. 1946, 21 Mar. 1947 and
27 Dec. 1952).
3
Institut de biométrie humaine et d'orientation professionnelle.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

(brevet supérieur or baccalauréat examination) or its equivalent.
For some years now it has been the custom to require all applicants
to undergo a probationary period varying in length from six days
to a fortnight, during which time they are examined in various
ways—written tests in physiology and psychology, a medical
examination, an interview before a board and practical exercises
designed to reveal the qualities needed in a professional guidance
officer.1
The standards set are high ; in 1951, out of a total of 238
applicants, only 54, or about 20 per cent., were selected for admission to the National Institute. Of these, 48 per cent, were state
teachers, and continued to draw their salaries while under training ;
17 of the remaining 28 had study grants. The award of such
grants is conditional upon an undertaking by the students to
serve for five years after receiving their diplomas.
The number of candidates accepted is steadily decreasing, the
selection being regulated to correspond to the foreseen placement
opportunities at the end of the courses. U p to 1949 the National
Institute had an annual intake of approximately 100 pupils.
I n 1945, when the State Vocational Guidance Diploma was
instituted, a total of 50 students graduated from the Paris and
Marseilles Institutes ; the number was 93 in 1946, 69 in 1947,
60 in 1948, 66 in 1949, 75 in 1950, 71 in 1951 and 47 in 1952, making
a total of 531. 2
The curriculum includes psychology and psychometry, child
study, general and industrial physiology, general pathology and
neuro-psychiatry, economics, labour problems, elementary statistics, the organisation of vocational guidance and occupational
analysis.
Arrangements are also made for periods of practical training.
Initially, such training is given in the various departments of the
Institute, i.e., the Test Preparation Service, the Centre for Study
and Documentary Research on Technical Education 3, the hbrary
and, last but not least, the Institute's guidance centre, which
provides practical training for future counsellors. The centre never
takes in more than ten to 15 trainees at one time, so t h a t it can
offer them a closer insight into its practical work. The trainees
have two periods of work in the centre : one in their first year
1

See Bulletin, officiel de l'Education nationale, 6 Mar. 1952, p . 803.
Information supplied by the National Institute in November 1952.
Centre d'études et de recherches documentaires de l'enseignement technique
(C.E.R.D.E.T.). See below, p . 68.
2

GUIDANCE SERVICES TOR YOUNG PERSONS

and the other in their second. In the first year they spend three
half-days a week there for six weeks, during which time they are
mainly concerned with studying the tests used by the centre
and their administration. I n the second year they spend five
weeks in the centre and study the entire process of guidance.
Each student takes charge of a child and, under the supervision
of the responsible guidance oificer, participates in all the successive
operations involved in the work.
Since 1949 these periods of practical instruction at the Institute
have been supplemented by a further one-and-a-half to two
months' experience (between the first and second year's training)
in an ordinary vocational guidance centre. Section 7 of the model
regulations governing public centres recommends centres receiving
trainees to pay particular attention to their practical instruction.
A list of the centres open to trainees is prepared from information
provided by the regional vocational guidance inspectorates and
is communicated to the Paris and Marseilles Institutes.
I t has often been argued that the length of counselling officers'
courses could usefully be extended to three years, and the question
is at present being studied. Such an extension would enable trainee
counsellors to study different trades in greater detail, by acquiring
practical experience in industry and commerce, for example.
The diploma examination involves written tests set in Paris
and Marseilles, and practical and oral examinations, which all
candidates are required to take in Paris. Details of the subjects,
length and marking of the various tests were given in an order
issued on 27 December 1952.1
Mention has already been made of the high proportion of teachers
among the National Institute's trainees and graduates. Another
interesting point to note is the special attraction t h a t vocational
guidance work seems to have for women. I n the 1951 diploma
examinations 57 per cent, of the successful candidates were women.
Of the applicants admitted for training in the National Institute
in 1951 59 per cent, were women, despite the particularly exacting
standard set (only 20 per cent, of the women candidates were
admitted as against a proportion of 29 per cent, among the men).
As the National Institute's courses are designed to train counselling officers for the vocational guidance centres operating under
the supervision of the Directorate of Technical Education, most
of the students are French. The Institute has nevertheless always
1

See Bulletin officiel de VEducation nationale, 5 Feb. 1953.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

welcomed foreign students. Originally, most of the foreign entrants
were aliens resident in France, but it is interesting to note that,
during recent years most of the Institute's foreign trainees and
graduates have been sent for training by their governments so
that, after finishing their studies, they could set up or develop
vocational guidance services in their own countries. I n this way,
the Institute, though a purely national foundation, provides a
kind of technical assistance. 1
Apart from acquiring experience in their normal course of
duty, guidance officers can increase their knowledge and abilities
in different ways. The chief facilities available for the purpose
are seminars on various technical problems selected from a list
of those suggested by the officers attending. Seminars of this
kind for directors and counselling officers are generally organised
twice a year in the different academic regions. Similar meetings
were arranged at the national level by the Institute in 1947, 1949
and 1952. I n 1953, instead of meeting in a seminar, counselling
officers could attend the guidance panel of the International Psychotechnical Congress. I n 1951 the Directorate of Technical Education
and the National Institute also organised a similar meeting for
vocational guidance inspectors. 2
For medical practitioners specialising in vocational guidance
a course of a few weeks (generally two) is organised almost every
spring by the National Institute to give them some idea of the
general scheme of vocational guidance work and so help them
in their conduct of medical examinations for vocational guidance.
The course consists of about 20 lectures and a certain amount
of practical guidance work, in the Institute's guidance centre. 3
Doctors following these courses draft a report on their practical
training and then have about six months to prepare a paper, which
they are required to read before a board of examiners at the National
Institute. If the paper is satisfactory, a certificate of attendance
is awarded showing t h a t the holder has followed the full additional
course for doctors run by the medical practitioners' section of the
National Institute.
Between 1939 and 1951 12 such courses were run b y the National
Labour Research and Vocational Guidance Institute with the
1
See BINOP, special number, Sep. 1953, p . 38. A general picture of t h e
results of t h e Institute's work and of the types of students attending its first
30 courses is given in a series of ten graphs on p p . 41-50 of t h e same issue.
2
Ibid., p p . 38-39.
3
Ibid., p p . 39-40.

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOB. YOTTNG PERSONS

assistance of the Health Department of the Faculty of Medicine
of the University of Paris. They were attended by 447 persons
and 260 diplomas were awarded.1 However, since most of those
holding the diploma are resident in the Paris area, the recommendation made in the model regulations 2 does not easily lend itself
to application in the provinces.

OPERATION OF THE SERVICES

General Principles
The main task of the vocational guidance services is to conduct
the statutory vocational guidance examinations for children and
to issue certificates recording the conclusions reached. Section 8
of the legislative decree of 24 May 1938 3 lays down that no child
under 17 years of age may be employed in an industrial or
commercial undertaking " unless he or she holds a certificate
issued free of charge by a departmental or interdepartmental
vocational guidance secretariat, in accordance with the findings
of a public or private vocational guidance centre ". The decree
of 2 September 1939 4 makes it compulsory for the headmasters
of state primary schools to send pupils reaching school-leaving age
to a vocational guidance centre during the last term of their
fourteenth year.
Most of the work done by vocational guidance centres is consequently concerned with the pupils of state primary schools in
their last year of compulsory school attendance. The pupils do
not report to the centres as and when they choose, but come under
an arrangement concluded between the school and the centre.
The pupils of private primary schools and public and private
secondary schools, on the other hand, visit the centres on their
own initiative, either because they wish to enter commercial or
industrial employment before the age of 17 and require a guidance
certificate to do so, or because they themselves feel in need of
some advice.
1
Information supplied by the National Institute in November 1952. A
thirteenth course was run in 1953. I n the special issue of t h e bulletin published
by the Institute to mark its 25th anniversary in September 1953, the total number
of medical practitioners having followed these 13 courses was given as 524 (see
BINOP, special number, Sep. 1953).
* See above, p . 21.
3
See above, p . 9.
4
See above, p. 10.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

In law, therefore, vocational guidance was conceived in France
as a single examination taken a t a definite time of life—for the
majority of children, at the moment when they are about to leave
their primary schools and become apprenticed to a trade or occupation. In France, this concept has often been referred to as
" t h e turntable".
Vocational guidance centres are nevertheless open to all, and
parents wishing to obtain advice before or after their children
pass across the " turntable " (as, for example, when they have
to choose between two types of study) can always visit a centre
with their children. Such visits are usually known in the centres
as " independent " consultations. Their number is on the increase,
particularly in the towns, where t h e vocational guidance services
have arranged for talks to be given in schools and to parents'
associations on the advantages of vocational guidance. I n a public
centre in one large town in 1950, 25 per cent, of the individual
examinations were given to such " independent " cases.
Since 1950 public centres in several academic regions (Paris
and Lyons in particular) have begun on a limited scale to give
tests to children aged 11, which is the age at which they have
to choose between finishing their compulsory schooling at a
primary school and starting out on a secondary education. Children
subsequently remaining at a primary school thus have an opportunity of undergoing a second examination three years later
at the end of their primary schooling. At the request of secondary
schools, some centres have also agreed t o examine children in
certain classes. These experiments are broadening the concept of
vocational guidance in France, in t h a t they are gradually transforming it into a more continuous process and are widening the
scope of its activities (which, in the initial stages, were almost
exclusively confined to the manual trades).
Children are compelled to seek advice from a guidance centre
in the various cases mentioned above, but they are not obliged
to follow it. All they have to do is obtain a certificate testifying
t h a t the advice has been received. Counselling is free, even for
children visiting a centre without being legally obliged to do so.
There are no exceptions to this rule of free advice, which applies not
only to the public centres but also to the voluntary centres,
whether officially subsidised or not.

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOR YOUNG PERSONS

Plan of Action
I n each academic region a general plan of action is prepared
by the vocational guidance inspectorate, with the approval of
the inspector of the academic region. The local primary schools
are allotted to the different public and subsidised voluntary centres
in such a way t h a t the main duty of the vocational guidance
centres—that of giving the statutory examinations to children
coming to the end of their fourteenth year—can be effectively
discharged.
In the allocation of the schools, allowance is obviously made
for geographical circumstances and the number of staff available
to the different centres.
The competent authorities recognise that, with their present
staff, the vocational guidance services are quite unable to examine
all the children legally obliged to undergo an examination. Compromise solutions have therefore had to be discovered and doubtless
vary from one academic region to another depending on local
circumstances.
One factor which seems to have been fairly generally decisive
in the choice of schools to be given preferential service has been
that their pupils come from families living in the towns, the assumption being t h a t children living in urban areas will for the most part
enter commercial or industrial employment, for which a vocational
guidance certificate will be needed. As a result, it is very rare
at present for the children of rural primary schools to be systematically examined. Even after the rural centres have been eliminated in this way, the amount of work still to be done in urban
districts is often overwhelming, particularly in départements
where there are heavily populated towns (e.g., Nord, Rhône,
Bouches-du-Rhône, and so on). The vocational guidance authorities
are consequently often faced with the following dilemma : either
they must organise the largest possible number of examinations,
which cannot then be thorough enough, or they must concentrate
their work on only some of the schools in their area so as not t o
sacrifice quality to quantity. If the latter method is adopted,
the choice of schools to be systematically examined is generally governed by the practical consideration of their distance from the
centre, though a certain amount of importance is also attached
to applications from headmasters, since if they show a lively
interest in the examinations it may reasonably be expected t h a t
they will actively co-operate with the centre.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N FEANCB

After the geographical aspects of each centre's programme
have been determined in this way, the next step is to plan the
details. This is the responsibility of the director, who has to allocate
the work among his counsellors and fix the timing of the centre's
different activities within its yearly programme. The programme
itself of course depends to a great extent on local circumstances.
Examinations
A centre's first step at the beginning of the academic year
is to establish contact with the schools whose pupils it will later
have to examine. The authorities legally responsible for helping
the centre in this work are the primary-school inspectors (inspecteurs frimaires) and the regional inspectors of the academic region
(inspecteurs d'académie). Thanks to his lengthy observation of the
children and often close acquaintance with their problems, the
primary-school teacher is very often able to give a guidance counsellor invaluable assistance. How such assistance is given is described in detail in a later chapter 1 ; all that will be placed on
record here is that the laws and regulations governing vocational
guidance recognise the part played by schoolteachers in the work
of guidance by assigning them a number of responsibilities. They
have, for example, to prepare individual school record cards and
forward them to the guidance service in time for the guidance
officer to use the information as a basis for his own investigations.
As a general rule, to save time, initial investigations are made
in the school itself in the course of the first term by means of collective tests given to all the children in the top class. The guidance
centre also endeavours to persuade the school to supply it with the
children's medical records, so that it can benefit from the conclusions already reached by the school doctor on the constitution
of the children due to undergo the guidance examination. This,
however, raises the problem of a medical practitioner's professional
secrecy. Admittedly, vocational guidance workers are also bound
to professional secrecy, but in a different sphere. The stratagem
employed by a number of centres to obviate this difficulty, while
at the same time respecting the competence of the specialists in
each field, has been to ask for the school medical cards to be
communicated to the medical practitioner working for the guidance
1

See Chapter V.

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOR YOTJNG PERSONS

centre. From a study of the individual school record cards (and
of the children's medical cards by the centre's medical practitioner,
where such records are available), combined with the results of
the collective tests, the cases can be sorted and no more than
a limited number of difficult cases singled out for individual study.
The individual examinations begin fairly early in the year. As
a rule the children are summoned in small groups for examination
in the centre, where there are more facilities than in the school
itself. Where, however, the school is at any distance from the
centre and too many children would have to make long journeys,
the counselling officers themselves visit the schools to give the
individual examinations. Some centres t h a t have t o serve outlying districts are provided with a car.
A group of children from a given school is summoned to the
centre on a given day, and the entire counselling staff (male and
female) usually shares the work involved without regard to the
sex of the children concerned, a distinction being made only if some
particular officer is specialised in a particular type of case, e.g., of
mentally deficient children, secondary-school pupils and so on—
though such a situation is hardly likely to arise outside the bigger
centres. The directors of some centres t r y to organise their work
in such a way t h a t boys are examined, wherever possible, by men,
and girls by women ; but owing to the high proportion of women
counsellors, it is impossible to apply this principle of segregation
rigidly, the more so since more boys than girls are examined at
present. The reason for this is that, while the shortage of guidance workers means t h a t some schools are inevitably eliminated
from the programme, boys' schools are not eliminated first.
(In the département du Rhône in 1951 the departmental centre
examined all the boys' primary schools but only one-quarter of
the primary schools for girls.)
I n the centres visited for the purposes of this study, it was
generally agreed t h a t no counselling officer could, on the average,
hold more than two individual examinations in any morning or
afternoon, which means t h a t about two hours are spent on each.
I n the few cases where a counselling officer has no school documents
or results of collective tests to guide him, he may have to spend as
long as four, six or even eight hours on an individual examination.
The medical examination takes from 10 to 20 minutes for
each child ; but an average of six an hour is considered normal
in some centres.
This estimate naturally applies to straightforward cases only ; in cases involving any special difficulties the

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

medical practitioners working for the guidance centres can send
the children to a clinic for further examination, by an eye, throat
or heart speciahst, for example. Some centres are regularly attended by psychiatrists.
On several occasions between 1948 and 1952 a limited number
of full medical examinations taking an average of 30 minutes
each were carried out experimentally in the département de la
Seine.
The question of how much time should be devoted to these
examinations has been considered and discussed at length by
French specialists, since the turnover of any centre, and hence
the possibility of its complying with the statutory requirements
depend on keeping the examination as short as possible, though
its quality must not suffer in the process.
Conclusions Drawn from Examinations
The conclusions to be drawn in each case from the assembled
information, the results of the collective test and, where appropriate, those of the individual examination, are drafted by the
officer who has handled the case, but the director must accept
responsibility for them. They form the basis of the advice given
to the child.
Before being given final form, this advice is usually talked
over with the parents. It is then set down in writing in a certificate testifying that the child has complied with his legal obligation to undergo a guidance examination. Section 8 of the
legislative decree of 1938 and section 39 of the decree issued under
it on 2 September 1939 x made the regional secretariats (inspectorates) responsible for preparing the certificate from the conclusions
drawn up by the centres and for sending it to the child's legal
representatives. However, though the certificate bears the signature of the regional secretary (inspector), it is actually prepared
by the centre at which the examination was taken.
In accordance with the two decrees cited above the certificate
mentions any trades that are liable to be a danger to the child's
health, any other counter-indications revealed by the examination
and any information on the child's aptitudes and leanings. The
form at present used for the purpose is in three parts ; one is
retained by the centre, the second is dispatched to the regional
inspectorate and the third is sent to the parents. The first and
1

See above, p p . 9 and, 10.

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOB YOUNG PEBSONS

second sheets have a space on the back where the centre records
the various details that motivated its decisions. On the back
of the sheet sent to the family the child is invited to return to
the guidance centre if he encounters any difficulties during his
apprenticeship and to inform the centre if he has to change his
employer.
Placement
The logical aim of all counselling is placement, if the term is
taken in its widest sense as implying placement in a general school,
a technical training centre, practical apprenticeship or ordinary
employment.
Ever since vocational guidance has existed French law has
recognised the essential connection between guidance and the
facilities available to give effect to it. Evidence enough that this
is so is afforded by a wealth of laws and regulations. The vocational
guidance services in France, however, have never been called upon
to undertake placement work themselves, their underlying purpose being rather to act as information centres on placement possibilities and especially as liaison offices with the placement services.
Children may, as a result of their examinations, be advised to
follow technical or general training courses, and information on
ordinary and vocational training schools run by the State is among
the materials which, under section 34 of the decree of 2 September
1939, the regional inspectorates are required to assemble and
communicate to the centres under their control. The inspectorates
do, in fact, take the greatest care in collecting such material, particularly where it deals with existing facilities in the area, and the
information bulletins they circulate to their centres every month
keep the latters' records as up to date as possible.
The centres usually build up their own archives from the
information supplied by the regional inspectorates and that
collected by themselves. This material they classify by occupational fields for quicker reference when a family needs information
on the educational facilities available to enable it to act on the
advice given by the centre. In addition, the centres are steadily
developing their contacts with technical colleges and apprentice
training centres 1 , which frequently ask them to organise psychological examinations for the selection of prospective candidates. In
this way guidance counsellors are well placed to judge whether
1
Practical schools r u n b y t h e Directorate of Technical Education for t h e
training of skilled manual workers.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

the instruction given in a particular apprentice training centre will
be suited to the case they have before them.
As regards the placement of apprentices in undertakings it
will be recalled that the Act of 10 March 1937 on the organisation
of apprenticeship in handicraft undertakings 1 laid down the principle that there should be close co-operation between the vocational
guidance services and the chambers of trades. The few vocational
guidance offices set up by these chambers act as direct links between
vocational guidance and apprentice placement. The public vocational guidance inspectorates have never been called upon to
place apprentices but are nevertheless required to co-ordinate
their work with that of the departmental labour offices, which
are in a position to undertake such duties.
In fact, the vocational guidance centres maintain close contacts
with the departmental manpower services, chambers of trades,
chambers of commerce and employers' and workers' occupational
associations, representatives of which attend the meetings of the
vocational guidance boards. This being so, the directors and
counselling officers are well placed to hear of any apprentice
vacancies in the area. Occasionally the centres are asked to select
apprentices for large undertakings, which contribute to their
funds ; as a result, they sometimes act as intermediaries in the
conclusion of contracts of apprenticeship at the request of families.
In any event, the duty of the centres to take a practical interest
in apprentice training was emphasised by the Directorate of
Technical Education when it stated in section 1 (b) of its suggested
model regulations for vocational training centres that, in addition
to their essential task of guidance, the centres should " arrange
in concert with the departmental labour offices, for young persons
to whom guidance has been given to enter pre-apprentice or
apprentice training ".
Sometimes the immediate placement of young persons in wageearning employment has to be considered, either because they
lack aptitude or because of their family or financial circumstances 2, and for some years an experiment with such cases has
been carried on jointly by the vocational guidance services of the
Ministry of National Education and the manpower services of the
Ministry of Labour.
1

See above, p . 8.
From such information as could be obtained from various centres it would
appear t h a t 80 per cent, of the young persons receiving guidance are recommended
to follow vocational training courses before entering employment.
2

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOE YOUNG PERSONS

I n 1948 a placement service for young persons (between 14 and
18 years of age) was organised in Paris. I n 1949 it organised its
own vocational guidance service as part of the departmental vocational guidance centre for the Seine. This service examines young
persons looking for employment who report directly to the placement service without any prior vocational guidance. I n addition,
the other vocational guidance sections in the département de la
Seine instruct young persons whom they have examined and who
wish to be found immediate employment to report to this placement
service with their guidance records. A scheme for the exchange
of information on employment vacancies between this placement
service and the vocational guidance sections in the département
has also been arranged.
This new service immediately attracted considerable attention
and 14,000 applications were received in 1950, from young people
under 18 years of age. A medical examination is given to all
applicants but, for lack of adequate facilities, the service restricts
its psychological examinations to young persons under 17. Even
so, only collective tests are set, as there is not enough time to
investigate the cases more closely by means of individual examinations. The opening of a guidance section as part of this
placement service has nevertheless made it easier to place young
persons in employment and to find apprentice vacancies for some
at least of those applying for jobs as wage earners.
I n 1952 co-operation between the medical, vocational guidance
and juvenile placement services of the Paris centre resulted in
the placement of nearly 7,000 persons, and it was noticed t h a t
placements made as a result of such joint action were considerably
more stable than those effected by the ordinary manpower services.
Over the last three years the success of this undertaking has led
to other ventures. Some, though still not many, take the form
of units similar to that described above, in which the three services
are combined (as at Aubervilhers, Courbevoie and Ivry in the
département de la Seine, and at Versailles in the département
de Seine-et-Oise). Others—and these are the more common—
consist of independent sections opened by the manpower services
for the placement of young persons and working in close collaboration with a number of vocational guidance centres in the neighbourhood. Particularly active sections of this type have been
reported in Besançon (Doubs), Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle), Nîmes
(Gard), Villeurbanne (Rhône) and Perpignan (Pyrénées-orientales).
Similar sections are being organised in other towns, e.g., Laon,

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

Lyons, Marseilles, Soissons, etc. Elsewhere again, officials have
been given special training in the placement of young persons
and Avork in an ordinary manpower service office. Like the independent sections, however, these officials receive regular assistance
from neighbouring vocational guidance centres. The choice between
these different placement systems seems t o be mainly guided by
practical considerations. According to a recent report on the
problem, the feeling seems to be that the establishment of independent juvenile placement services is worth while only in the
larger towns (of over 100,000 inhabitants) and t h a t a more flexible
system is needed in areas where the population is less concentrated.
And the report goes on to suggest that teams specialising in
juvenile placement should be formed in a number of towns in
each département, their activities both as fact-finding and as
placement services subsequently being extended to other areas
within the same département. This system has already been
successfully adopted by juvenile placement services set up at
Beauvais, Creil and Compiègne in the département de l'Oise. 1
The organisation of these services specialising in juvenile
placement is indicative of the closer attention being paid to the
problem of placing young persons as apprentices and workers.
To assist the Ministry of Labour in its efforts in this direction
an order was issued on 20 February 1952 2 to set u p a national
committee on juvenile labour as a subcommittee of the National
Manpower Commission. This new committee has to be consulted
on the establishment of services specialising in the placement of
young persons and on the preparation of technical methods suited
to their use. Another of its duties is to investigate arrangements
for the rehabilitation of young persons who are mentally or physically handicapped or maladjusted.
The membership of the committee comprises representatives
from various branches of the Ministry of Labour, from the Ministry
of National Education and from two institutions with a direct
interest in vocational guidance—the University Statistics and
Documentation Office and the Centre for Study and Documentary
Research on Technical Education. 3
This committee held several meetings in 1952 and 1953. From
the outset it took an interest in the results achieved b y the pioneer
1
Bulletin d'information et de documentation professionnelles (Ministère du
Travail, Direction de la main-d'œuvre), 1 Sep. 1953, pp. 79-83.
a
J.O., 2 Mar. 1952, and corrigendum, ibid., 11 Mar. 1952.
3
For information on these two institutions, see below, p p . 68 and 68.

GUIDANCE SERVICES EOE YOUNG PERSONS

services specialising in juvenile placement and discussed the desirability of extending the experiment. Other topics also afforded
the committee an opportunity of tackling a number of specific
vocational guidance problems as part of its work on juvenile
labour questions. These topics included the national employment
market situation and the openings offered to young persons, onthe-job apprenticeship, the importance of medical examinations
in the placement of young persons, the training of medical
practitioners specialising in juvenile employment, their duties,
responsibilities and relationships.
As a result of the increased research being undertaken by the
Ministry of Labour and Social Security into the placement of
young persons, the Ministry has included a new feature " Juvenile
Employment and Apprenticeship " in the Bulletin d'information
et de documentation 'professionnelles published by the Directorate
of Manpower.

CHAPTER I I
GUIDANCE SERVICES FOR ADULTS

The services run by the Ministry of Labour for the vocational
guidance of adults are far less numerous than those provided for
young persons ; on the other hand they are far more specific in
their purposes. Until recently they had been organised empirically : they were set up in response to urgent needs and have
subsequently been modified on many occasions to meet the requirements of the moment. The present tendency, however, is to give
them a more stable basis and to apply genuinely scientific methods.
They are known as " vocational selection services " and, taking
their activities as a whole, selection work (i.e., the choice of a
person for a job) no doubt bulks larger than guidance in the strict
meaning of the term (i.e., the choice of a job or type of training
for a job suited to the individual concerned) ; but the amount
of guidance work they do is far from negligible. However t h a t
may be, the name they have been given distinguishes them from
the parallel services run for the guidance of young persons under
the sponsorship of the Ministry of National Education.
The vocational selection services were first organised before the
Second World War during the great unemployment crisis to screen
the unemployed and organise their admission to the reclassification
centres. Later, in 1939 and 1940, they selected men for admission
to these same centres (which had meanwhile been transformed
into short-course training units), prior to their engagement in
industries working for the national war effort. After the war they
were reorganised to assist the manpower services in their important
task of reclassifying workers. Although thought has often been
given to the possibility of transforming them into genuine " vocational guidance " services within the meaning given to the term
in the Vocational Guidance Recommendation, 1949 (i.e., facilities
provided for all persons requiring such assistance), they have
hitherto been exclusively concerned with the reclassification of
limited groups of workers.

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOB ADULTS

LEGISLATION

Unlike the juvenile vocational guidance services, whose organisation and operation have been the subject of very detailed regulations as well as a great deal of fundamental legislation, the adult
vocational selection services have been based on no more than
administrative decisions of a practical and direct nature.
The main provisions under which the vocational selection
services run by the Ministry of Labour were reorganised after the
war appear in two circulars issued by the Directorate of Manpower
in 1947 and 1951. 1
STRUCTURE OF THE SERVICES

Although many government services, including the manpower
services, were reorganised by an Act of 26 March 1946 on the basis
of a territorial division by départements, which did away with the
former regional administration, the vocational selection services,
whose task is to assist the manpower services, were combined to
form a limited number of centres each serving several départements. I t was considered preferable to organise them in this way,
so t h a t teams could be formed in which the services' vocational
psychologists could exchange impressions, rather than to scatter
the limited staff available (numbering only 93 selection officers in
1949) by setting u p a centre in each département. The circular
issued in 1947 set up 20 centres, each serving between three and
seven départements. Later this number was reduced and by 1952
there were only 13 centres left. Hence the remaining centres have
had their range of action considerably increased. I n the 1947 plan,
for instance, the centre in Lyons covered four départements, while
it now covers 11.
Contrary to the principle of decentralisation adopted in the
organisation of the juvenile vocational guidance services, there has
been an increasing tendency to centralise the administration of the
vocational selection services. This does not, however, prevent them
from co-operating with the economic and scientific circles interested
in their activities, as the selection centres are run by the National
1
Circular M.O.-051/47 dated 12 Apr. 1947 (Ministère du Travail et de la
Sécurité sociale : Textes officiels. Nos. 1889 1906 (1947), Fascicule No. 15,
p . 1901) ; and Circular M.O.-59/51 dated 20 J u n e 1951 (the t e x t has not been
included in any compilation).

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

Inter-Occupational Association for the Rational Training of
Labour 1 , a private association founded in 1945 under the Right
of Association Act of 1 July 1901 to take charge of collective adult
vocational training centres. National employers' and workers'
organisations are represented in this Association side by side with
the Ministry of Labour. In 1947 the Association was also made
responsible for running the vocational selection centres along
lines similar to those adopted for the collective training centres.
The changes made in 1951 brought the vocational selection
services more directly under the control of the Ministry of Labour.
The circular issued on 20 June 1951 appointed an official from
the Directorate of Manpower to the post of Director of the Vocational Psychology Study and Research Centre2, which is one of the
Association's services and had already been responsible for the
technical supervision of the selection centres since 1947. The
Director has since been given wider powers over the staff and
operations of the centres, which are no longer individually subject
to the manpower directorate of the département in which they are
situated, but are all under the direct responsibility of the divisional
labour and manpower inspectors, who act as the local representatives of the Ministry of Labour.
As a general rule the centres are still accommodated in premises
provided by the manpower directorate of the département in which
they are situated, but the directorates have ceased to be responsible for supplying their equipment. It was noticed that, in spite
of the schedule of standard equipment published in the 1947
circular, the equipment used by the centres was often inadequate
and generally lacked uniformity. Nowadays all the centres receive
their equipment from the Vocational Psychology Study and Research Centre, which is thus in a position to standardise their work
and hence their methods.
FINANCES

The funds of the vocational selection services were formerly
derived from state subsidies paid to the National Inter-Occupational Association, which could also hand over occasional subscriptions from its members, just as it did to the adult vocational
1
Association nationale interprofessionnelle pour la formation rationnelle de
la main-d'œuvre (A.N.I.F.B.M.O.).
2
Centre d'études et de recherches psychotechniques (C.E.R.P.).

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOB ADULTS

training centres. Since the changes introduced in 1951 special
provision has been made in the Ministry of Labour budget t o
subsidise the selection services. The funds earmarked in the
budget for 1953 amounted t o 160 million francs : 100 million for
staff, 30 million for equipment and 30 million for general management expenses.
I n addition the regulations governing the centres authorise
them to organise psychological examinations for private undertakings if time permits. When they provide such services at the
request of heads of undertakings they are paid a fee which goes
to cover their expenses.
STAFF

The staff of each centre normally comprises a director responsible
for the technical and administrative work assisted by the number
of vocational psychologists (formerly known as selection officers)
considered necessary by the Minister of Labour, and b y a shorthand-typist. I n addition, each centre used to have a staff of
screening officers—junior technical officials responsible for making
the initial contacts with the persons examined and for conducting
collective tests. The number of these officials is dwindling and
they are now used for little more than marking test papers.
Qualifications and

Training

More and more qualifications are being demanded of selection
staff. The circular issued in 1947 required the officials known
as " selection officers " to hold a certificate, which was issued
after a short period of special training by the National Training
Institute for Supervisory Staff (now known as the Vocational
Supervisors' Training Institute) 1 , where training is also given
to the prospective supervisors of adult vocational training centres.
The circular also stated t h a t the director of a centre should
not be under 30 years of age, t h a t he should have worked for at
least two years as a selection officer and t h a t he should have
undergone two further periods of practical training in the Institute.
Shortly afterwards the responsibility for training the technical
staff of the selection services was transferred to the Vocational
Psychology Study and Research Centre, which began b y extending
the curriculum. I n 1949-50 a fairly intensive six-month training
1

Centre national de formation de moniteurs (C.N.F.M.). See below, p . 69.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

course was given to a batch of about 20 selection officers who
had been very carefully chosen, though none of them had been
required to have any previous knowledge of vocational psychology.
The syllabus included the theory of experimental psychology,
character studies, social statistics, industrial physiology and
testing methods. Practical exercises also occupied a considerable
proportion of the course.
I t was soon realised t h a t such a complicated course compressed
into so short a time could hardly be more than superficial. Consequently, after the changes made in 1951, the Research Centre
introduced a completely different system for recruiting and training
selection staff.
The Centre now admits only persons with an extensive knowledge of vocational psychology, or at least general psychology,
and gives them a course which makes specialists of them. Candidates must hold a diploma in applied psychology from the Institute of Psychology of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of
Paris, ah equivalent diploma from any of the provincial universities
providing a similar course (e.g., Rennes, Strasbourg or Marseilles),
or the State Vocational Guidance Diploma awarded by the National Labour Research and Vocational Guidance Institute. 1
Successful applicants are given a two months' practical specialisation course, divided into four periods of a fortnight each,
as follows :
(1) theoretical instruction in subjects not sufficiently covered,
if at all, by the trainees' basic studies, e.g., industrial physiology
and social legislation ;
(2) practical experience in vocational psychology with particular emphasis on the application of the tests used in the
selection centres ;
(3) a period of practical experience in an adult vocational
training centre, where the candidates have to be screened by the
selection services ; and
(4) a final period in the Research Centre during which trainees
digest the knowledge they have acquired in the first three periods
of the course.
On completing their course successful trainees are awarded
diplomas as vocational psychologists (and no longer as selection
officers). Three specialisation courses of this kind were organised
1

For the award of this diploma, see above, p p . 23-26.

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOE ADULTS

in 1951 and 1952, and most of the technical staff of the selection
services (95 persons in October 1952) have been trained in this way.
A state diploma for vocational psychologists was created in
1953 and the first examination will be held in 1954 by the Ministry
of National Education. Candidates will not only have to satisfy
very strict conditions in order to be allowed to sit for the diploma
(they must have attained the age of 25 and have successfully
completed a course of higher education in a subject connected
with vocational psychology) but must also take a special examination, complete a period of practical work in an approved
service or establishment to the satisfaction of a board of examiners,
and present a thesis. Until 1959 vocational psychologists with
at least five years' practical experience will exceptionally be
permitted to apply for the diploma.
The knowledge and abilities of officials already working in
the centres are kept up and improved in various ways :
(1) Staff are recalled from time to time to attend refresher
courses of about a week at the Research Centre. Separate courses
are organised for directors and vocational psychologists.
(2) Specialised refresher courses are arranged for vocational
psychologists assigned to particularly delicate duties, such as the
examination of the disabled for guidance purposes. In 1952 a
one-week course was run for ten specialists of this type.
(3) The staff employed by the services receive very strict
instructions from the Centre 1 and must regularly report to it on
their work.
(4) Apart from administrative tours of inspection made by
the divisional labour and manpower inspectors2, technical visits are
paid by officials from the Centre itself, who thus have an opportunity of giving the different centres guidance in their scientific work.
(5) The Centre supplies the services with documentary material
to increase the technical knowledge of their staffs and keep them
regularly abreast of recent progress. For example, it circulates
new books and articles from French and foreign periodicals in the
form of microfilms.
(6) Since 1952 the Centre has published its own bulletin in
which the results of its research work are pooled with the experience acquired by the different selection centres, with a consequent
improvement in the methods used.
1
2

See below, p . 111.
See above, p . 40.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

Conditions of

Employment

The staff of the selection services are not public officials but are
employed by the National Inter-Occupational Association for the
Rational Training of Labour under contract. At present they are
recruited and promoted by the Director of the Vocational Psychology Study and Research Centre ; their recruitment and posting,
however, have always been subject to the approval of the Minister
of Labour.
Rates of pay are fixed for the different grades and types of staff
b y applying co-efficients computed b y analogy with a scale of
wages for industrial workers established b y order in 1945 and 1946.
The co-efficients for directors' salaries were fixed by analogy with
those of managerial staff in industry, depending on the grade,
at 3.5, 3.75 and 4 times the basic rate payable in Paris or the
provinces, as the case may be. The salary co-efficients of selection
officers (vocational psychologists) were fixed at 2.46, 2.71 and 2.9,
depending upon the grade, by analogy with the rates payable to
foremen in the metal trades. And the co-efficient for secretary
shorthand-typists was fixed at 1.85 by analogy with the rates paid
to similar employees in the metal trades. The co-efficients for
shorthand-typists range from 1.23 to 1.58, depending on skill.
These rates have been calculated on the basis of a 40-hour
week, b u t bonuses are payable for overtime. I n fact, t h e 1947
circular 1 laid down t h a t the selection services were to work a 48hour week. I t also authorised their staffs t o claim travelling allowances and to take annual and sick leave under the same conditions
as persons employed in adult vocational training centres. A board
of appeal has been set u p to examine complaints by officials against
the grading of their posts.
OPERATION OE THE SERVICES

The selection services have several different duties, and must
accordingly be ready t o work for several different institutions,
viz. :
(1) At the request of the departmental labour and manpower
directors, they have to conduct—
(a) psychological examinations for candidates applying for
admission to vocational training courses in undertakings or
1

See above, p . 39.

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOE ADULTS

in collective centres run by the National Inter-Occupational
Association ;
(b) examinations to facilitate the re-employment of civil servants
who have lost their jobs ;
(c) examinations to facilitate the reclassification and placement
of difficult or priority cases registered with the employment
services.
(2) At the request of the departmental labour and manpower
directors or the institutions responsible for physical rehabilitation
(the social security funds, social insurance schemes, etc.), the
centres have to conduct guidance examinations for disabled persons
and recovered invalids.
(3) Provided that the work mentioned under (1) and (2) above
is not allowed to suffer, the director of a centre may place his
vocational psychologists at the disposal of private undertakings
to help in allotting workers to jobs. This part of the centres'
duties is relatively unimportant, partly because the volume of
their official work is such that they are already pressed for
time, and partly because more and more large-scale undertakings
are engaging their own vocational psychologists to select and
place their employees.
As far as their various official duties are concerned, the centres
in Paris organise their work differently from those situated in
the provinces. The latter have to cover many fields and discharge
simultaneously all the various duties entrusted to the selection
services, although they fairly often entrust particular types of
case to members of their teams specialising in such cases. In
Paris, on the other hand, specialised sections have gradually
been set up to take charge of these various commitments. Below is
a brief outline of how the services discharge their different duties.
Examinations for Entry into Adult Vocational Training Centres
The 1947 circular1, which was issued at a time when the adult
vocational training centres were extremely busy, gave priority to
the preliminary psychological examination of candidates applying
for admission to these centres.
Even now, such examinations are, at least numerically, among
the more important of the various duties discharged by the selec1

¡See above, p. 39.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

tion services. Considering t h a t the adult vocational training
centres train not less than 10,000 persons every year (they trained
approximately 20,000 in 1951) and t h a t the number of applicants
is at least three times as high, it is fair to assume t h a t between
30,000 and 60,000 examinations of this type alone are organised
each year, since they are, like medical examinations, compulsory
for all applicants. The number actually examined is probably
even higher : unfortunately, because of the quantity of applications
received coupled with the appreciable cut in the number of
training centres in the last few years, there is necessarily a long
delay between the examination and eventual admission to a
centre ; many of the successful candidates therefore become
discouraged in the meantime and the effort expended in examining
them is wasted. I t has not so far been possible to overcome this
difficulty, of which the official manpower, training and selection
services are only too painfully aware.
The range of persons seeking admission t o adult vocational
training centres is extremely wide. A large number of them
are unemployed persons who continue to draw their unemployment benefits while under training. Others, however, are
employed persons who want to improve their position by further
training.
The entrance examination is usually a pure selection test, in
the sense t h a t the vocational psychologist has to check the candidates' aptitudes against the occupational requirements of the particular course of training they have asked to follow.
However, the testing officer should not consider the candidates' occupational aptitudes alone ; he must also look into their
individual and social circumstances and their general mental
outlook, so as to satisfy himself t h a t they genuinely intend to
follow the trades they claim to have chosen. I t is a matter of
concern to the competent authorities t h a t only too many pupils
change their minds while under training or soon after. Circular
M.O. 50-51 of 28 May 1951 explicitly recommends the selection
services to satisfy themselves t h a t applicants intend to abide
b y their decisions and will continue in their chosen trades.
On the other hand, several circumstances combine to make
the examination more of a guidance t h a n a selection test. Often,
for example, a man who is out of work, is so hesitant in his decision
regarding a given trade that the vocational psychologist has to
help him in his choice. I n other cases the disparity between the
number of applicants and the number of vacancies in many of

GUTDANCE SERVICES FOE ADULTS

the centres moves the psychologist to advise his candidates to
modify their stated preferences, and he then has to see whether
they have the necessary aptitudes for the training given in some
of the less crowded centres. Finally, where candidates are found
to lack the necessary aptitudes, the vocational psychologist has
also to decide whether such aptitudes as they have may not fit
them for training of some other type ; if not, he has to send them
back to the placement service, with an indication of the type
of work they might possibly be given. In short, the selection
services try as far as possible to avoid reaching purely negative
conclusions on their examinations.
The procedure followed in the selection examinations given
for admission to the adult vocational training centres differs to
some extent from one area to another. Where a centre does nothing
but give examinations of this type, applicants generally register
directly with the centre. During this first visit they simply enter
their occupational and personal particulars on a card which later
forms the basis of their examination. They are subsequently
summoned by the medical service of the Ministry of Labour for
a medical examination. This is always held before the aptitude
test, the results being forwarded to the selection service. It is
only after the centre has received the medical reports on a batch
of applicants all intending to follow the same course that it summons
them, as far as possible in series, for their aptitude tests. Where
a selection centre has many different duties and covers a large
area, the candidates usually register with the manpower services
of their département, which arrange for them to be given their
medical examinations by the local industrial medical officers.
Then, once the applicants' files have been prepared, they are
handed over to the vocational psychologist of the regional selection centre when he visits the area to hold selection examinations.
Guidance and Re-employment of Redundant Civil Servants
A great deal of this resettlement work was done between 1948
and 1952 ; and in the Paris area, where there was a particularly
large number of civil servants to be resettled as a result of administrative cuts, a special department had to be set up within the
Ministry of Labour in 1946. This department, which was known
as the " Guidance and Re-employment Service ", continued in
operation until 1952. In the provinces this work is, and always
has been, done by the selection officers or vocational psychologists

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

of the regional vocational selection centres as part of their many
duties.
The purpose of the psychological guidance examinations
arranged for redundant civil servants is to find them new employment, where possible in productive jobs in the private sector.
Their individual aptitudes are therefore explored so that they can
be guided towards a new field of activity. The methods used
in this exploration process will be considered in a later section, but
it may be appropriate while examining the way in which these services are organised to mention that a close relationship has had to
be established between the selection centres and the placement
services. For example, the manpower services keep the vocational
psychologists responsible for the guidance and re-employment of
redundant civil servants fully informed of the position on the
employment market. 1
More than 80,000 jobs were found for redundant civil servants
between 1948 and 1952, over 20,000 of them by the Guidance
and Re-employment Service working in the Paris area. This was
a fairly creditable achievement, for the Paris service had a team
of only three vocational psychologists, each of whom thus succeeded
in examining and guiding a total of nearly 7,000 applicants during
the period. Their placement work was, of course, made easier
by the fact that civil servants who have lost their jobs are given
priority when staff are taken on by government departments.
It was observed by the vocational psychologists that a bureaucratic
existence had left too deep a mark on many of the applicants
for them to adapt themselves easily to other types of work.
Resettlement in their case was consequently effected by finding
them jobs in some other kind of office work, rather than by guiding
them into completely different occupations.
Guidance of Job Applicants Difficult to Place
In the early years the selection services were faced with such
a volume of other work that they were hardly able to undertake
the guidance of difficult cases effectively. In 1951, however, they
established closer contact with the placement staff of the manpower
offices and soon afterwards psychological examinations began to
1
The specialised service in Paris used to have its own job-prospecting officerà
who, armed with their case files, visited establishments in which suitable vacancies
were likely t o be open and, where they found any, arranged interviews for t h e
applicants concerned.

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOB ADULTS

be used in guiding applicants for jobs from a particularly overcrowded branch—that of office work.
An inquiry made by the University Statistics and Documentation Office in January 1952 shows that on the average there are
only 11 vacancies for every 1,000 applications for specialised or
junior office jobs (e.g., as typists, shorthand-typists, bookkeepers
and invoice clerks) ; other vacancies in the same branch (except in
the higher grades) do not exceed 52 per thousand. To guide applicants from this branch into less crowded occupations with jobs
likely to suit their knowledge and aptitudes, the manpower offices
nowadays often call in the vocational psychologists of the selection
services, which have devised a series of specific tests for persons
in this group. 1
Vocational Guidance and Rehabilitation of the Disabled
The duties of selection centres in connection with the vocational guidance and rehabilitation of the disabled are part of a
complex process requiring the co-operation of different authorities.
When the French selection services were reorganised in 1947
and arrangements were made for them to help in the vocational
rehabilitation of the disabled, some allowance was made for the
delicate nature of this work and also for the type of co-operation
it involves. Circular M.O. 051/47 2 instructed the centres to entrust
it to " their most qualified selection staff " and stated that " close
contact shall be established between the medical service and the
vocational psychology service ", the selection officer making his
examinations " only after considering the medical officer's conclusions ". Subsequent experience has shown that equally close
contact has to be maintained with the placement service.
To appreciate the part that the vocational psychologists of the
selection services have to play in the rehabilitation of the disabled,
it may be helpful to examine in brief outline how the assistance
given to such persons has evolved under the influence of the new
theories accepted in recent years.3
1
J . PATIN : "L'examen des employés de bureau dans les services de sélection
de l'A.N.I.F.R.M.O.", in Bulletin du Centre d'études et de recherches psychotechniques,
Oct.-Dec. 1952, p p . 57-60.
2
See above, p . 39.
3
For a more detailed survey of t h e question, see A. ROSIER : " U n aspect particulier de la politique de l'emploi : Le reclassement professionnel des diminués
physiques ", in Revue française du travail (Ministère du Travail et de la Sécurité
sociale). Nov.-Dec. 1950, p p . 491-515. See also Bulletin d'information et de documentation professionnelles, 1 J u l y 1950, p . 34 ; 1 July 195], p . 44 ; 1 Dec. 1951,
p. 52 and 15 J a n . 1952, p . 55.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE EST FRANCE

In France, as in other countries, it has gradually come to be
recognised that, wherever re-employment is possible, it is the best
method of assistance, as much from the social and humanitarian
standpoint as economically. During the First World War a form
of assistance through work was instituted by an Act of 17 April
1916 (later supplemented by another Act of 26 April 1924), under
which disabled ex-service men with pension rights were entitled to
reserved employment. Subsequently, this legislation was extended
to various other categories of disabled persons, among them pensioners from the Second World War. However, the employment
they were offered was very simple ; it required no great degree of
skill and generally no training, and its compatibility with the
disabled person's working capacities was easy to establish without
a thorough examination.
A new conception of vocational rehabilitation was put forward
in two ordinances issued on 18 October and 29 December 1945,
which extended the right to vocational retraining to persons drawing protracted sickness or invalidity pensions, and in an Act of
30 October 1946, which did the same for socially insured persons
suffering from employment injuries. Under this legislation disabled
persons are found productive jobs of different kinds, and anyone
wishing to take advantage of it must undergo a psychological as
well as a medical examination before he can be admitted to a
vocational retraining centre or placed with an employer to learn
a trade. Similar legislation was passed more recently to assist the
blind and other persons with serious infirmities (Acts of 2 August
1949 and 5 January 1951) and persons suffering from tuberculosis
(decree of 6 January 1950). All this legislation requires anyone
wishing to be admitted to a medical rehabilitation or vocational
retraining centre to undergo a medical examination and a vocational guidance test. Similar arrangements for other types of
disabled persons capable of rehabilitation are under consideration.
This legislation on the right of disabled persons to vocational
retraining nevertheless covers only one very limited aspect of the
problem. Practical measures of all kinds are needed. It has
become apparent that a genuinely coherent policy cannot be carried
out without a concerted effort on the part of all the public authorities and private institutions having an interest in the problem.
Private ventures have hitherto done much to assist the disabled
either by making charitable grants or by finding direct employment, but their efforts have been very scattered. Most physical
reconditioning centres, industrial rehabilitation units and even

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOB ADULTS

vocational retraining establishments have been set up by private
institutions, most of which have admittedly been recognised as
being of public utility and granted public subsidies. The question
is of interest to many departments of the Ministry of Labour and
Social Security and the Ministry of Public Health and Population,
but their efforts have often lacked co-ordination.
To secure greater unity of action, an interministerial committee
for the vocational rehabilitation of the disabled was set up by an
order dated 17 May 1948. The secretarial work of the committee
was entrusted to the Ministry of Labour.1
The committee's main work has been to assess the magnitude
of the problem, see what has already been done to solve it 2, and
make a census of the scattered facilities already available to
tackle it. 3
Major difficulties are often encountered in the placement of the
disabled—the logical aim of the whole process of rehabilitation,
following medical rehabilitation and vocational retraining. These
1
U p t o the end of 1953 the committee had held some ten meetings. See
ROSIER : " Le placement des diminués physiques est essentiellement un problème
de coordination ", in Réadaptation, Jan. 1954, p. 5.
2
According to a report submitted to the committee in 1951 it was estimated
from partial statistics provided by the general population census of 10 March 1946,
from the statistical returns of the insurance and social security funds, and from
the figures published by the clinics run by the Public Social Health Office, t h a t
nearly one-and-a-half million persons suffer from a reduction in capacity for
work of a t least 20 to 25 per cent. This total includes :

Tubercular cases
Victims of industrial accidents (disability over
20 per cent.)
Disabled ex-service men .
Socially insured persons
drawing disability pensions

400,000
100,000
500,000
39,269

Socially insured persons
drawing protracted sickness pensions
The blind
The deaf
Amputees
Cripples
Mental defectives . . . .
Patients in mental homes.

37,202
42,000
39,000
88,000
85,000
14,000
70,000

The first six categories are covered by legislation entitling them to vocational
rehabilitation (Bulletin d'information et de documentation professionnelles, 1 July
1951). I t has been estimated on competent authority that, by improving the
application of existing legislation and by making similar arrangements for disabled
persons not yet covered, it should be possible to reintegrate at least 200,000 to
300,000 persons in the national economy (ROSIER : " U n aspect particulier de la
politique de l'emploi : Le reclassement professionnel des diminués physiques ",
op. cit., p . 497).
3
A list of the various types of centres for the medical rehabilitation, vocational
retraining and resettlement of the disabled has been prepared by the Directorate of
Manpower of the Ministry of Labour, in co-operation with the University Statistics and Documentation Office (see Bulletin d'information et de documentation
professionnelles, Nos. 92-97, 1 J a n . to 15 Mar. 1952). Similar lists have been
prepared by the Vocational Psychology Study and Research Centre and the social
security authorities. The number of centres mentioned in the various lists is in
the region of 300.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN EEANCE

difficulties are Kable t o vitiate all t h a t has previously been done,
and the Ministry of Labour, as the competent authority, has
accordingly given close attention to the matter. Several schemes
have been put forward to improve the employment prospects of
disabled persons.
The most radical method would be to enact legislation. A Bill
has been prepared, extending the compulsory quota system
instituted for disabled ex-service men by an Act of 26 April 1924
(one in ten of the workers employed in undertakings with a staff
of ten or more) to disabled persons in other categories. An experiment of this kind was made after the Second World War in Great
Britain, where similar legislation was an unqualified success.
However, the Bill has not been submitted to Parliament since the
experts have not yet reached unanimous agreement on it.
A second method, which is advocated by those who favour the
voluntary co-operation system current in the United States, would
be to undertake an intensive publicity campaign among employers
and the general public to overcome their prejudices against
employing disabled persons and to encourage voluntary offers of
employment. I n the autumn of 1952 a campaign was carried out
by means of broadcast programmes devoted to the favourable
experiences of employers who had already lent a hand in finding
a solution to the problem. The interministerial committee has set
up a working p a r t y to co-ordinate and encourage publicity of every
kind.
The Directorate of Manpower is also tackling the problem of
finding stable employment for disabled persons through a scheme
of on-the-job retraining based on profitable contracts for employers.
Standard contracts are offered in which the Directorate of Manpower
or whatever department has hitherto been responsible for the
person concerned undertakes to contribute a specified proportion
(usually half) of his wages throughout his training period. On
12 October 1953 the Minister of Labour and Social Security issued
a circular drawing attention to the advantages of retraining
disabled persons within undertakings. 1
I n 1952 the Minister of Finance, following u p a recommendation passed b y the interministerial committee, decided t h a t the
tax exemptions hitherto granted t o craftsmen employing no more
t h a n one journeyman and one apprentice would continue to apply
1
The texts of the circular and of the model contract for employment of this
kind were published in Réadaptation, 3Teb. 1954, pp. 53-54 ; see also ibid., J a n .
1953, p . 28, and Feb. 1954, p . 26.

GUTDANCE SERVICES FOB ADULTS

only to those craftsmen who also engaged one disabled person. The
number of craftsmen of this kind is relatively large (some 100,000)
and it is expected t h a t a substantial number of vacancies for the
vocational training and employment of disabled persons will thus
become available in particularly suitable family-type surroundings.
A number of other useful schemes have been devised. A
special " situations vacant and situations wanted " column for
disabled persons and former invalids has been included in the
Ministry of Labour Bulletin national de compensation ; and the
Bulletin d'information et de documentation professionnelles, also
published by the Ministry of Labour, now regularly includes an
article on rehabilitation of the disabled. The University Statistics
and Documentation Office has opened a documentation section
for former invalids and has also started publication of a new
periodical called Réadaptation.
In addition, at a meeting held
on 7 May 1952 the interministerial committee for the vocational
rehabilitation of the disabled decided to make a systematic survey
of jobs suitable for disabled persons and also considered the possibility of supplementing some of the occupational and job monographs published by the Directorate of Manpower by incorporating
information on the types of disabled persons capable of following
the occupations concerned. 1
But the most important of the administrative measures so
far taken to facilitate placement of disabled persons has probably
been the opening of specialised services centralising within a
single administrative unit all the successive operations necessary
for resettlement. The personnel of these services includes welfare
workers, medical practitioners, vocational psychologists and
placement officers. There are still very few of them and they
are as yet more or less in the experimental stage. Credit for setting
them up is due to several different departments. In Paris the
Directorate of Manpower has opened its own vocational resettlement service as a specialised section of its manpower services ;
the social security funds have opened another. These two services
deal with disabled persons of all types and have a total staff of
seven vocational psychologists. In addition the vocational resettlement service of the Directorate of Manpower and the Public
Social Health Office have organised a joint vocational resettlement
clinic for arrested tuberculosis cases, which is open once a week in
the latter's radiography department. A number of pilot projects
1

Bulletin d'information

et de documentation professionnelles,

1 J u n e 1952, p . 65.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

have been started along similar lines in the provinces, e.g., by
the Directorate of Manpower in Rennes and Bourg and jointly by
the social security authorities and the manpower services in Nancy.1
It is now fully recognised that, where the different technical
services cannot be completely integrated in a single unit, they
have to keep in close contact with each other, and a circular signed
by the Ministers of Labour and Public Health was issued on 30
April 1953 to co-ordinate the work of all the services concerned
in the rehabilitation of the disabled more closely.2 The main aim
of this circular was to set up in each département a vocational
rehabilitation committee assisted by a vocational guidance subcommittee. These committees include officials and medical officers
of the Ministry of Labour's manpower services as well as representatives of the social security funds and of the appropriate
departments of the Ministry of Health and Population and the
Ministry of Ex-service Men. By the beginning of 1954, 46 departmental committees had already been set up and 42 others were
in process of formation.3
In a further effort to promote co-operation among the regional
bodies concerned, in January 1953 the departmental directorate
of manpower of Isère convened a meeting at Grenoble for the study
of industrial medicine and the rehabilitation of the disabled, at
which a number of valuable reports were adopted.4
No attempt will be made here to analyse the methods used
in the guidance tests given to the disabled, since such a study
belongs to another part of this report. Even so, in this section
on the administrative organisation of the services responsible, it
is important to note how differently and how much better an
aptitude test can be held when the testing officer works as a member
of a team and can at once compare his findings with those of his
colleagues and discuss the situation with them before reaching
his conclusions, instead of working alone with only a file to guide
him in handling what are almost always very complex cases
involving closely interlocked social, medical, occupational and
economic factors.
1
For details of t h e system of teamwork adopted by the resettlement centre
in Nancy, see S. FTTCHS and J . C. RYCKBLYNCK : " L e service de reclassement
professionnel des diminués physiques ", in Réadaptation, Feb.-Mar. 1953, p p . 5-6 ;
Apr. 1953, p p . 5-8 ; and May 1953, p p . 5-6.
2
J.O., 13 May 1953, p . 4378.
3
Réadaptation, J a n . ] 954, p p . 6-7.
4
" L a journée dauphinoise de médecine du travail et de reclassement des
diminués physiques (1953) ", ibid., Feb. 1954, p p . 9-56.

GUIDANCE SERVICES FOE ADTJLTS

I n the provinces many areas are still without a centralised
resettlement service ; the multi-purpose vocational selection
centres consequently assume responsibility for examining disabled
persons, and independent work is the general rule. Usually,
the centres have one vocational psychologist specialising in this
type of work and from time to time he visits various localities in
his area to examine a batch of applicants summoned for the occasion. As a rule they have already been given an initial screening
in a sanatorium or convalescent home, which has sent them to the
manpower service for examination by its medical officers and
vocational psychologists in preparation for their placement. In
areas where there are many sanatoria (e.g., in the Lyons region)
the testing of disabled persons is becoming an extremely important
field task for the vocational selection centres.
The findings of the examination are sent for appropriate action
to the agency which referred the case. These findings, provided they
are not merely a confirmation of the person's unsuitability for work
of any kind, recommend either t h a t he should be given vocational
training or rehabilitation or that he should be found a job immediately. In the first case he is directed to a suitable retraining
institution, which may be either an adult vocational training
centre of the ordinary type or a centre specialising in the vocational retraining of the disabled (with or without boarding facilities). I t should be remembered that the budget of the adult
vocational training centres is also used to maintain a few rehabilitation centres for the disabled—one for persons suffering
from heart conditions, three for arrested tuberculosis cases, two
specialised sections for the disabled in two adult vocational training
centres and a network of. centres run by the League for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled 1 , making 12 centres in all. 2
No general figures for the results obtained in the vocational
resettlement of the disabled have ever been made public, but
some information is nevertheless available for the Paris area,
where, in 1950, the various resettlement services run by the manpower and social security authorities opened a total of 4,883 files
on persons needing guidance. Of this number, 3,893 were recommended for direct employment and 990 for vocational retraining—
841 in centres and 149 in undertakings under individual contracts.
In 1951 2,418 persons applied for guidance to the resettlement
1

Ligue pour l'adaptation du diminué physique au travail.
At the end of 1951, 446 trainees were being rehabilitated in these centres
(Bulletin d'information et de documentation professionnelles, 1 J a n . 1952, p . 61).
2

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

services rim by the manpower authorities ; 1,878 were considered
suitable for resettlement, and of this number 1,465 were helped
to find immediate employment and 413 had to be retrained, 329 in
centres and 84 under contract in undertakings.1
When the vocational psychologist of a multi-purpose selection
centre recommends placement he sends the examinee to one of
the placement offices of the departmental manpower services.
These offices may be some distance away, and it is therefore rare
for more than one examination to be given. In a centralised
resettlement service, on the other hand, the vocational psychologist's recommendations are followed up by a placement officer
also belonging to the service, who, should he find that the prospects
of employment in the occupation recommended are unfavourable,
can always ask the psychologist for bis advice before seeking in
another direction. Hence, although the placement work of the
centralised resettlement services is not as yet entirely satisfactory
and attempts are still being made to improve their working
methods, far better results in the placement of the disabled are
obtained with this system than with the general manpower services. In the month of January 1951 the resettlement service
of the Manpower Directorate in Paris succeeded in placing 61
of its 195 applicants, or 31 per cent, while in the same month
the general manpower services succeeded in placing barely
10 per cent, of disabled applicants.

1
Bulletin
p. 61.

d'information

et de documentation

professionnelles,

15 June 1952,

CHAPTER III
AUXILIARY SERVICES
I n addition to the two main official services, whose essential
task is to provide vocational guidance examinations—the first
for adolescents required by law to undergo them, and the second
for specific types of adult workers who are either obliged to take
the tests or are at least in very urgent need of employment counselling—a large number of widely different services and institutions
are also at work in this field.
Some of them engage directly in vocational guidance proper,
differing from the official services either in that they serve particular sections of the population only incidentally covered, if at
all, by the official services, or in t h a t they use some method other
t h a n t h a t of an examination. Others assist the vocational guidance
services of the Ministry of National Education and the vocational
selection services of the Ministry of Labour by supplying them
with the economic and occupational information essential to valid
counselling. Others again undertake methodological studies and
research t h a t further the science of vocational psychology, which
is the keystone of French vocational guidance work.
I n the second part of this study, which is devoted to vocational
guidance methods, frequent reference will be made to the work
of these services and institutions. A brief description of their
administrative structure is consequently all t h a t is needed here.
The wide range of activities in which a single institution often
engages makes it impossible to classify the auxiliary services into
specific categories (e.g., as vocational psychology research institutes,
economic documentation centres, publicity services and so forth)
and an individual presentation will consequently be adopted in the
following description of those most directly concerned in the work
of vocational guidance. The examples mentioned are merely a
representative selection of a wide variety of services and institutions
associated in this work from time to time.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

THE

UNIVERSITY

EDUCATIONAL

AND

OCCUPATIONAL

STATISTICS AND DOCUMENTATION OFFICE

The University Educational ana Occupational Statistics and
Documentation Office x was founded in 1932 under the Association
Act of 1901 by the Confederation of Non-Manual Workers, the
National Union of French Students, the Parents' Federation and
the National Vocational Guidance Institute (now the National
Labour Research and Vocational Guidance Institute 2 ). Like
the National Inter-Occupational Association for the Rational
Training of Labour 3 it was therefore an independent association
and not a government department. However, under an Act of
8 April 1954 4 it was transformed into a financially autonomous
public body with legal personality. The Office comes under the
authority of two ministries : the Ministry of National Education
exercises general control over it and appoints its director, while
the Ministry of Labour and Social Security is responsible for occupational documentation. It is financed by means of subsidies
from the State and from public bodies, private contributions,
gifts and legacies and from income from the sale of its publications.
However, its budget is drawn up by the Ministries of National
Education and Finance.
The governing body of the Office comprises representatives of—
(a) several of the departments of the Ministry of National
Education (higher, secondary and primary education ; technical
education ; the National Educational Documentation Centre ;
the University Foreign and Oversea France Liaison Service ; and
the Comptroller of the Ministry) ;
(b) two departments of the Ministry of Labour (labour and
manpower) ;
(c) the education department of the Ministry for Oversea
France ;
(d) the education department of the Ministry of Agriculture ;
(e) associations of non-manual workers and students ;
1
Bureau universitaire de statistique et de documentation scolaire et professionnelle. Usually known in France b y its initials " B.U.S. ".
2
See below, p . 67.
3
See above, p p . 39-40.
4
Act No. S4-389 of 8 Apr. 1954 regarding t h e University Educational and
Occupational Statistics and Documentation Office (J.O., 9 Apr. 1954, p p . 34183419).

AUXILIARY SERVICES

(f)
(g)
guished
(h)
(i)

parents' and family associations ;
the National Demographic Institute and persons distinin the fields of documentation and statistics ;
the Office itself ; and
the parliament.

Administratively the University Office is composed of a general
secretariat, a number of central services in Paris, and various
regional services.
The central services are divided into six sections, concerned
respectively with educational and occupational statistics, inquiries
and publications, educational guidance, periodicals 1 , assistance
to former invalids and disabled persons, and relations with experimental junior secondary school classes. In 1951 these services
employed a permanent staff of 35, assisted by a number of trainees.
Regional services 2 have been set up in each of the 17 academic
regions in France (including Algeria), and also in French institutes
abroad and various territories of the French Union. Each regional
service normally employs a staff of three to five. I n addition
the University Office employs part-time " teacher representatives ",
who work as correspondents. They circulate information and
can be regularly consulted in most university, secondary and
technical educational establishments, in both France and North
Africa.
The director of each of these services is assisted by a committee
comprising the regional representatives of the same ministries
and bodies as are represented on the governing body of the University Office.
The essential purpose of the University Office, in its own words,
is to collect and make available to pupils and students of all kinds,
their parents, teachers, vocational guidance counsellors, employers
and civil servants, as complete a documentation as possible
to guide young persons in choosing their studies and careers. 3
I t prepares and circulates this material in close co-operation
with the representatives of the professions and bodies concerned ;
1
Comprising the reviews Avenirs and Réadaptation, the Feuillets documentaires,
communiqués and press releases and information and documentation bulletins for
primary and secondary schools, etc.
2
There are 28 such services. For a complete list see Avenirs, Apr.-May 1954,
p . 88.
3
" L'orientation professionnelle en France ", op. cit., p . 2. For the organisation
and duties of the University Office, see also ROSIER : " L'orientation de la jeunesse intellectuelle et la documentation scolaire et professionnelle ", in Bulletin
d'information et de documentation professionnelles, 1 Aug, 1953, p p . 77-83.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N FRANCE

by agreement with the Ministry of Labour it may also participate
in the placement of students and graduates at the conclusion
of their studies.
In its documentary work the University Office has not neglected
manual trades, on which it has published several monographs.
Most of its time is nevertheless devoted to assembling information
on non-manual occupations and to guiding secondary school pupils
and university students.
In this respect the University Office acts as an ancillary to the
two main guidance services, whose organisation has been described
above. Through its consultation services it does parallel guidance
work, especially among the secondary school pupils and university
students, with whom it is more particularly concerned. Much of
this work is vocational, but the greater part of it is educational
(advice on suitable courses of study in schools and universities).
In this way it to some extent supplements the work of the
other two services but its guidance methods are nevertheless rather
different from theirs, since it has hitherto been ill-equipped for
aptitude testing. Only one of its centres has a staff of guidance
counsellors, who tour the provinces for short periods from time to
time. Its guidance work is therefore concentrated on the students
who call or write for advice ; in 1951 it received a total of nearly
200,000 applications. Another important difference lies in the
voluntary nature of its vocational guidance consultations and
examinations. Since no law has yet been passed obliging secondary
school pupils and university students to undergo guidance examinations, all the consultations and examinations are arranged at
the request of those concerned. By contrast most of the cases
handled by the vocational guidance and selection services are
applications made in compliance with the law.
The University Office also has a documentation section for
former invalids and a placement service which finds part-time
jobs for needy students. Here again, it endeavours to choose jobs
suited to the candidates' aptitudes.
THE SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY SERVICES

The school psychology services are still in an experimental
stage. They first began to develop—unofficially at the outset—
after the Second World War, with the support of a certain number
of important figures in the field of state education who were convinced of their usefulness. Their purpose was defined as promoting

AUXILIARY SERVICES

the adaptation of the child to the school and the school to the child.
An educational reform committee set up in 1944 included these
services within the scope of its activity. Article 49 of the memorandum prepared by the Committee and submitted for comment
to the Higher Council for National Education by the Minister of
Education on 5 December 1949 stated t h a t " together with pedagogic supervision . . . there shall be psychological supervision
of pupils aimed at obtaining all desirable information on the individual peculiarities of children and their psychological development. Such supervision shall be effected by school psychologists
trained in university psychology institutes . . . in co-operation
with the medical officers responsible for school health. " Article
51 of the same memorandum stated t h a t " the regulations governing
scholastic and vocational guidance " a would be laid down by
decrees and orders. The subject of educational reform in general
has not yet come before Parliament, but the experiment with school
psychology services is continuing and developing as the necessary
staff are trained at the Child Psychology Laboratory (previously
known as the Laboratory of Psychobiology), which introduced the
experiment in the first place.
The Laboratory only accepts for training primary or secondary
school teachers with at least five years' service and holding diplomas
from the Institute of Psychology in at least two subjects, namely,
applied and educational psychology.
On completing their training the psychologists are attached to
schools of the type from which they originally came (i.e., primary
or secondary) ; they are responsible to the principal of the school
b u t are not required to take any regular classes. Their duties
consist in helping their colleagues to deal with all the psychological
problems of school life. Their two main tasks are to study the
psychological basis of the different subjects in the school syllabus
and to examine individual cases of maladjustment, whatever their
cause.
As a rule they only have to deal with normal children suffering
from minor disturbances, since children suffering from serious
mental abnormalities are placed in special classes for deficient
children (classes de perfectionnement) and do not come under their
supervision ; however, they naturally have a voice in the selection
of the children who should receive such special teaching. As the
1
Bulletin de l'Institut national d'étude du travail et d'orientation professionnelle,
Jan.-Feb. 1950, p . 23. For a note ou the training of school psychologists see
ibid., Sep.-Oct. 1951, p . 137.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N FRANCE

number of school psychologists is small, however, they concentrate
mainly on difficult cases of maladjustment to school life and of
psychological conflicts caused by the effects on the child of undesirable circumstances in family or school life. I n some teaching establishments the school psychologist is a member of the teachers'
council, where his special knowledge of psychological questions is
a valuable asset in the general organisation of school life.
One of the duties of the school psychologist is to help pupils
to choose the most suitable type of general studies, b u t not their
future career. He advises and guides the children in the field of
general education, but his responsibilities do not extend to technical
education. For a time there was some difficulty in defining the
competence of the school psychologist and the vocational guidance
counsellor respectively, but the two services concerned have now
succeeded in adjusting the fields they cover so as to complement
and assist one another's work. For example, school psychologists
keep a continuous record of their observations on each child they
have to deal with ; this record provides a solid core of information, which considerably adds to the knowledge of the child's
psychological tendencies and attitudes (if not of his technical
aptitudes) and makes the vocational guidance examination itself
much easier.
The school psychologists have formed associations and, since
1949, have organised a number of conferences which the representatives of the public education authorities have encouraged
by attending. This suggests t h a t the organisation of the
school psychology services may eventually be officially regulated.
I n particular, at the conference held in Grenoble in December
1950 a clearer definition of the desirable relationship between
the activity of the school psychologist and t h a t of the related
services (the school medical service, the school information service
of the University Statistics and Documentation Office and the
vocational guidance service) was worked out and a number of
suggestions were p u t forward relating t o methods of co-operation
among them.

T H E OBSERVATION CENTRES OF T H E REFORMATORY

EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT

As a result of the reform of the re-education institutions for
juvenile delinquents under an ordinance dated 2 February 1945
supplemented by regulations promulgated on 27 October 1945

AUXILIAEY SEBVIOES

and 20 July 1950, facilities have been organised for vocational
guidance and psychological investigation into methods of general
and technical education suitable for all children in charge of the
judicial authorities.
A proper vocational guidance centre with the standing of a
voluntary centre 1 is attached to the Paris Juvenile Court. It is
used principally for the examination of children living under the
supervision of a probation officer while their cases are being examined or receiving rehabilitation treatment without detention
(cure libre). In the provinces these children are sometimes examined at ordinary vocational guidance centres.
However, the reformatory education authorities have also
developed their own methods of investigating juvenile delinquents;
in addition to psychological, psychiatric and aptitude examinations
(and sometimes psycho-analysis as well) they use continuous
observation methods so as to gain a closer insight into the personality of the child, his physical and mental condition, his intellectual standards and his scholastic and vocational aptitudes.2
These methods are applied mainly in the residential institutions known as reception and observation centres (centres d'accueil
et d'observation). Here the observation work is generally done
jointly by the team of specialists responsible for the child, namely,
the doctor, the social welfare worker, the educators, etc. The
observations of these specialists are collated by an " educatorobserver ". Attempts are being made to extend the observation
system to juvenile delinquents not detained in centres by entrusting the task to the probation officers. The examinations, supplemented by continuous observation, are designed to give an indication
of the prospects of re-educating juveniles and making them useful
members of society ; here vocational training has an important
part to play. Under the new methods apprenticeship is directed
not towards obtaining immediate returns but towards a thorough
study of all the techniques of the trade concerned on the basis
of the principle that " the greater the child's maladjustment to
social life, the more desirable it is that he should be helped to
reach a high rank in his trade ". 3
1

Regarding voluntary vocational guidance centres see above, p. 17.
See in particular " La délinquance juvénile en Prance ", in La documentation
française : Notes et études documentaires,
19 Jan. 1951. This article is a revised
summary of a course proposed in 1949-50 to the Institute of Criminology of t h e
Paris Faculty of Law b y J . L. COSTA, Director of t h e Reformatory Education
Department of t h e Ministry of Justice.
3
" La délinquance juvénile en France ", op. cit., p . 23.
a

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N FRANCE

The decision to send a minor to a particular educational institution offering particular training facilities is thus an extremelyimportant one and is directed by the results of observation at the
reception centre. In certain establishments observation techniques
are needed to divide the inmates up into homogeneous groups,
so that educational methods suitable to the temperament of
each group can be used. These methods have been applied with
particular thoroughness at the Neufchâteau institute. 1
During recent years great efforts have been made to improve
the qualifications of educators and observers by organising inservice courses on elementary psychology and pedagogy. In 1951
the training period for such personnel was lengthened to two
years. Vocational training officers have the same status as teachers
in state technical training schools and all persons employed in
the special vocational guidance centres must hold the diploma
of vocational guidance counsellor.2
It should be noted that in addition to training centres attached
to Roman Catholic and other private institutions there are several
state universities teaching subjects that might be useful in the
initial or advanced training of staff for these services and for
the special classes of mentally deficient children.3
The institutions concerned are as follows :
(1) the Institute of Applied Psychology and Mental Hygiene
at Clermont-Ferrand ;
(2) the School of Practical Psychology and Pedagogy at
Lyons ;
(3) the Institute of Medico-Social Educational Psychology at
Montpellier ;
(4) the Centre for Psycho-Technical Study at Rennes ;
(5) the Institute of Educational Psychology in the Faculty
of Arts of the University of Strasbourg and the Training School
for Specialist Educators (for delinquents and the maladjusted),
which is also under the patronage of that faculty ; and
1
See Réalisations, 1950, published for t h e Second International Criminology
Conference, Paris, 1950 ; and H . MICHABD : ' ' L'expérience de l'éducation surveillée —
Les stages de perfectionnement d'éducateurs ", in Sauvegarde de l'enfance (Union
nationale des associations régionales pour la sauvegarde de l'enfance et de l'adolescence), Oct.-Dee. 1952, pp. 699-705.
2
Ministère de la Justice, Direction de l'éducation surveillée : Rapport
annuel à M. le garde des sceaux, 1951, p p . 42-43. See also " La délinquance juvénile
en France ", op. cit., p . 26.
3
On this subject see Sauvegarde de l'enfance, Oct.-Dec. 1952. The entire issue
is devoted to an article on t h e training of technicians to deal with maladjusted
children and schools for special teachers for this work.

AUXILIARY SERVICES

(6) several neuro-psycbiatric and mental hygiene clinics in
Paris and Lyons where courses for specialised educators are
organised from time to time.
GUIDANCE

SERVICES EOR DISABLED

YOUNG

PERSONS

Vocational guidance for disabled adults has already been
discussed in Chapter I I in connection with the vocational selection
services of the Ministry of Labour, which are to a large extent
responsible for it. Vocational guidance for disabled children and
adolescents is provided by the ordinary vocational guidance centres,
working in combination with various specialised institutions.
For children with marked mental deficiencies an Act of 15
August 1909 provided t h a t special classes (classes de perfectionnement) should be run in the elementary schools under the responsibility of the départements or communes, and that separate
b o a r d i n g schools should b e o p e n e d for t h e g e n e r a l a n d v o c a t i o n a l

education of deficient and maladjusted children incapable of
following an ordinary course of study. The Act further instituted
so-called " medico-pedagogic " committees to decide on the admission of children to specialised education of this type. For the
purpose of this selection the committees, which are composed
of the local elementary-school inspector, a medical practitioner
and a headmaster or teacher from one of the special schools or
classes, are required to arrange a psychological, medical and psychiatric examination. The children admitted t o the special schools
or classes are taught by experts trained as a general rule at the
National Special Education Centre at Beaumont-sur-Oise. Throughout their elementary schooling the children are kept under constant
observation, which helps in determining what type of vocational
training they should receive. 1
The blind, the deaf and dumb, and other persons with serious
infirmities are covered by the Act of 2 August 1949, which provides
t h a t the State shall grant them special assistance, both for their
education and vocational training and for any maintenance they
may need. Under a decree of 16 March 1952, which made it compulsory t o register handicapped children under 15 years of age,
any handicapped child incapable of following a course of study
1
For further information regarding these classes, see " Enfants déficients et
inadaptés •— La législation de 1909 ", in L'école publique (Ministère de l'Education
nationale), 27 Apr. 1950, p. 3, and " Les problèmes de l'enfance inadaptée — Les
classes de perfectionnement annexées aux écoles primaires ", ibid., 4 J a n . 1951.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N FRANCE

at an ordinary school or apprentice training centre may be admitted
to a specialised institution on the basis either of a guidance test
given by the technical education services or of an examination
by a medico-pedagogic committee.
Even in determining the scholastic and vocational aptitudes
of mentally deficient and other maladjusted children, the progress
achieved b y the school psychology and vocational guidance services
has now made it possible in an increasing number of cases to substitute an examination by experts accustomed to handling normal
cases for one by a special committee (which can only have a limited
knowledge of occupational problems). I n this way French practice
is coming to coincide more closely with the methods advocated
by the Joint Expert Committee on the Physically Handicapped
Child, convened by the World Health Organisation with the participation of the United Nations, the International Labour Organisation and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation in December 1951. 1 This Committee recommended
t h a t guidance and training for handicapped children should be
given as far as possible through the normal services provided for
youth, or in close co-operation with such services, so as to facilitate
the social adjustment of these children by giving them access to
the best training institutions and offering them a wide choice of
trades and professions.
I n practice all vocational guidance centres occasionally examine
defective children, but the work is so delicate t h a t the tendency
is to hand them over to the centres best equipped t o deal with
them, i.e., those with experienced guidance officers and with
facilities to follow up their counselling. I n the Paris area the
most difficult cases are generally referred to the working centre
of the National Labour Research and Vocational Guidance Institute. 2 I n addition the welfare workers attached to institutions
having their own vocational guidance centres are well placed
to discover deficiencies among the children of families they visit.
They bring the children to the centres, even though their condition
is often such t h a t no examination is legally required. As a result
these centres (and particularly those run by the Family Allowance
F u n d and the French National Railways) handle a particularly
high percentage of maladjusted children.
Private institutions play a very important part in the guidance
1

World Health Organisation : Technical Report No. 58 (1952).
See above, p. 24. See also A. NBPVBTT : " L'orientation professionnelle des
jeunes handicapés ", in Réadaptation, J a n . 1954, p . 21.
2

AUXILIARY SERVICES

and training of physically and mentally deficient children and
a number of associations and institutions have endeavoured to
co-ordinate their work by founding two large national federations,
the National Union of Regional Associations for the Protection
of Children and Adolescents 1 and the National Inter-Federal
Union of Agencies for Private Health and Social Work. 2 The
annual congresses of these two unions have frequently discussed the
problems involved in the vocational guidance and training of maladjusted and deficient children and have passed a number of
recommendations to guide their members in this particular aspect
of their work. 3

T H E NATIONAL LABOUR RESEARCH AND
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE

INSTITUTE

The National Labour Research and Vocational Guidance
I n s t i t u t e i is a section of the Conservatoire national des arts et
métiers, which is under the authority of the Secretariat for Technical
Education. The teaching work of the Institute has already
been described in connection with the training of vocational guidance
officers, for which it is responsible. 6 I t also plays a part in the
organisation of vocational guidance examinations, maintaining
for its pupils a practical training centre with the status of a volunt a r y centre and a staff of four vocational guidance counsellors.
All pupils in primary schools in the fifth district of Paris are
required to take their statutory vocational guidance examination
at the Institute on reaching the school-leaving age (i.e., 14 years).
I n addition pupils attending continuation classes (cours complémentaires) in the district who want advice may apply to the
centre. Lastly, particularly difficult cases are sent to the centre
from all over the Paris region. I n all, the centre gives guidance
to about a thousand children and young persons each year ; some
three thousand families also apply to it every year for information
on vocational or scholastic matters.
1
Union nationale des associations régionales pour la sauvegarde de l'enfance
et de l'adolescence (U.N.A.R.).
a
Union nationale interfédérale des œuvres privées sanitaires et sociales
(U.N.I.O.P.S.S.).
3
See, more particularly, Sauvegarde de l'enfance, Oct.-Dec. 1952 and MayJ u n e 1953.
4
For a detailed description of its structure and working methods, see BINOP,
special number, Sep. 1953.
6
See above, p p . 23-27.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IK M A N C E

However, the Institute also engages in research work and two
of its departments do nothing else. The first of these departments,
known as the Research Centre, studies tests. I t analyses tests
used in foreign countries (and in certain cases translates and adapts
them for use in France), prepares new ones, validates and establishes norms for those used b y the vocational guidance services,
and so on. Its staff consists of five vocational guidance counsellors,
two or three vocational psychologists and two secretaries.
The second department is known as the Centre for Study and
Documentary Research on Technical Education. I t was originally
an independent service known as the National Centre for Vocational
Information, but was taken over by the Institute in 1945. I t s main
task is to collect statistical and technical information on trades
and the demand for labour in the different parts of the country
and on vocational training facilities available in technical training
institutions, and to keep it up to date. I n this work it is expected t o co-operate with the technical education inspectors and
the departmental manpower committees.
The National Institute also maintains a specialised vocational
psychology and industrial physiology library for its research
workers and pupils. This library contains not only books but
also a large number of reviews published in France and other
countries 1 and a collection of aptitude tests and trade monographs.
The members of the Institute's staff do not have the status of
civil servants b u t are employed under contract b y the technical
education authorities. For purposes of remuneration they are
divided into six categories and their salaries are fixed periodically
in an order issued by the Minister of National Education. 2
The Institute issues a review 3 in which it publishes the findings
of its own research work and gives information on similar work
done in other countries.

THE

VOCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY STUDY AND R E S E A R C H

CENTRE

The Vocational Psychology Study and Research Centre has
already been mentioned in connection with the selection services
1
I n 1953 the laboratory contained some 10,000 volumes and collections of
about 120 reviews. Cf. BINOP, special number, Sep. 1953, p . 76.
2
See, in particular, t h e order of 11 J a n u a r y 1951, in Bulletin officiel de l'éducation
nationale, 25 J a n . 1951, p . 301.
3
BINOP.
Until 1952 this bulletin was known as Bulletin de l'Institut
national d'étude du travail et d'orientation
professionnelle.

AUXILIARY SERVICES

under the authority of the Ministry of Labour. I t was recently
placed in charge of these services after being responsible for coordination between selection centres and for their technical supervision from 1947 onwards. The Centre was established to replace
the Manpower Scientific Centre, which was established before the
Second World War but whose work was interrupted for some time,
and is a branch of the National Inter-Occupational Association for the
Rational Training of Labour (A.N.I.F.R.M.O.). 1
As its name suggests, the Centre was constituted mainly for
scientific research. This aspect of its duties is still of great importance, as it works out the methods of vocational psychology to
be used b y the selection services, collects the vocational information
they need and trains their personnel. Thus apart from its administrative tasks the Centre has responsibilities towards the vocational
selection services for adults comparable to those of the National
Labour Research and Vocational Guidance Institute towards the
v o c a t i o n a l g u i d a n c e services for y o u n g p e r s o n s .

THE

VOCATIONAL

SUPERVISORS'

TRAINING

INSTITUTE

Another branch of the A.N.I.F.R.M.O. should be mentioned,
namely, the Vocational Supervisors' Training Institute. This
Institute is responsible for the organisation of training courses for
instructors in adult training centres and preparing and periodically
revising their training syllabuses. These syllabuses of course have
an influence on the problems raised by the selection of applicants
for training in the centres.

T H E NATIONAL CENTRE FOR SCIENTIFIC R E S E A R C H

The work on industrial physiology and human biometry carried on since 1946 by the National Centre for Scientific Research 2,
a department of the Ministry of National Education, through its
Centre for the Scientific Study of Man (which includes a laboratory
of human biometry) has provided a solid basis for the essentially
practical science of vocational psychology in France. The scientists
1

See above, p p . 39-40.
Centre national de la recherche scientifique (C.N.R.S.). After the Second
World War the Centre took over the work done before 1940 by t h e Laboratory
of Industrial Physiology, a department of the Conservatoire national des arts et
métiers. For further details of these bodies see BINOP,
special number, Sep.
1953, p p . 88-91.
2

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N FRANCE

who are co-operating or have co-operated in this work are keenly
interested in problems of industrial psychology and physiology
and the results of their investigations have often been published
in the review Le travail humain.1
Since its reorganisation (under an ordinance dated 2 November
1945 and the Act of 2 June 1948) the numerous research departments of the Centre have included a centre for the study of
industrial techniques, the work of which may also make a useful
contribution to vocational psychology.

THE LABORATORY FOR APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY AND
THE LABORATORY FOR CHILD PSYCHOLOGY

The Laboratory for Applied Psychology 2 and the Laboratory
for Child Psychology 3 are research institutions attached to the
Institute of Higher Studies of the University of Paris. Their
premises are in the same building as the I.N.E.T.O.P., which
facñitates co-operation among all three. Their work is of direct
benefit to vocational psychology. Of particular interest is the
work done b y the Applied Psychology Laboratory on apprentices,

techniques for the training of adults, the value of trade tests,
aptitudes for different trades, selection methods for recruitment of
drivers of vehicles and engines of different kinds, etc., while the
work of the Child Psychology Laboratory has been especially
valuable in the development of the school psychology services and
the scholastic guidance of schoolchildren.4

SELECTION AND GUIDANCE SERVICES ATTACHED
TO STATE TECHNICAL UNDERTAKINGS

A number of technical undertakings run by the State have
their own vocational selection and guidance services for the
recruitment, assignment and promotion of their employees.
The vocational psychology services in the workshops of the
French National Railways (S.N.C.F.) and the Paris Underground
are among the oldest and were the scene of the earliest research by
1
Founded in 1933 by J . M. Lahy and H . Laugier, and published b y t h e
Laboratory for Applied Psychology.
2
Laboratoire de psychologie appliquée.
3
Laboratoire de psychologie de l'enfant.
4
See BINOP, special number, Sep. 1953, p p . 92-102.

AUXILIARY SERVICES

the pioneers of the science. These centres have no connection with
the vocational guidance centres which the S.N.C.F. runs for the
children of railway employees as part of its programme of social
services. I t is interesting to note that only a very small number
of these children are guided towards employment in the railways. 1
The Ministry of National Defence also has its own vocational
psychology services for the selection and guidance of employees
in its workshops and technical departments. The most highly
developed of these services would appear to be t h a t for air force
staff.
Certain large nationalised undertakings, such as the Renault
car factory, also have their own vocational psychology services.

GUIDANCE OE SELECTION CENTRES ADMINISTERED B Y
OCCUPATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Reference was made in Chapter I to the vocational guidance
centres established and administered by chambers of trades, since
they are considered as voluntary centres forming part of the
public vocational guidance services for young persons. 2 However,
mention should be made at this point of an auxiliary guidance
programme applied in the workshop schools run b y the Paris
chamber of commerce based on the principle of guidance through
pre-apprenticeship. This group of workshop-schools for guidance
and apprenticeship comprises seven institutions with vocational
training facilities for a number of " male ", " female ", or " mixed "
trades. I n April 1952 there were 2,500 pupils in these schools and
during the same year the number of pupils trained by them since
their inception in 1921 reached a total of 36,300. The studies
generally begin with an experimental course to see if the branch
chosen is the right one for the pupil, and during the subsequent
apprenticeship his behaviour is under continuous observation ;
his progress is checked against the stages of progression worked
out for each type of syllabus, and it can thus be seen how well
he is adapting himself to the type of apprenticeship he has chosen.
If the pupil is not doing well he is given an individual examination,
where necessary by a vocational guidance counsellor, and transferred to another of the schools to follow a more suitable appren1
Only 17 to 20 per cent, according to information provided by one of these
centres.
2
See above, p . 17.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

ticeship course. If this also fails the social service attempts to
find him employment. 1
I n addition, a few vocational psychology centres for the examination of adult workers have been established by occupational
groups, mainly for the selection of road transport employees
(drivers of trams, buses, heavy vehicles, etc.) in the interests of
public safety. Some of these centres have developed more or
less close contacts with the public vocational guidance service.
For instance, the counsellors employed by the centre for the
département de l'Ain run the vocational psychology laboratory
for tram and bus drivers administered by the chamber of commerce of Bourg, the administrative centre of the département ;
while in Lyons the vocational psychology centre for drivers administered by the chamber of commerce and the departmental
vocational guidance centre use the same medical equipment
jointly.
SPECIAL SERVICES FOR N O R T H AFRICANS

Many North Africans use the same facilities as nationals of
metropolitan France to obtain guidance for vocational training,
t h a t is to say, they are examined at a regional vocational selection
centre with a view to admission to an adult vocational training
centre. Unfortunately, some applicants have found it difficult to
benefit from the instruction given in the training centres and
a high percentage of them abandon the trades they have chosen
either during or shortly after completing their training. Consequently between 1948 and 1951 the Vocational Psychology Study
and Research Centre 2 itself undertook to examine uneducated
North Africans with a view to developing special selection and
guidance methods as a substitute for the tests generally used, which
presuppose a certain level of formal education. I n addition, the
Directorate of Manpower has opened elementary vocational
training centres, especially in towns where there are already
reception centres for North Africans, to give intelligent but uneducated pupils selected on the basis of a severe examination the
basic general instruction and elementary technical training they
need in order to derive benefit from the rapid training courses
1
A. CONQTJET : Les ateliers-écoles d'orientation professionnelle et d'apprentissage
de la Chambre de commerce de Paris (Paris, Commission européenne de la formation
professionnelle, Apr. 1952).
2
See above, p . 68.

AUXILIARY SERVICES

organised at the adult vocational training centres. At the same
time the suitability of the subject for the training he has applied for
can be ascertained during this preliminary course. In 1952 there
were eight of these centres in all, situated in the following départements : Pyrénées-Orientales, Ariège, Seine-et-Oise, Seine-Inférieure, Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Ardennes and Meuse.
Elementary manual training courses for North African workers
have also been organised (in the cities of Lyons, Marseilles, Charleville and Grenoble) in connection with the adult training courses
provided by the Ministry of National Education. They, too,
help to guide such workers towards a fuller training.

SPECIAL SERVICES FOR THE GUIDANCE AND PLACEMENT
OF IMMIGRANTS AND R E F U G E E S

To help immigrants to adapt themselves to their new surroundings a Social Service for Alien Workers 1 has been set up
under the auspices of the Ministry of Labour. The organisation
and technical control of this service have been assigned to a private
institution—the Social Service for Aid to Emigrants 2 —by an
order of 7 April 1939, which was confirmed after the war by an
order of 1 June 1945. On 1 July 1950 the French Government
also made this service responsible for all assistance given in France
to refugees who had previously been the responsibility of the
International Refugee Organisation (I.R.O.).
In addition to giving such aliens assistance of a humanitarian
character (for instance, by welcoming them on their arrival,
helping them to accomplish administrative formalities and dealing
with their own difficulties and those of their families) the service
helps them to adapt themselves and gradually to become assimilated, taking economic and social conditions into account. In
particular, it attempts to find employment for immigrants and
refugees in co-operation with the official placement services.
The service has branch offices in 36 départements. When
trying to find new employment for an applicant these offices
attempt to guide him towards the most suitable work and to put
him in touch with the office or institution which can place or,
where necessary, retrain him, namely, the vocational selection
service, the service for the rehabilitation of the disabled, and the
1
2

Service social de la main-d'œuvre étrangère.
Service social d'aide aux emigrants (S.S.A.E.).

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N FRANCE

like. The Social Service for Alien Workers also helps its protégés
to conclude on-the-job vocational training contracts, of the type
described above in connection with disabled persons \ by bearing
the expenses of part of the applicant's remuneration (up to as much
as 80 per cent, in cases of extreme need).
Vocational guidance and placement offices for refugees and
ahens 2 have been operating since 1948 in Paris and six towns
in the provinces (Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Lille, Lyons, Nancy,
and Toulouse) ; they are authorised to place workers in jobs in
any part of France, even outside their own areas. As immigrant
refugees include a high proportion of intellectual workers, for
whom it is difficult to find employment in France, the work of
the Social Service for Alien Workers and of the special offices
includes encouraging workers in overcrowded branches to emigrate
and helping them to take the necessary steps. The Ministries
of National Education and of Oversea Territories contribute to
finding suitable jobs, while the Ministry of Health helps to deal
with the medical problems of assistance and rehabilitation.3
A national committee on social sendees for alien workers has
been set up under the auspices of the Ministry of Labour to coordinate the activity of all the institutions and administrative
departments concerned.

See above, p . 52.
Bureaux d'orientation et de placement pour les réfugiés et étrangers
(B.O.P.R.E.).
3
Bulletin d'information et de documentation professionnelles, 15 Apr. 1949,
p . 24 and 1 Feb. 1950, p . 41.
a

PART II
METHODS OF VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE
The first part of this study was devoted to a description of the
administrative organisation of vocational guidance in France and
gave a general outline of how the guidance and selection services
operate, what relations they maintain with one another and with
the various auxiliary services, and how they collaborate with the
education and manpower services of the Ministry of National
Education and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security respectively. Part I I deals with the working methods of the guidance
and selection services. This does not imply that only guidance
pure and simple will be discussed in the ensuing chapters. In order
to accomplish their dual task of personal and collective guidance
the two services largely rely on the results of investigations into
the employment situation, its evolution and its trends, and on the
analysis of the problems and characteristics of the various trades
and professions. Without this fundamental information the
services could not hope to do useful work. Similarly they must be
constantly assessing the validity of their methods and, where
necessary, modifying or correcting them in the light of the results
achieved.
The four following chapters will therefore cover the various
aspects of the practical work carried on by the guidance and
selection services, dealing successively with the compilation and
analysis of essential information, the methods of personal and
collective guidance, and the process of follow-up.

CHAPTER IV
OCCUPATIONAL AND EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION
The practical work of vocational guidance, whether for adults
or young persons, must be based on a knowledge not only of the
personality of the individual under study but of the requirements
of different trades and professions, and of opportunities for
employment and training.
A knowledge of trades and openings is in fact a backcloth
against which the examiner must consider the characteristics of
the subject as he brings them to light. The true facts of economic
life, in which the subject has to choose his way and finally take his
place, must be constantly present in the mind of the counsellor if
his guidance is to be of any real value to the subject. It is therefore logical to consider first of all how vocational guidance counsellors in France acquire a knowledge of these fundamental factors.
KNOWLEDGE OF TKADES AND PROFESSIONS

As was pointed out in Part I, the training syllabus for vocational
guidance counsellors and for vocational psychologists in the
selection services includes occupational analysis. It is, however,
recognised that the short time set aside for this wide subject in
an extremely complex syllabus * only gives the students a general
idea of it, and that they must return to it in greater detail later.
During their entire career counsellors and vocational psychologists
1
The course on trade techniques now included by the National Labour Research
and Vocational Guidance Institute in the training syllabus for counsellors includes
40 lessons (30 in t h e first year and 10 in the second) in which the fundamental
notions of technological analysis (definition of t h e trade, the tools employed,
conditions of work, hygiene and safety, vocational training, remuneration, trends in
and outlook for t h e trade) are taught. I n addition, visits are made under t h e
guidance of the teacher to vocational training centres and industrial, commercial and
agricultural establishments (about 20 per year), practical seminars (about one per
month) are organised at which the students read papers to their colleagues and the
teacher and afterwards discuss them, and cinema and lantern shows are arranged.
Lastly, during the first year the student has to prepare a monograph on a particular trade and, in t h e second year, make a study (with one or two of his fellowstudents) of the evolution of a trade or group of related trades. (See P . Potm,LOT : " Cours de technique des métiers à l'I.N.E.T.O.P.", in BINOP, Sep.-Oct.
1953, pp. 131-H2.)

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N FRANCE

must constantly be widening and deepening their knowledge of
trades and professions and must keep up to date the knowledge
they have already acquired. The regulations governing the vocational guidance service therefore require the regional inspectors to
provide information on trades and professions for the centres.
Naturally, the inspectorates cannot themselves prepare this
information ; they merely collect it and pass it on to the centres.
But what are their sources ?
Various organisations in France collect and disseminate such
information and a number of monographs on particular trades
have already been published by the Centre for Study and Documentary Research on Technical Education 1 (between 1941 and 1945)
and by the University Statistics Office in the form of individual
pamphlets or of notes published in its periodicals2, and also by
the Directorate of Manpower.3
In addition, between 1948 and 1951 the Vocational Psychology
Study and Research Centre attempted to carry out an extremely
detailed analysis of the psychological bases of trades in order to
find the essential movements made in each, and to establish a
correlation between these movements and the physical and mental
aptitudes of the persons examined. As these studies progressed the
difficulties inherent in research of this kind became obvious and
the findings were sharply criticised. The French Association of
Vocational Guidance Counsellors placed the question of trade
monographs on the agenda of its annual general meetings in both
1950 and 1951. The discussions held on both occasions revealed
that the monographs published up to then were of little practical
interest, and that there were wide differences of opinion among
counsellors, industrial medical officers, placement officers, and the
like, with regard to the utility of the various elements on which
the monographs were based, many of the persons concerned
showing some scepticism on scientific grounds.
The dispute between persons who want highly detailed studies
of each job and those who prefer more general studies dealing
comprehensively with entire groups of trades, between those who
want detailed descriptions of all the characteristics of particular
trades and those who are only interested in information relating
1

See above, p . 68.
See above, p . 60. So far about 60 such pamphlets have been published, most
of t h e m relating t o manual trades, in Avenirs, and Les feuillets documentaires.
3
Twenty-one monographs on particular trades were published in the Bulletin
d'information et de documentation professionnelles in 1950 and t h e same number in
1951. One or two new ones are published every month.
2

OCCUPATIONAL AND EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION

to the surroundings in which the trade is carried on, between those
who want statistical information on the shortage or surplus of
manpower in each trade (an essentially variable element) and those
who are interested above all in finding out what training facilities
are available for that particular trade, has not yet been resolved.
Certain psychologists are sceptical of attempts to correlate the
requirements of a particular trade with individual aptitudes and
assert that compensatory factors that cannot be foreseen in theory
often arise in practice (especially among young persons, whose
powers of adaptation are particularly high) ; on the other hand,
certain industrial doctors maintain that it is essential to have at
least some idea of the contra-indications observed by speciaUsts
with a wide practical experience.
To co-ordinate the individual and scattered efforts made to
collect information in this field, an interministerial department
for occupational information, attached to the Directorate of Manpower, has been set up and close co-operation has been developed
between the Directorate and the other departments of the Ministry
of Labour (particularly the medical inspection services), and with
the Directorate of Technical Education in the Ministry of National
Education and the University Statistics Office.1 To meet the criticisms already mentioned it was decided in 1951 that the old
monographs should be replaced by more detailed studies of particular jobs ; these would be relatively short and prepared with the
needs of placement officers in mind, but might also be of use to
doctors and vocational psychologists. They are published in the
Bulletin d'information et de documentation professionnelles as they are
completed, after submission to the employers' association concerned
for approval. To make them easier for the manpower services to
handle, they are also printed in the form of loose-leaf folders of
three or four pages each ; the information most subject to change
is printed on the last page, which can be replaced periodically.
These monographs conform to the following standard pattern
to facilitate reference :
(1) definition of the trade ;
(2) description (with a list of the materials and tools used
and the principal operations involved) ;
(3) principal jobs, forms of specialisation and opportunities
for promotion ;
(4) normal type of work (sedentary, active, open-air, etc.) ;
1

Bulletin d'information

et de documentation professionnelles, 16 Apr. 1951, p . 18.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N FRANCE

(5) qualifications and aptitudes required ;
(6) main contra-indications (sometimes divided into two
groups : absolute and relative) ;
(7) occupational diseases and hazards ;
(8) vocational training ; and, in an appendix, the most variable
factors, namely :
(9) wages ; and
(10) the existing situation on the employment market and
the future outlook.
These monographs or trade sheets are prepared from a national
standpoint and must be supplemented, and sometimes even
amended, to take account of local conditions, since the organisation
of trades often varies considerably from region to region. For example,
the departmental manpower committees, which collect the basic
information needed for inquiries into the main branches of industry
(to be discussed later), frequently call attention to differences
between the accepted dividing line between jobs in their own
areas and the classification in the official nomenclature of trades
and professions. Such disparities in the definition of jobs obviously
affect all the other information collected for the studies concerned.
The counsellors and psychologists in the guidance and selection services work not on the abstract basis of the official nomenclature
but on the concrete basis of local economic conditions and must
know how trades are organised in their particular areas. The regional
vocational guidance inspectorates therefore t r y to include details
of the characteristics of trades in their respective areas in the
information they send to the centres under their authority. This
information may come from the chambers of commerce or of
trades, the departmental manpower services (in which certain
employees have the full-time job of collecting information on
trades) or the workers' organisations themselves.
The personnel of vocational guidance centres must also widen
their knowledge of trades by contact with the different sectors of
economic life ; the director of each centre is required to maintain
contact with the occupational organisations, the placement services and all the Ministry of Labour services in a position to provide
him with useful information on trades and professions.
While some such contact does in fact exist it is recognised by
those directly concerned that the work of a vocational guidance
centre is so absorbing and the field to be explored so vast t h a t the
study of trades and professions, which is of vital importance to coun-

OCCUPATIONAL AND EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION

sellors if they are to widen their horizons, is still one of the weakest
points in the organisation of the vocational guidance services.1
On the other hand, the knowledge of trades required by vocational psychologists in the selection services varies considerably
in scope according to whether their job is to examine candidates for
adult vocational training centres or to guide the disabled for purposes of rehabilitation. In the first case the vocational psychologist
needs a thorough knowledge only of the trades taught at the training
centres ; these trades are limited in number and the average level
reached is fairly uniform, as they are equivalent to apprenticeship
courses of six months' duration. On the other hand the authorities
responsible for the selection services consider that officials giving
guidance to disabled persons must have a thorough knowledge of a
wide range of trades or rather a first-hand knowledge of the jobs
actually done in local undertakings, for they must be able to decide
not only what jobs the persons concerned can perform in view of
their physical condition but also what jobs each can adapt himself
to satisfactorily. The theoretical knowledge obtained from monographs on particular trades is clearly inadequate and it is felt that
there is no plan that is a priori valid for cases of adaptation of this
kind ; it is impossible to state in the abstract that a particular
type of job will be suitable for all persons suffering from a particular handicap, for each job is different from every other job.
The vocational psychologist must have a full and detailed knowledge
of the conditions under which each job is performed if he is to
estimate the possibilities of the disabled worker's adapting himself
to the job and of fitting the job to the disabled worker.
Consequently, persons employed in these services are strongly
advised not to use lists of trades arbitrarily considered as being
suitable for particular categories of disabled persons or of correlation tables to classify the persons examined and direct them towards
particular types of trades. It is felt that only by a practical study
of real jobs in all their complexity is it possible to assign particular workers to particular jobs to the satisfaction of the workers
themselves ; this aim may in certain cases be achieved by suggesting
very simple changes in equipment to adapt the job to the reduced
physical capacity of the worker.2
1

*' L'orientation professionnelle en France ", op. cit., p. 16.
F . SIMON, Director of the C.E.R.P. : " L'apport de la psychotechnique à la
rééducation des déficients ", in Réadaptation, Feb.-Mar. 1953, pp. 20-22. See
also R. ABENS : " La psychotechnique au service du reclassement des travailleurs
inadaptés ", in Bulletin du Centre d'études et de recherches psychotechniques, Apr.-Sep.
1953, p p . 29-38 ; and Réadaptation, Feb. 1954, pp. 38-43.
2

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

VOCATIONAL TRAINING FACILITIES

The collection of information on vocational training facilities
is a normal complement of occupational analysis and an easier
task to perform. The vocational guidance services are under the
authority of the Directorate of Technical Education, which is also
responsible for most of the establishments to which vocational
guidance counsellors may wish candidates to go, while the selection services are attached to the National Inter-Occupational
Association for the Rational Training of Labour, which runs the
adult vocational training centres. In their work on behalf of disabled persons both these services benefit from the pooling of information to which reference has already been made. Other establishments can find reasonably full information in the publications of the
University Statistics Office. Hence it is not very difficult to know
at least the names of existing vocational training institutions ; on
the other hand, available information on the functioning of these
institutions has to be kept carefully up to date, and the mass of
information collected has to be satisfactorily classified if counsellors
are to find the documentation they need without delay.
Information on training facilities for each trade is collected on
a geographical basis, the area covered varying inversely with the
quantity and variety of facilities in the local area of the guidance
centre concerned. In the Paris area there are large numbers of
vocational schools and apprenticeship centres of all kinds, which
offer a gamut of training facilities covering every possible case.
On the other hand, the technical training resources in the provinces
vary considerably from one département to another, and the vocational guidance centres sometimes have to collect information from
further afield if they are to find training facilities adequate to meet
the diverse needs of applicants ; naturally, allowance has to be
made for communications facilities available to pupils. In the
vocational guidance centres run by the French National Railways
for the families of its employees, who receive free transport, the
information supplied sometimes concerns institutions at a considerable distance from the centres.
Counsellors must be familiar with every aspect of available
training facilities, including details of the syllabuses and precise
information on the training standards reached in each institution.
Children directed towards an institution have to compete with
others for admission and the counsellor must be able to estimate

OCCUPATIONAL AND EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION

what chance the candidate has of meeting this competition
successfully and of deriving the full benefit from the studies he
will subsequently take up. There are considerable differences
between the standards of different institutions, even those in
the same category and under the same administrative authority
(for instance, apprenticeship centres, technical colleges and national
vocational schools, which are all under the Directorate of Technical
Education) ; however, these differences can now be measured
accurately by establishing norms for the entrance examination
results of all the different institutions.1
Vocational guidance counsellors usually have up-to-date firsthand information on the standards of the entrance examinations
for the apprenticeship schools in their respective areas since many
of the schools have decided to include vocational psychology
tests—usually conducted by the local counsellors themselves—in
their examinations. This circumstance will be mentioned again
when the validation of vocational guidance tests is discussed.2
Here, however, it must be considered as an unrivalled opportunity
for counsellors to obtain an accurate knowledge of the competitive
standard at entrance to each institution, and thus to obtain an
extremely valuable measure of a candidate's chance of succeeding
in any particular examination.
Even for vocational guidance schools with which they do not
maintain such close relations, the centres can make an approximate
assessment of the standard of entrance examinations. A readily
available indication is the number of candidates accepted as a
proportion of the total, coupled with information regarding the
general study certificates required for admission. This information
can be obtained from the technical education statistics prepared
by the Centre for Study and Documentary Research on Technical
Education 3 or the school and university statistics prepared by
the University Statistics Office.4

1
For a note on the differences between the standards in different apprenticeship
centres, which have remained so constant that a kind of order of rank has now
been developed, see A. LÉON : " Le travail du conseiller d'orientation professionnelle auprès d'un centre d'apprentissage ", in Le contrôle de Vorientation professionnelle (I.N.E.T.O.P., Journée d'études, July 1949), pp. 61-78.
2
See below, p p . 105 ff.
3
See above, p . 68.
4
See, in particular, Bureau universitaire de statistique et de documentation
scolaire et professionnelle : Recueil de statistiques scolaires et professionnelles de
1947 et 1948, pp. 36-37 and 65-72.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

T H E EMPLOYMENT SITUATION AND PROSPECTS

A knowledge of the employment situation and prospects is
very important for vocational guidance. However, its bearing
on the subject differs with adults, who can expect to find employment immediately or after a short period of training, and young
persons, who will as a rule have to undergo several years' training
before beginning to practise their chosen trade. I n the first of
these two cases the counsellor does not need to look beyond the
existing situation on the employment market or at most the
probable demand for labour in the not-too-distant future. I n
the second case, however, a knowledge of long-term prospects
is needed, and the study of such prospects has proved singularly
disappointing.
The vocational guidance and selection services can obtain
information on the employment situation and the probable future
demand for labour in the different trades and professions either
from the Centre for Study and Documentary Research on Technical
Education and the University Statistics Office1, whose work in
compiling school and vocational statistics is" co-ordinated by a
standing committee attached to the Secretariat for Technical
Education and constituted under an order of 17 J u l y 1948 2, or
from the Manpower Directorate of the Ministry of Labour and
Social Security, which is represented on the standing committee
mentioned above. These three bodies collect and disseminate
information as follows :
(1) The Centre for Study and Documentary Research concentrates mainly on the statistical study of trades in order to
determine the replacement demand for skilled workers. This
information helps the technical education authorities to frame
their policy for the development of training institutions. The
work is based mainly on the systematic and detailed analysis of
general censuses and the collection of information through contacts
with the competent departments in the ministries dealing with economic affairs and with occupational organisations. 3
(2) The University Office issues a compendium entitled
Recueil de statistiques scolaires et professionnelles covering education
1

See above, p p . 58-60 and 68.
J.O., 6 J u l y 1948, p . 7350.
3
" L'orientation professionnelle en France ", op. cit., p . 21 ; see also
special number, Sep. 1953, p p . 80-85.
2

BINOP,

OCCUPATIONAL AND EMPLOYMENT INFORMATIOK

at all levels and prepared by agreement with the Ministry of Education and the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.
These statistics show the increase or decline of different branches
of technical and university studies and their general trends. In
addition, the University Office prepares annual censuses of
members of certain intellectual professions for the practice of
which a diploma is required, such as medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary surgery, law and chartered accountancy. The
results of each census are published in the compendium mentioned above. The number of members of the professions concerned
serving the general public is calculated as a proportion of the
total number of inhabitants and maps are prepared showing
their distribution and concentration throughout the different
départements. In the words of the Office this information is intended
" to give young graduates information on the degree of concentration and openings in the professions concerned ". 1 Furthermore,
comparison of this information with the number of students
registered in the different faculties gives valuable information
on the probable demand for new entrants or the probable degree
of overcrowding in the professions in a few years' time.
(3) The Manpower Directorate of the Ministry of Labour has
considerably expanded its research work on the situation and
trends in the employment market during recent years. At the
national level it is assisted by its National Manpower Committee,
which includes representatives of all the ministerial departments
and institutions concerned, including the Directorate of Technical
Education and the University Statistics Office and representatives
of the employers' and workers' organisations. At the departmental
level, where the basic research work is done, the Directorate operates
through its manpower services ; the latter in turn are assisted by
the departmental manpower committees. The information on
this subject published by the Manpower Directorate 2 is of several
kinds :
(a) placement statistics and, in particular, information on
vacancies and applications for employment revealing the state of
equilibrium between supply and demand ;
(b) information on the actual duration of employment in the
1

Recueil de statistiques scolaires et professionnelles de 1947 et 1948, op. cit., p. 73.
This information is published mainly in the Directorate's own publication,
the Bulletin d'information
et de documentation professionnelles, but sometimes
appears in the Revue française du travail, the general review of the Ministry of
Labour.
2

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FBANCE

different branches of industry to show fluctuations in the activity
of each branch ;
(c) periodical analyses of the employment situation, indicating
principal characteristics in the different départements and showing
the level of activity in the main branches of the economy, i.e.,
agriculture and forestry, building, public works, extractive industries, the production of metals and metal working, the automobile
industry, the leather and hides industries, textiles, etc. ;
(d) the results of the quarterly inquiries of the manpower
services (carried out by the departmental committees and synthesised from the national standpoint by the Manpower Directorate)
showing employment prospects for the following quarter ;
(e) the results of inquiries into the supply of and demand
for skilled labour in some of the main sectors of industry and the
future outlook ; and
(f) a general summing up of the employment situation,
published every year since 1950, in which the Manpower Directorate
attempts to evaluate economic trends in the different sectors.
All this information is of interest to those responsible for
giving advice on training or employment. The main purpose of
the inquiries mentioned in paragraph 3 (e) above is in fact to provide useful information by means of which the demand for labour
in the near and more distant as well as the immediate future can
be assessed in its relation to vocational training programmes for
young persons and adults.
Inquiries of this kind, which are renewed from time to time
at irregular intervals, have so far been made into metal working,
building, wood working, textiles and textile products, the electrical and chemical industries, glass manufacturing, the leather and
hides industries, and office work 1 , and other sectors are gradually
being included. The local investigations are carried out by the
departmental manpower committees, which are close to the realities of economic life. In this way the general information available,
such as the results of population or industrial censuses, can be
supplemented by factual information collected at the source and
particularly from departmental records of censuses of undertakings, compiled from employers' social security and taxation
statements and from investigations carried out in the undertakings
themselves.
1
The results are published in the Bulletin
professionnelles.

d'information

et de

documentation

OCCUPATIONAL AND EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION

These investigations make it possible to calculate with reasonable
accuracy the annual replacement rate for which vocational training
programmes must provide if the level of economic activity in the
sector in question remains constant ; but the departmental committees have rarely found it possible to comply with the Manpower
Directorate's request that they should indicate the probable trends
in the demand for labour in the near and more distant future, on
the basis of a study of technical progress and other significant
factors.
From all the above it is clear that there is no dearth of information on the employment market. However, individual vocational
guidance counsellors doubtless lack time to study all this complex
information carefully enough to derive the maximum benefit from
it in the performance of their duties, and the regional vocational
guidance inspectorates therefore help them in this task. The
inspectorates subscribe to the publications of the University Statistics Office (which are not distributed free of charge), analyse
them, together with the publications of the Ministry of Labour,
and usually prepare mimeographed bulletins reproducing the
information that is of most immediate interest to the centres
under their control. Although they are not represented on the
departmental manpower committees, the regional inspectorates
are also in regular contact with the departmental manpower
directorates, from which they receive a variety of information
(some of it unpublished), which they pass on to the centres.1
Some of the vocational guidance inspectorates (in particular the
one responsible for the Paris academic region) compile the information collected locally in this way in a form in which the vocational guidance counsellors can easily make use of it. In the Paris
academic region the publications prepared include maps showing
the concentration of trades and the demand for labour in every
industry in the area. In addition, monthly meetings are organised
at which vocational guidance counsellors can discuss the situation
in different trades and professions and the existing and foreseeable
demand for labour in them ; representatives of the trades concerned
are invited to speak at the meetings.
As the information bulletins prepared by each regional vocational guidance inspectorate are sent to the other regional inspec1
For example in February 1952 t h e manpower directorate of the département
de la Seine supplied t h e vocational guidance inspectorate of t h e Paris academic
region with a study concerning employment opportunities for young persons, for
distribution to guidance centres.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N FRANCE

torates, information that may be of use to other regions is received
by all the centres.
As regards the vocational selection services, a knowledge of
the employment market is of value to vocational psychologists in
two of their tasks, namely, the examination of job seekers who
prove difficult to place, and the guidance of disabled persons. On
the other hand, the Vocational Psychology Study and Research
Centre does not consider that general information on the situation
in the employment market is enough for the successful resettlement
of disabled persons, just as an abstract study of trades is not a sufficient basis on which to give proper guidance to applicants.
Employees in the selection services are advised to make a thorough
practical study of the situation on the local employment market
by looking for vacancies in undertakings or handicraft workshops.
In this way job and worker can best be matched, particularly as
regards the level of skill or qualification required in each case.1

1
Bulletin du Centre d'études et de recherches psychotechniques, Apr.-Sep. 1953,
p . 30.

CHAPTER V
PERSONAL GUIDANCE
The provision of vocational guidance by direct contact with
the person concerned (as opposed to anonymous collective guidance,
which will be the subject of the next chapter) is effected by a
series of operations to which brief references have already been
made in Chapter I. The methods used to carry out each operation
must now be examined in detail.
For each case a file is opened and gradually filled up as the
different operations are completed. The cover of the file contains
a list of these operations showing what stage has been reached
in the process. Briefly, the main stages are as follows :
(1) the collection of information prior to individual interview ;
(2) the interview itself;
(3) the conclusions reached on the basis of the examination
and the guidance given ; and
(4) the follow-up of the action taken on the advice given.
The vocational guidance services for young persons and the
selection services for adults cannot use exactly the same methods
at the various stages of their work, and the processes will therefore
have to be described separately. 1

COLLECTION OF INFORMATION P R I O R TO INTERVIEW

Young

Persons

Vocational guidance is a process calling for the combined
efforts of several people. First of all, the vocational guidance
counsellor collects information on the child he is to examine from
a number of different sources, namely, the school, the child and
his family, the doctor and (in certain cases) the welfare worker,
who may be asked for supplementary information on the situation
of the family.
1

The process of follow-up is described in Chapter VII.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

Information Obtained from the School—The School Record Gard.
The contribution of the school depends on the interest taken
by primary-school teachers (and more especially by heads of
schools) in vocational guidance and the closeness of the relations
that the vocational guidance centres succeed in developing with
the schools in order to arouse and maintain that interest. During
the early years of vocational guidance such co-operation was
made difficult by the scepticism shown by teachers and their
ignorance of the benefits that could be derived from vocational
guidance examinations. However, continuous contact has developed in recent years, young teachers are being more adequately
trained to study their pupils and elementary vocational guidance
has been introduced into the syllabuses of teachers' training
colleges ; as a result the information received from the schools
by the vocational guidance services is steadily becoming more
precise and the value of the school record card, which is the concrete result of co-operation between the schools and the counsellors,
is steadily increasing.
A relatively simple record card covers two sides of a page
the size of a school exercise book. The form of the card for use
by all vocational guidance centres was worked out by the Directorate of Technical Education and indicates the minimum information to be obtained from the school authorities by the counsellor. The card has a space for information concerning the
identity of the child and blanks for the following details :
(1) school work :
(a) average marks (calculated out of 10) obtained by the child
in the different subjects of the school syllabus ;
(b) remarks (wording at the discretion of the teacher) on the
intellectual abilities of the child (memory, observation,
attention, reasoning, imagination, comprehension, judgment);
(2) manual work :
(a) the type of work done ;
(b) the interest shown by the child in such work ;
(c) observations on the quality of the work done ;
(3) observations on subjects in which the child is gifted and
those in which he is less gifted or unsuccessful :
(a) the place of the child in the class (the quarter of the class
in which he has been placed) ;

PERSONAL GUIDANCE

(b)
(c)
(d)

whether, and how much, he is advanced or behind in his
studies for his age ;
his speed of progress ;
general comments ;

(4) minimum scholastic standard which the child seems
capable of reaching (indicating the standard of the diploma in
question) ;
(5) opinion of the teacher on the most suitable activity for
the pupil ;
(6) observations on the behaviour of the pupil :
(a)
(b)
(c)

the attitude of the pupil inside and outside the classroom
towards his teachers, his schoolmates and other persons 1 ;
normal temperament and affectivity (wording at the discretion of the teacher) ;
general comments (especially on the pupil's particular tendencies and tastes).

I n certain academic regions and centres experiments are
being made with improved types of record card with which it is
hoped t h a t more precise information will be obtained. Figure 1
(pp. 93-95) shows three pages of the card used by the compulsory
vocational guidance centre in the département de la Seine. The
fourth page, which has been omitted in figure 1, contains notes on
the use of the card. All the information is divided under two
heads, namely, " performance " 2 and " behaviour ". 3
The instructions for the use of the card contain the following
explanations :
Performance.
For each subject considered the pupil is to be classified in one of
the following ways : excellent, good, average, fair, poor. Excessive
indulgence or severity should be avoided. Consequently the normal
percentage of pupils falling into each category is given here as a precaution. In a normal group of 100 pupils, that is to say, a group neither
1
The card contains a number of phrases as suggestions to describe his attitude,
b u t others m a y be used.
2
I n the section to be filled up b y the physical training instructor the expression
" performance " refers to the pupil's ability to make sustained efforts.
3
This covers manifestations of personality during the pupil's different activities in or connected with school (his relations with t h e teacher and his school
fellows of his own age or younger or older than himself during school work, games,
sports, entertainments, in doing small jobs, when faced with unexpected difficulties,
etc.).

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N FBANCB

above nor below the average, the following classification may be considered representative :
the
the
the
the
the

top 5 pupils : excellent
next 25 pupils : good
next 40 pupils : average
next 25 pupils : fair
bottom 5 pupils : poor.

Obviously this grouping will not apply to every class, particularly
final-year classes, in which the percentage of mediocre pupils may be
high. A teacher must therefore realise that he must classify his pupils
not on the basis of the classes they are actually in but of a normal
class, that is to say, one that is neither too far above the average nor
too far below.
Behaviour.
The principle to be applied is the same one as in the previous section.
Here, however, there are only three categories. The normal percentage
of pupils falling into each category is as follows :
(a)
(b)
(c)

above average, for instance, " very careful about personal appearance " (a cross in the left-hand column)—15 per cent. ;
below average, for instance, " untidy " (a cross in the right-hand
column)—15 per cent. ;
the remaining 70 per cent, (i.e., pupils who are neither particularly
tidy nor particularly untidy) fall between the two poles and may
be considered as average.

In doubtful cases, put a cross in the column headed by a question
mark.
The information the teacher is asked to supply is general in
character ; he is not expected to give details on the particular
aptitudes of the child but rather a general survey of his development at school.
I t should also be noted that, in the interests of objectivity
and comparability, the rephes for which the wording is left to the
teacher have been reduced to a minimum ; the teachers now have
to choose from a number of set rephes. I n a new school record
card now being used in the Lyons academic region free rephes
have been eliminated altogether ; however, on the card used
in the Paris academic area (fig. 1) the teacher is able to add a
personal comment if he considers this desirable to make his assessment quite clear.
Many of the questions relating to a child's behaviour can be
answered only from an intimate knowledge of his character, which
his teacher is likely to possess b u t which may often be difficult
to obtain during a brief vocational guidance examination.

PEBSONAL GUIDANCE

Office of the Prefect of the Département de la Seine
Public Vocational Guidance Centre

CONFIDENTIAL SCHOOL R E P O R T
(Stamp of the School)

Name
Christian names
Date of birth
Class
Date of entry into present school

Exc. Good Av. Fair Poor

PERFORMANCE
Remarks of the physical training

Physical agility.
Sturdiness . . .
Nimbleness. . .
Performance . .

Remarks and signature

Remarks of the manual training
Remarks and signature

5% 25% 40% 25% 5%

instructor

instructor
Ability to read a geometrical
drawing .
Precision of execution. . .
Speed of execution . . . .
Enjoyment of manual work
Practical intelligence . . .

Remarks of the drawing instructor
Remarks and signature

Eye
Taste and sense of colour
Taste and sense of form .
Imagination
Memory

Remarks of the teacher
Remarks and signature

Arithmetic
Spelling
Essay writing
Elocution
Geometrical drawing . . .

Average place in class
No. in class.
Is the pupil often absent Î
If so, why Î...
Is the pupil often punished î
If so, why ?..
General remarks on performance (by the classroom teacher)
FIGURE

BEHAVIOUR
General impression
Remarks

Activity

15% 70% \5%

Very careful about personal
appearance, even excessively
so
Polite in manner and speech .
Holds himself strikingly well .
Is calm in all circumstances .

Remarks
Always in control of his actions
Very active, enjoys physical
effort
Acta rapidly
3. Self-consciousness and will
Remarks

Always completely sure of himself :
with adults
with school fellows
On the lookout for situations
where initiative and responsibility are required :
in class
in games
Never commits a breach of
discipline
Wants to be noticed and singled
out
High resistance t o fatigue :
physically
during school work
. . . .
Has perseverance, is determined
to get things done
Continuity of effort
Admits his mistakes

Untidy.
Bude or uses coarse language.
Holds himself badly, is roundshouldered, throws his shoulders back too far.
Is often angry, afraid, anxious
or tearful.
Often acts on impulses.
Inactive.
Acts slowly.

<
o
Q
w
O

Completely unsure of himself :
with adults,
with school fellows.

e
¡2!

a
tei

Always in the background:
in class,
in games.
Is particularly undisciplined.
Does not want to be noticed.
Tires very rapidly :
physically,
during school work.
Is indolent, does not persevere
in his efforts.
Irregularity, " grasshopper mind !
Always hides his mistakes.

>
a
tei

BEHAVIOUR (cont.)
4.

Sociability
Remarks

S
o

15% 70% 15%

Popular with or liked by his
school fellows
Seeks the company of his
school fellows
Always takes part in group
games or physical exercises
Always takes the lead in group
games

Is teased or "ragged ".
Always keeps to himself.
Prefers to stay in class during
recreation.
Follows the lead of others.

Work
Remarks

o
o

w
Highly developed powers of
observation
Is fully able to look after
himself
Orderly and methodical . . .

Seems to have no powers of
observation.

co
O

Dull-witted.
Muddle-headed.
Ö

Remarks on family

surroundings

Dominant

interests

(underline whichever apply)

Intellectual work.
Manual work.
Sports.
Art.
People.
Things.

Special remarks
(lamning away, lying, petty
morals, etc.)

O
fei

offences,

General remarks (wherever possible indicate the main aspects of the pupil's behaviour so as to give a clear picture of his
character).
CD
Ol

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N FRANCE

OFFICE OÏ THE PBEFECT OF THE DÉPAETEMENT DE LA SEINE

PUBLIC VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE CENTRE

INFORMATION FORM TO BE FILLED IN BY SCHOOL ATTENDERS

Name

Christian names

Nationality
Date of birth

Place of birth

Address
School

Class

Have you ever consulted a vocational guidance centre before ?
Which one ?
What certificates have you ?
Profession of father

Profession of step-father

Profession of mother

Profession of step-mother

Number of brothers (give their ages and, where applicable, their jobs)

Number of sisters (give their ages and, where applicable, their jobs)

Whom were you brought u p by ?
Have you chosen a trade ?

Which one ?

Where do you want to serve your apprenticeship ? in a school ?
with an employer ?

FIGURE

PERSONAL GUIDANCE

Information

Obtained from the Child and His

Family.

The vocational guidance centre responsible for examining a
child arranges for him to fill in an information card. If the child
is a " school attender " the card is filled in in class, but if he is
an " independent " (a child sent individually to a centre without
previous arrangement with a school) the card is filled in at the
centre. The card is never given t o a child to be filled in at home.
There is no standard form in use throughout the country.
Figure 2 shows the form used for " school attenders " in the
département de la Seine.
At the same time the parents fill in a questionnaire indicating
their occupation and their intentions for the child's future—in
particular, the occupation chosen for the child and the kind of
vocational training envisaged.
Many French vocational guidance counsellors, however, regard
the mere naming of an occupation as an unreliable indication
of a child's preference, since his knowledge of occupations is bound
to be very limited. Several centres are therefore using, for the
moment experimentally, more elaborate questionnaires designed
to test the child's real knowledge of the occupation which he
claims to have chosen and even to make him aware of the reasons
for his choice. For if the child mentions not just one b u t several
occupations t h a t attract him and gives the same or affectively
similar reasons to explain his choice, these reasons will reveal
more about his tastes t h a n the mere naming of an occupation
about which he may know relatively little. As an example, the
questionnaire being used b y the centre for the département du
Bhône is reproduced in figure 3 (p. 98).
A somewhat more elaborate variant is used in the departmental
centre of the Haute-Loire. Experience to date shows t h a t the
direct style of a deliberately simple vocabulary, such as t h a t
used in the questionnaires, helps the child to express himself
naturally and without constraint, a result which can be further
assured if secrecy is guaranteed. The fact t h a t many different
questions are asked about the occupation preferred ensures enough
answers for cross-checking and alignment of trends of choice to
reveal significant information about the child's tastes. 1
1
Pierre ROMTEB : " Goût professionnel ", in Bulletin de l'Institut
national
d'étude du travail et d'orientation professionnelle, Sep.-Oct. 1950, p p . 129-141 and
Nov.-Deo. 1950, p p . 163-172.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N B'KANCE

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE CENTRE
FOR T H E DÉPARTEMENT DU RHÔNE

N a m e

Christian names
QUESTIONNAIRE TO B E FILLED IN
BY T H E CHILD AT SCHOOL

School

1. Would you like to work at the same trade as your father or your mother ?
Why ?
2. What trade do you want to take u p later 1
Why ì
3. If you could choose any trade you wanted and had all the necessary
qualifications would you choose a different one Î
Which one ?
Why ?
4. If you could not work in the trade you have chosen what other trade
would you choose Î
Why î
:
Why did you not choose this one first î
5. Is there any trade you do not want to work in under any circumstances ?
Why do you dislike this one ?
6. Do you know the advantages of the trade you have chosen ?
What are they î
7. Do you know the drawbacks of this trade ?
What are they ?

8. Have you ever seen people doing this kind of work î

Where ?

9. Write down the names of some of the tools or machines used in this trade
10. Write down the names of all the trades you know. P u t the ones you like
in column 1, the ones about which you have no feelings in column 2
and the ones you do not like in column 3.
1. Trades I like

2. Trades I have no îeelings
about

FIGURE

3. Trades I do not like

PEBSONAL GUIDANCE

Information

Obtained from Medical

Services.

I t has already been mentioned in connection with the operation of vocational guidance services 1 that they try to make use
of the results of continuous observation of each pupil by the
school medical services throughout the compulsory school attendance period.
The information obtained through school
medical inspection is not a substitute for a specific vocational
guidance medical examination, but it may have a significant
contribution to make in revealing past facts about the child's
state of health, which are of importance for vocational guidance
purposes and may be hidden from the vocational guidance doctor.
There are, therefore, more or less formal agreements between
the two services—the school medical inspection service and the
vocational guidance medical service—to ensure both t h a t the
information collected by the school medical inspection service is
transmitted at the proper time to the vocational guidance service,
and also that information of significance for vocational guidance
is in fact regularly obtained during school medical examinations.
I n the Paris academic region this co-operation has centred
in particular on the joint elaboration of so-called " stature charts "
(staturogrammes) for boys and girls giving average measurements
(height, weight, arm-span, waist measurement, circumference of
head, chest measurement, etc.) for each year between nine and
20, so as to enable the school medical officer to note possible
somatic deficiencies. A special card has been drawn up to enable
the school medical officer to transmit this information systematically to the vocational guidance doctor, together with certain
other data respecting the pathological history of the person examined.
Another form of co-operation consists of occasionally entrusting
vocational guidance medical examinations to school medical
officers. A circular (No. 2045/7 dated 15 April 1952 of the Directorate of Technical Education) was issued specifically to authorise
this procedure and to encourage it so long as it does not interfere
with the school medical officer's normal duties.
I t is the intention of the guidance services t h a t the vocational
guidance medical examination proper should be both comprehensive and specific, in t h a t it should permit the observation of certain
of t h e child's typical characteristics, which, without being patho1

See Chapter I .

100

VOCATIONAL GUTDANCE IN FRANCE

logical, may be of particular interest in connection with the exercise
of an occupation. Such characteristics would include, for instance,
damp hands, a tendency to giddiness, etc.
Throughout France the vocational guidance medical examination is now carried out in accordance with a detailed form consisting of four pages, of which an example is shown in figure 4.
It will be seen that, as in the case of the new Paris school record
card (fig. 1) the answers consist simply of marks against standard
questions, a system which saves time, prevents the possibility of
omission, and enables the card to be readily consulted and relevant
points to be rapidly picked out in any given case.
An additional examination by a specialist is often useful. A
special form is provided for the purpose showing the trade chosen
by the child. On this form the specialist is required to record his
diagnosis and his opinion on the evolution of the disease, to recommend any special treatment that may be desirable and to state
whether counselling should be deferred.
There are also special forms to assist the detection of defects
that may make the practice of certain trades inadvisable.
It has already been mentioned 1 that as a result of strict interpretation of medical secrecy vocational guidance counsellors are
sometimes refused access to medical records. In order to overcome
this difficulty to some extent a number of centres use simplified
record cards on which a medical secretary enters information likely
to be of the most direct interest to the vocational guidance counsellor including the opinion of the doctor on the child's fitness to
follow the trade he has chosen and an indication of the types of
work to be avoided (e.g., heavy work, work performed standing,
sedentary work, or work involving danger of falls, exposure to
dusts, etc.).
Information Obtained from Welfare Workers.
Although vocational guidance centres cannot usually afford to
employ a full-time welfare worker, they often receive part-time
assistance from the social services attached to other bodies. The
Directorate of Technical Education has also tried to systematise
the collection of information concerning the child's social background, which the vocational guidance counsellor must have some
knowledge of, particularly in order to judge whether his advice can
1

See above, p . 30.

PEESOSTAIi GUTDÁNCE

101

MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION
SECRETARIAT FOR TECHNICAL EDUCATION

Vocational Guidance Centre

Name
Usual Christian name..

MEDICAL REPORT
I. General Information
Date and place of birth
School and classes attended
Intended job

II. Antecedents
Hereditary.
Collateral
Personal
Illnesses
(Special watch should be kept for affections of the lungs or pleurae,
convulsions, meningitis, scarlatina, typhoid, diabetes, albumen, jaundice,
rheumatism, growing pains and enteritis.)
Vaccination
Surgical operations
Accidents
Stays in a sanatorium or preventorium
Surveillance at an out-patients' department

III. Biometrie and Sensory Examination
Height
Normal height for age
Lung capacity
Dynamometer ( right hand
readings
( left hand
Lumbar traction
Uncorrected ( R
vision
\ L
Strabismus
Other affections of the eyes
Acuity of hearing : R
Taste

Weight
Normal weight for age
Chest measurement
Grip

Corrected I R
vision
| L

Colour vision
Stereoscopic vision
Chronic affections of the ear .
Smell
FIGURE 4

102

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

IV. Clinical Examination
General State of Health
General appearance
Skin
Mucous membranes
Ganglions
Biological type

Pathological Elements of Interest
to the Vocational Guidance
Authorities
Sweating of hands
Chilblains
Chapping
Acne, eczema
Other skin diseases
Scars

Muscular System
Muscular atrophy
Hernia

Muscular development
Inguinal rings
Respiratory System
Nose.

Adenoids
Hypertrophy of the tonsils ....
Deviation of the nasal septum.
Shortness of breath
Asthma
Coughing

Throat

Lungs. Auscultations
Cuti-reaction test (date)
X-ray
Digestive System
Teeth
Stomach
Liver.
Appetite

Tongue
Intestines
Appendix

Gastro-enteritis
Liver disorders
Cramps of the stomach

Cardio-vascular System
Heart
Rhythm

Pulse
Blood pressure

Nature of cardiac lesions
Varicose veins, varicocele
Haemophilia
Haemorrhoids
Cyanosis of the extremities

Skeleton and Joints
Skull
Spine
Joints

Diseases of the joints
Flat feet
..._
Lateral curvature of the spine .
Angular curvature of the spine
Lameness
Deformities

Thorax

Urino-genital Tract
Analysis of urine : Sugar
Albumen
Phosphates
FIGUBE

General deformities
Ectopia
Phimosis.
Swollen feet

i (cont.)

103

PERSONAL GUIDANCE

V. Neuro-psychiatrie Examination and Examination
of the Endocrine Glands
I. Neurological Disorders
Incontinence of urine.
Tics
Stammering
Nail-biting
Headaches
Dizziness

Modification of reflexes :
Trembling
St. Vitus' dance
Difficulty in maintaining balance

Nervous attacks
(If idiopathic epilepsy or minor equivalents or neuropathic crises are
observed, mention previous convulsive attacks.)
Sequelae (Little's disease, poliomyelitis, etc.)
II. Disorders of the Intellect
Backwardness at school
Intellectual debility
Feeble-mindedness
III. Affective Disorders and Character
Instability
Emotivity
Infantilism
Puerility
Character :
Inhibitions
Opposition
Excitement
Depression
General emotional attitude (towards the family, etc.)
IV. Behaviour
Irritability, anger, violence
Unstable reactions, running away
Manifestations of perversity (pilfering, sexual precocity, etc.)
Mythomania
V. Examination of the Glands
Goitre
,,
( Age at which appears
Menstruation < ° .
.
.
n
\ Kegular
Copious
Painful.
Leukorrhoea
Secondary sexual characteristics
Pilosity .
Symptoms suggesting functional disorders of the glands

FlGTTBE 4

(cont.)

104

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN PRANCE

VI. Conclusions of the Medical Examination
The child should avoid the following trades (put a cross against the trades
to be avoided and underline them) :
Trades requiring :
Muscular strength
Severe efforts
Prolonged standing
Stooping
Walking long distances and climbing stairs
The use of ladders and scaffolding
Nervous tension
Dry hands
Good colour vision

Trades carried on :
I n badly lighted premises
I n cold surroundings
I n hot surroundings
In damp surroundings
I n toxic or unhealthy surroundings
(dust, smoke, etc.)
I n confined, unventilated premises

Trades :

Trades in which the worker is
exposed to :
Inclement weather or sudden
changes in temperature
Cutaneous irritation
Dazzling light
Deafening noise
Prolonged vibrations

Which tempt the worker to drink
I n which a diet cannot be followed
Involving responsibility
Involving contact with the public
I n which the hands have to be
dipped into cold water
I n which mealtimes are irregular

Brief list of pathological symptoms observed and opinion of the doctor

The family doctor ]
should be consulted.
A specialist
j

Guidance

should
should not

} be deferred

Date of examination

l until next year.
•! until the specialist's opinion has
I

been nhtainftd.

Signature of doctor .

FIGURE

4 (conci.)

PERSONAL GUIDANCE

105

be applied. In order to facilitate the inquiry into the child's social
background, a standardised form consisting of four pages has been
prepared for use by the centres. A reproduction of this form is
given in figure 5 (pp. 106-108).
It will be seen from the form (which itself suggests the lines of
practical action to be followed) that the welfare worker normally
intervenes at two stages of the vocational guidance process :
(1) During the initial stage. Such inquiries only take place
when available information on the family shows that the child's
social background is in some way abnormal.
(2) During the final stage, in order to check the results of the
advice given.
Group Tests.
The preliminary data collected before the individual vocational
guidance interview takes place at the centre include the results
of group tests carried out in the schools. These tests are usually

timed to take place at the beginning of the process, when the
child fills in his information card.
They consist of pencil-and-paper tests taken by all the children
in the primary-school leaving class (age 14), under the instructions
of a vocational guidance counsellor and not of the teacher, since
the instructions regarding the tests must be given to the children
very methodically.
The centres are allowed a certain amount of freedom in making
up the batteries of tests, but all the tests used have been carefully validated. The validation of tests is the main function of the
Research Centre of the National Labour Research and Vocational
Guidance Institute 1, which is continuously analysing the results
obtained by the various centres. Tables of norms are established
for the tests, that is to say, the results are scored objectively in
relation to those obtained by specific groups of children. While
this has hitherto been done on the regional level, efforts are now
being made to achieve standardisation of the tests at the national
level. Circular No. 2160/7 of 8 November 1952 provided that
meetings for standardisation should be held, first in each academic
region and then at the National Labour Research and Vocational
Guidance Institute with the assistance of delegates from the academic regions and of the Institute's Research Centre.
The work done by vocational guidance counsellors in applying
1

See above, p. 68.

106

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION
Directorate of Technical Education
Vocational Guidance Centre
at

INVESTIGATION INTO FAMILY CIRCUMSTANCES
AND SOCIAL SITUATION

Investigation carried out by Mrs./Miss
Date
Name
Date and place of birth
Address

Christian names

Sex

A. The Family
Are the parents married ?
Divorced ?
Remarried ?
Are both the parents alive ?
Is there a stepfather or a stepmother ?
Is the child a war orphan adopted by the State Î
The child is the (first, second,...)
of
children.
Is the family being studied by a social service Î
Which one î
I. Financial Situation
Father's profession
Mother's profession
Other income and allowances

Earnings
Earnings

TOTAL ANNUAL INCOME . . .

Is financial assistance needed ?
(scholarships, apprenticeship bursaries, etc.)
II. Moral Standards
Father :
Behaviour
Habits
Non-professional activities
Does he pay attention to the moral and intellectual upbringing of his
children ?
Mother :
Behaviour
Habits
Non-professional activities
_ _..
Does she pay attention to the moral and intellectual upbringing of her
children î
FIGURE 5

PERSONAL GUIDANCE

107

III. Home Atmosphere
Dwelling :
Size
How kept
Family relations :
Between the parents
Among the children
Between parents and children
IV. Questions about the Child to Be Put to the Family
Character of the child :
Is he docile ?
Affectionate ?

Obliging ?
Quarrelsome ?

Does he prefer to be alone ?
Is he a handyman about the house ?
What tools does he use ?
What is his progress at school Î
What are his amusements ?
Does he belong to any sports clubs, educational clubs, youth clubs, etc. ?
Give their names
What does the director of the club think of him î
What are the child's intentions ?

V. The Plans of the Family for the Child
What type of profession has the family in mind for the child ?
Are the child's wages needed immediately ? ..
Would the family agree to let him go away î
Does the family want him to go away ?

Signature of the Social Worker :

I n the light of the information collected, does the social worker consider it
desirable that the child should be found employment away from the family î
FlGUBB 5
8

(cont.)

108

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

B . Interview with the Parents

C. Interview with the Child

D. Follow-up of Guidance Given
Advice given by the vocational guidance centre

Course actually followed.

Success : At school :

With the employer :

Opinion of instructors or employer :

Dates on which certificates were obtained :
Vocational certificate (Certificat d'aptitude professionnelle)
Technicians' trade diploma (Brevet professionnel)
Advanced industrial or commercial diploma (Brevet industriel or brevet
commercial)

FIGURE

5 (conci.)

PEESONAL GUIDANCE

109

psychological tests to would-be entrants to the various state technical education establishments and particularly to the apprenticeship
centres, provides one of the best opportunities of validating the
tests used, since it is easy to correlate the results of the tests with
the success of the persons concerned in practice. The estabUshment
of norms and the validation of the tests used, "make it possible
to determine fairly accurately how well the examinee can perform
a particular task, and, above all, they give the guidance counsellor
an idea of the shortcomings of the tests and of his own margin of
error ". 1
For scientific reasons, and more particularly in order to obtain
regional norms for the tests used, the centres of each academic
region generally arrange to use the same batteries of tests. The
composition of the battery and possible changes in view of the
results obtained are usually discussed at regular meetings of the
vocational guidance services' technical staff.
Whatever tests are actually selected by each academic region,
the battery is usually made up of a number of general, spatial
and mechanical intelligence tests, supplemented by tests of acquired
knowledge (vocabulary and other linguistic subjects) and tests
of concentration. The tests used by the services all consist of a
fairly long series of short questions in order to give the examinee
a large number of chances to show the level of his intelligence,
thus avoiding undue influence on the general average by occasional
failures on a few questions. The results are thus minutely graded.
They are carefully studied, and the score obtained for each
of the mental aptitudes tested is plotted on a graph based on
the results obtained by a control group used in devising each
test ; this gives a psychological outline or "profile" of the relative
level of mental ability of each child. For some children this
profile, together with the other initial information obtained, brings
the examination to an end, no individual .psychological examination being required.
The cases in which this is possible are those where the child's
choice of occupation concords with that of the parents. For
children in this category each document in the file is then reexamined in the light of this choice to make sure that none of
the data obtained from the initial inquiries into the child's health,
sensory functions, character, mental level and intellectual ability
is incompatible with the choice expressed.
1

See C. BÉSTASSY-CHATJSTAKD : " Vocational Guidance in France ", op. cit.,p. 405.

110

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

Bringing the examination to an end in this way, savours rather
of selection than of guidance. However, the children who are
classified a t this point as " requiring guidance " are then given a
second series of tests.
Adults
The files of adult workers to be examined by the vocational
selection service consist of documents of differing value. The
vocational psychologist is rarely able to get evidence of the examinee's past, as can the vocational guidance counsellor b y application to the school. He must be satisfied with second-hand
evidence provided by educational certificates (which are sometimes so old t h a t they no longer provide sure evidence t h a t the
applicant is still familiar with the subjects concerned) and brief
testimonials from employers, often consisting only of an affidavit
of satisfactory service which cannot be checked.
The main document in t h e dossier is thus t h e statement
of the applicant himself. This statement, unlike the child's,
includes a life history (education, diplomas, jobs held) and an
accurate picture of the applicant's present position (family circumstances, dependants, social insurance benefits received) in
addition to an outline of his plans for the future.
As regards health, there is no counterpart to the source of
preliminary information represented by the child's school medical
examination (except where the applicant is a disabled person,
in which case he has generally been sent t o the selection service
with a partially completed medical file) ; applicants are therefore
always examined by an industrial doctor before they meet the
vocational psychologist, even in the perfectly ordinary case of
a candidate for entry to an adult vocational training centre.
I n the case of the disabled a complex and comprehensive file
replaces the single medical certificate. 1 This file includes an
employment card which is actually a combined document summarising the data on the applicant's physical condition and providing
1
The selection services are a t present working out a method of obtaining the
most objective information possible from inquiries into the family and social
circumstances of each case, which welfare workers are responsible for carrying out.
The basic principles of the method have been discussed in a number of articles,
including Jean-Pierre COUBBIN : " Le problème du recueil et de l'élaboration des
informations au cours du travail de l'assistante sociale ", in Bulletin du Centre
d'études et recherches psychotechniques, Jan-Mar. 1953, p p . 21-29. Also A. R O S I E R :
" Dans le processus de réhabilitation, l'assistante sociale tient une place essentielle ", in Réadaptation, Feb. 1954, p . 3.

PERSONAL OUTDANCE

111

space for any notes the vocational psychologist may wish to add.
Before undergoing a psychological examination proper, disabled
persons in reconditioning centres and sanatoria are sometimes
given a preliminary guidance examination, the main purpose of
which is to guide them towards suitable industrial rehabilitation
activities and encourage them to undertake any studies that
might round out their education and subsequently be of value in
their vocational retraining. These preliminary examinations are
considered particularly useful in the case of tuberculosis patients.
The Lyons vocational selection centre, which controls three separate groups of sanatoria, has therefore devoted special attention to
the matter and has prepared two questionnaires to be filled in by
candidates : one, for use by the vocational psychologist, concerning
their scholastic and vocational history, their special qualifications
(knowledge of foreign languages, ability to drive motor vehicles,
and so forth), their tastes and preferences, and their plans for the
future ; and the other, for use by the social worker, seeking information regarding their social and family circumstances, their
resources, and the like. On the basis of these two questionnaires
the departmental manpower directorate decides whether or not
the applicant should undergo a preliminary guidance examination,
which is recommended only for difficult cases. 1
Group pencil-and-paper tests are very widely used by the
Ministry of Labour selection services to detect and measure the
aptitudes of examinees. Some of these tests are the same as
those used for the group testing of young persons, but the norms
have, of course, to be adjusted in order to grade the examinees
on the basis of the previously examined section of the population
carrying on the same trade.
I t is the Vocational Psychology Study and Research Centre 2
t h a t works out these norms from the data regularly sent in by the
regional centres ; the Centre also decides what tests are to be used
and draws up the instructions to accompany them. The instructions must be given exactly as indicated in order to achieve identical conditions and hence obtain scientifically comparable results
in all the selection centres. 3
1
J . I/EPLA.T : " Les examens de préorientation dans les sanatoriums ", in
Réadaptation, Nov.-Dec. 1953, p . 33.
2
See above, p . 68.
3
I n connection with t h e methods used b y the selection services, see F . SIMON :
" La sélection psychotechnique ", in La documentation française, Cahiers français
d'information (Secrétariat général du gouvernement, Direction de la documentation), No. 197, 1 Feb. 1952, p p . 18-21.

112

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

As the great majority of examinations are carried out with
a view to admission to adult vocational training centres and as
these are under the same administration as the selection centres,
the tests can be very reliably validated by comparing the initial
test series with the success of the trainees during their training
period. It is hoped as a result to obtain increasingly accurate
norms in spite of the difficulty raised by the somewhat heterogeneous population of some of the adult vocational training centres.
In view of the fact that the methods used by the selection
services were substantially altered in 1952, the present composition of the batteries of tests was still regarded as experimental
at the time of writing. It would appear, however, that personality
tests, on which considerable emphasis was laid previously, have
been eliminated in favour of general and mechanical intelligence
tests, the results of which can be much more accurately assessed.
With regard to method, a brief description of the special battery
of tests used between 1946 and 1951 may be of interest. Although
it was made up empirically, this battery was nevertheless applied
with marked success by the guidance and re-employment service
for redundant civil servants, the administrative organisation of
which has already been described.1
The method used was an adaptation of the General Aptitude
Test Battery used in the United States, where it had been validated
by statistical research over a long period of years. This method is
designed to detect by group paper-and-pencil and manual tests
ten factors which, if they attain a certain threshold of significance,
constitute a " dominant " or occupational aptitude pattern corresponding to a particular occupation in an official list worked out
after long research in the United States. Under the American
method the correlation of the examinee's personality and the occupation is thus more or less automatically established.
The aim of the French adaptation was to get greater flexibility
by reducing the ten factors to six (see table opposite), so that the
resulting dominant corresponded to a group of occupations instead
of a single occupation, this being much more useful when it came
to placement.
Since the 1952 changes the selection service has put into operation a very accurate method of mechanically recording the results
of both selection tests and trade tests at the end of training. The
technicians engaged in elaborating and improving this method
1

See above, p . 47.

113

PERSONAL GUIDANCE

General aptitude test battery
Aptitude
Verbal aptitude .
Numerical aptitude
Spatial aptitude.
Intelligence. . .
Form perception.
Clerical perception
Motor speed. . .
Finger dexterity.
Manual dexterity

French adaptation

Symbol

Aptitude

V
N
S
G
P
Q
A
T
F
M

V
N
S
G

Verbal aptitude.
Numerical aptitude.
Spatial aptitude 1
Intelligence 2

Spelling 3

Dexterity *

1
Assumed to include P.
» Already given by V, N, and S, but further tested by additional tests.
* Replaces Q.
* Combines A, T, F , and M.

believe that it has the advantages of rapidity of analysis, accuracy
of data and easier checking of the validity of the tests against the
large number of cases (some tens of thousands each year) for which
data are available to the service.1 An attempt is now being made to
apply the same validation method to the tests used in examining
the handicapped, in spite of the much more complicated nature of
the problem.2
INTERVIEWS

Young Persons
For " independent " juveniles, i.e., those without any existing
vocational guidance dossier, the individual examination inevitably
begins with preliminary inquiries designed to furnish data similar
to those obtained from a school record card, and with the group
tests normally taken at school. The child has to fill in an information form and generally takes a battery of pencil-and-paper tests
on his own.
In the case of a child summoned to a centre after the preliminary
inquiries at school described above, either because he is unable
to make up his mind about an occupation or because, for personal
or family reasons, his choice appears inadvisable or impracticable,
the individual examination is generally of quite another kind.
1
See M. FATJTBEII : " La validation de l'examen psychotechnique préalable
à la F.P.A.", in Bulletin du Centre d'études et de recherches psychotechniques, JulySep. 1952, p p . 1-13.
a
I d e m : " L a validation de l'examen psychotechnique préalable à la rééducation ", ibid., Apr.-Sep. 1953, p p . 9-11.

114

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN PBANCE

It enables the results of direct observation by a psychologist to be
added to the objective measurements obtained from psychological
tests. In this case the most important element is the interview
with the examinee. Further tests are often applied, at the discretion
of the counsellor, in order to take the methodical investigation of
the various aspects of the examinee's intelligence a stage further,
and particularly to test motor and sensory abilities which have
scarcely been touched upon by the group tests. These individual
tests, however, are rarely intended solely to supply further graded
measurements. Observations of the examinee's behaviour in
attempting to fit Piorkowski's discs, assemble the wiggly block
or stay on the course with the Carrard lathe gives the counsellor
insight of quite another kind than, but just as important as, the
information obtained from timing the operation or noting the
number of mistakes made. Such observation helps to give the vocational guidance counsellor an insight into various traits of intelligence and character. He may also try to overcome a child's shyness
in expressing preference by giving him a set of cards printed with
the names or pictures of occupations to be sorted into three piles
—the jobs he would like, those he would not like, and those about
which he has no feelings.
The interview is one of those points at which the scientific
method proves inadequate, and the counsellor then employs a
clinical method which allows him to bring into play all his knowledge and experience, his personal approach and many other subjective qualities. This method " loses in exactness what it gains in
subtlety, and it must not be forgotten that much of its value depends on the qualities of the person using it ". 1
In France subjective psychology is still considered very useful
in vocational guidance during the interview with the child and that
with his parents, when perspicacious observation and skilful
persuasion are both needed. The vocational guidance counsellor
responsible has a certain latitude in conducting the individual
examination along whatever lines he considers most suitable,
supplementing applied psychology by the more subtle arts of
guidance where necessary for the child's good. The counsellors
nevertheless carry out their observations along systematic lines,
the details of which are discussed during meetings of counsellors
at the national or regional level, in much the same way as the preparation of norms of test performance have been worked out. It has
1

"Vocational Guidance in F r a n c e " , op. cit., p p . 405-406.

PERSONAL GUIDANCE

115

even been suggested t h a t such observations should be codified so
t h a t they can be made systematically at individual interviews. 1
Adults
The extremely wide use of group tests in the vocational selection
services for adults somewhat restricts the use of individual examinations, at least in the case of applicants for admission to adult
vocational training centres, who are the majority. Interviews are
used to supplement the data obtained from the group tests, b u t
individual tests are rarely applied and an attempt is made to align
the interview with the testing procedure by making it as systematic
as is humanly possible. Each examiner is required to ask the same
questions, using the exact form of words laid down by the Vocational
Psychology Study and Research Centre, and to adhere, in conducting the interview, as strictly to the standard lines as when he is
giving a test. The present method is still in the experimental stage,
but from the suggestions already issued about how the examination
should be conducted it would appear t h a t there is an increasing
tendency among the vocational psychologists of the Centre to give
the interview less and less importance and replace it by tests,
which they consider more objective. According to one of these
experts, " the progress of vocational psychology techniques seems
to represent the victory of objective and scientific methods in a
field which was previously reserved for empirical and subjective
methods, of which the interview is a typical example. The present
trend of research leads us to think t h a t progress will continue to be
made in this direction." 2
Individual examinations in the form of interviews conducted
at the discretion of the vocational psychologist to meet the special
features of each case were, however, of great importance in the
guidance and re-employment programme for redundant civil
servants, as long as the special service was functioning in Paris.
If a first attempt at placement failed and the advice originally
given appeared inappropriate for a second attempt, a further
interview was often held in order to review it in the light of the
new employment situation and of the applicant's changed circumstances.
Individual examination is the method almost always used
1
W i t h regard to observation of the examinee's behaviour during tests, see
BINOP, special number, Sep. 1953, p . 56.
2
J . LBPLAT : " L'entretien dans l'examen psychotechnique F.P.A.", in Notre
formation (A.N.I.F.R.M.O.), J u n e 1952, p p . 13 and 14.

116

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE I N FRANCE

in t h e rehabilitation of the disabled, one or more interviews with
the examinee being its main feature.
I n 1950 and 1951 the Vocational Psychology Study and Research
Centre made two studies into methods of examining certain
categories of disabled persons, particularly the blind. 1 I t was
found t h a t psychologists responsible for examining t h e disabled
should be able not only to administer, mark and standardise
mental and manipulatory tests b u t also to understand t h e processes b y which the individual builds up, maintains and protects
his personality against environmental pressures and disability
frustrations. The study dealing with t h e examination of the blind,
after stressing the special difficulties inherent in such examination,
particularly the need for the observer to t r y to p u t himself in the
blind person's place, concludes t h a t the vocational guidance and
retraining of t h e blind cannot be carried out without a very full
psychological examination, in which techniques of individual
exploration are more important than in the case of normal people.
The study adds t h a t the research still t o be done in this field calls
for carefully controlled experiments carried out in co-operation
with educators.
I n 1952-53, after their reorganisation, the selection services
resumed study of the methods to be used in guidance examinations for the rehabilitation of t h e disabled. From t h e initial
reports published on the methods used it appears that, in this
part of their work, the selection services mainly use individual
examinations, with the greatest possible standardisation a t all
stages including the interview.
The basic principles of this method have been set out in a number of published papers. 2 I t is based on the following three working
hypotheses :
(1) There is no a priori correspondence between a given physical
or psychological disability and advisability of a given occupation.
(2) Compensation plays an important part in the readjustment
of the disabled and in order to study this factor each individual
must be visualised in his particular time and place environment.
(3) Guidance work for rehabilitation should be focused on
1

See A. MOBALI-DANINOS and. D . ZAIDENBER« : L'examen

psychotechnique

des inaptes rêéducables and L'examen psychotechnique des aveugles rééducables,
Studies II.2.B and C (roneoed documents) (C.E.B.P., undated).
2
See, in particular, R . AKENS : " L a psychotechnique au service d u reclassement des travailleurs inadaptés ", op. cit., and F . SIMON : "L'apport de la psychotechnique à la rééducation des déficients ", op. cit.

PERSONAL GUIDANCE

117

individual cases, on all their complex reality—hence the need to
analyse particular jobs and go out looking for re-employment
possibilities in the workplace itself.
I n such cases individual examination should provide an opportunity t o study the preliminary data on file, to make a general
survey of the level of intelligence and acquired knowledge of the
examinee by means of suitable tests, to ascertain his occupational
interests on the basis of a multiple-choice questionnaire 1 , to examine
his manual capacities and, possibly, to determine his occupational
skill in the branch of activity in which he was previously employed.
I t is suggested in conclusion t h a t the vocational psychologist
should conduct a final interview with a view to taking stock of
the results obtained from the various stages of the examination
and choosing, in agreement with the examinee, the course t h a t
appears to offer the best opportunities.
I n all these papers concerning the examination of special
categories of disabled persons (the blind and the tuberculous,
for example 2 ) great importance is attached to a very careful study
of each case—a study of the examinee himself, of his background
and of the kind of employment in which he might be resettled.
Resettlement may be effected either through further study by
the examinee for higher qualifications in his old occupation if
he is intellectually capable of it ; by readjustment to his former
occupation if this is possible having regard to the disability ;
or by guidance into an entirely new occupation.

CONCLUSIONS DRAWN FROM PERSONAL EXAMINATION

Young

Persons

After completing his preliminary investigations by the tests
and observation included in the individual examination, the
vocational guidance counsellor brings the various findings together.
The numerical data are synthesised in the form of a " profile "
which was partly drawn for mental aptitudes after the group tests
1
For details of t h e questions included in the questionnaire, the limited use
made of it up to the moment, and the results t h a t m a y be expected from it
when appropriate scales have been drawn up for a t least the trades most frequently open to the disabled, see J . LEPLAT : " Un questionnaire d'intérêts professionnels—Mise au point et étude ", in Bulletin, du Centre d'études et de recherches
psychotechniques, Apr.-Sep. 1953, p p . 13-21.
2
See, in particular, J . L E P L A T : " L ' e x a m e n psychotechnique des a v e u g l e s " ,
a n d M. THOMAS : *' Les examens de pré-orientation en sanatorium ", ibid., p p .
23-27 and 39-42 respectively.

118

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

and may now be extended to include motor and sensory functions.
The profile is obtained by placing the examinee in one of ten
(or sometimes 25 or more) categories for each aptitude tested
in accordance with the score he has obtained in the tests, a table
of norms being used for the conversion.1 The converted scores
are then plotted on a graph and the points joined to give a curve
(the profile), the significance of which is apparent at a glance to
an experienced counsellor.
The Directorate of Technical Education has prepared a form
on which the profile may be plotted by the centres inside the
left-hand cover of each file. This form leaves the necessary spaces
for the completion of the profile in accordance with tests given
to the examinee to determine particular functions. The kind of
attention tested, for example, may be specified (i.e., whether
concentrated or distributed). In the same way for memory the
results of the tests may concern memory of objects, logical memory,
memory of numbers, etc. In the case of motor aptitudes the kinds
tested may have been, for example, manual dexterity, precision of
performance, delicacy of touch, automaticity of movement, dissociation of movement, liability to fatigue and reaction time. As
one or more of these factors may be examined by several different
tests, the vocational guidance counsellors tend more and more
to indicate in the form against the result obtained not a given
aptitude but the particular motor test employed. Since vocational
guidance counsellors of different centres can perfectly well exchange
information on results obtained with tests, they prefer to proceed
in this way. They know by what means any particular aptitude
was measured and can check (according to the results of the test,
such as the time taken, mistakes made, etc.) whether the norm
employed is the same as their own. The danger of errors of judgment is thus reduced to a minimum.
As an example of what may be obtained from the profile
in an individual case, figure 6 reproduces that published in the
article already quoted, " L'orientation professionnelle en France ".2
1
The categories are called " deciles " if there are ten and " tetrons " if there
are 25. I n a decile scale the score falls in the first decile if it equals t h a t exceeded
by less t h a n 10 per cent, of persons in the control group with which it is desired
to compare the examinee, in the second decile if it equals t h a t exceeded by less t h a n
20 per cent, of the group, etc. Similarly in a tetron scale the score falls in the
first tetron if it equals t h a t exceeded by less t h a n 4 per cent, of the control
group and in the second tetron if it equals t h a t exceeded by less t h a n 8 per
cent., etc. The significance of the result increases in proportion to the number
of persons in the control group.
a
Op. cit., p . 14.

119

PERSONAL GUIDANCE

Full name

File No
Date of examination
Deciles
Score

Attention
58

of objects
logical .
of numbers
Imagination. . . .
Reasoning
. . . .
Common sense . .
Mechanical intelligence
Spatial representation
Dissociation of movements
Manual dexterity
. . . .
Precision of performance .
Delicacy of touch . . . .
Automaticity of movement
Liability to fatigue . . .
Reaction time

1B.
6
7
¡4

1
7

w
1'20"
21
Itttm

5
8
12

13 '5

F I G U R E 6 : EXAMPLE OF A PSYCHOLOGICAL P R O F I L E

I n this case the tests show t h a t the examinee's attention is
good, mechanical intelligence and memory of objects fairly good,
and logical and numerical memory poor. I n motor aptitudes the
examinee is somewhat above average, but he is poor in imagination.
The form in the vocational guidance dossier also has a space
in which remarks concerning the child's behaviour during the
tests may be noted in addition to the profile derived from the
results of numerically marked tests. This adds a qualitative
psychological appreciation which gives colour to the abstract
results of the scientific tests.
The counsellor is asked to continue the synthesis of results
on the inside right-hand cover of the dossier. There are spaces
for items of over-all appreciation relating to comparison with
the school record card, the interview with the child, the interview
with the parents, and the medical advisability or inadvisability

120

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

Name

DIVISIONAL INSPECTORATE

Date
0 l i

OP LABOUB A N D M A N P O W E R

Regioni
Vocational Rehabilitation
FOLLOW-UP CARD

Nature of rehabilitation
Name.
Date of birth
Nationality
Address
Social Insurance No.
Unemployment benefit.
Pension
Family circumstances

Christian names
Place of birth
Labour permit No

valid until

Social Insurance Fund
Long illness benefit.
Invalidity benefit

Previous studies
Vocational training
Previous employment
Last employer
Is the subject working now ?
Trade the subject desires to enter
Disability
Physical aptitudes
Occupational aptitudes
Contra-indications
Rating of the subject
To be reclassified as
Vocational retraining in a rapid vocational training centre or a vocational
retraining centre for disabled persons :
Institute
Date of entry
Duration of retraining
Date of leaving

Wage.

Vocational retraining in an undertaking under an individual contract :
Name and address of employer
Date of entry
Duration of retraining

Wage

Placement :
New occupation
Name and address of employer
Date of placement

Wage.

Follow-up
FIGURE

PERSONAL GTJIDAKCE

121

of the practice of trades involving certain conditions or requiring
certain aptitudes.
At this point the counsellor has carried out a general review
of all the factors known to him about the child's personality and
background, and is ready to draw conclusions. The last page
of the file has a space for the conclusions, above which is the
heading :
" Wishes : (a) of the child : ...
(b) of the parents : . . . " .
It is in full knowledge and in the light of these wishes that
the counsellor must reach his conclusions, either approving the
choice or suggesting another course which appears to him preferable in view of his knowledge of the child. It should be noted
that where the counsellor, with the approval of the director of
the centre, believes that another path should be followed, he
generally puts the suggestion in general terms, indicating particularly the level of vocational studies which the child has some
chance of attaining and the occupational field which seems
suitable to him.
Adults
As has already been explained, the methods recently introduced in the vocational selection services of the Ministry of Labour
call for a strictly standardised use of tests, which normally leads
to the case's being mainly built on a psychological profile. It
must be recalled that the purpose of the examination for the
large numbers of would-be entrants to courses at the adult vocational training centres is essentially to make a competitive selection
among them and for this purpose an objective appreciation based
as far as possible on measurable factors is most appropriate.
The rehabilitation services for the disabled use a follow-up
card on which is entered a summary of the main information
to be borne in mind in building up the general picture of the case.
There is also a space for the opinion of the vocational psychologist.
An example of this card is reproduced in figure 7.

CHAPTER VI
COLLECTIVE GUIDANCE
Guidance for the general public takes so many, and often indirect, forms that it is difficult to give a precise description of its scope.
Directed to a varied public, it sometimes aims, by the mere dissemination of objective information, at no other purpose than to
assist individuals to make up their own minds, while it sometimes
has the more or less obvious and admitted intention of influencing
individual choice by awaking interest in an occupation of importance to the national economy. Several official services and semiofficial bodies are actively involved in this work.
This general guidance is particularly aimed at the groups of
young people for whom relatively few individual guidance facilities
are available, namely, secondary school and university students ;
and it is for them that the University Educational and Occupational
Statistics and Documentation Office, the most active group guidance
body, particularly works.1
The University Office provides individual guidance to a limited
extent, but its main work is done indirectly through its publications,
which contain a relatively large amount of information on the
occupations, preparatory courses and openings available for students with various types of education and, in particular, on all the
entrance examinations of schools and the different branches of the
administration. The libraries of secondary and higher education
establishments generally subscribe to the Office's publications,
which are also available for consultation in the reading rooms of
students' clubs.
The University Office does not, however, confine itself to disseminating information through its own publications; it frequently
makes use of the public press and in some cases has succeeded in
getting newspapers to accept a weekly column. It works in close
collaboration with the Manpower Directorate of the Ministry of
Labour, and publishes announcements and articles in the latter's
1

See above, p. 58.

COLLECTIVE GUIDANCE

123

Bulletin d'information et de documentation professionnelles, which
contains extracts from reviews and periodicals concerned with vocational guidance. I t also posts notices in schools and university
faculties, and each of its " teacher representatives " has a notice
board in the establishment in which he acts as representative of the
Office. I n addition, the Office's regional agents undertake lecture
tours of faculties and secondary schools, and it makes use of the
radio as much as possible. Its announcements reach a larger
audience every year among the student population.
Guidance methods based on the dissemination of occupational
information are by no means restricted to secondary and higher
education. B y co-operation between the schools and the vocational
guidance service, children in primary schools also benefit from
general guidance as an addition to and preparation for individual
guidance. The vocational guidance centres have received definite
instructions in this respect ; the model regulations for official
guidance centres sent out by the Directorate of Technical Education x lay it down as one of their duties " to collect, organise and
disseminate information on occupations and careers, particularly
in educational establishments at all levels in their département ".
This is done for primary-school children with the main object of
awakening their interest in the various trades, for the surprising
ignorance of most of them in this respect prevents them from acting
decisively when the choice of vocational education has to be made.
A knowledge of occupations leading to a reasoned choice is therefore
considered an important means of avoiding chance " drift ". 2
This problem is tackled in a number of ways. The printed word
is not the most effective means of reaching this particular public
and the vocational guidance services therefore arrange for frequent
talks to be given to schoolchildren about trades ; they also arrange
visits t o factories and other local places of employment. These
visits are organised both for the children and, where a desire has
been expressed to the vocational guidance centre for information
on apprenticeship possibilities, for their parents, who are urged
through addresses t o parents' associations t o take advantage of
these facilities.
Short essays are sometimes set before and after talks or visits
to discover how effective they are as a means of broadening the

See above, p p . 15-16.
A film made in France on vocational guidance with the title Echec au hasard
(" Don't leave it to chance ") was very successful.
2

12é

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FRANCE

children's vocational knowledge and of developing their interests
and preferences.
I t is difficult to draw a hard and fast line between collective
guidance based simply on objective information about occupations
and publicity designed to attract entrants into trades the expansion
of which is required by the country's economic needs. Indeed,
articles with this perfectly legitimate aim in view may frequently
be seen in the specialised publications designed to keep young
people informed of the vocational training facilities available to
them.
The National Vocational Documentation Centre, a forerunner of
the Centre for Study and Documentary Research on Technical
Education 1 , for some years openly pursued the aim z of trying to
correct mistaken public opinion which often leads young people
in France, as in other countries, by a sort of infectious delusion
to t r y to enter the most crowded occupations. The method used.
was to analyse occupational needs by industry and area on the
basis of official statistics or special surveys, and then to undertake surveys in the schools to ascertain what occupations the
schoolchildren intended to take u p ; appropriate counter-propaganda was then launched to awaken interest in the trades with
a shortage of manpower and discourage interest in overcrowded
occupations. However, this method was criticised as lacking in
sufficiently sound scientific foundation, and was finally abandoned.
Nevertheless the need for quantitative as well as qualitative
co-ordination between vocational training and the requirements
of the economy is so urgent that, without advertising the principle,
many vocational information services or bodies do in fact more
or less deliberately follow this policy. I t can easily be traced,
for example, in articles in informational publications strongly
stressing the overcrowded nature of various intellectual occupations
and stigmatising the increasing trend towards the tertiary occupations at the expense of primary and secondary forms of production. 3 The same policy can be seen in the organisation of lectures
in educational circles, sometimes sponsored by bodies concerned
with vocational guidance, with a view to publicising future pros1

See above, p . 68.
Centre national de documentation professionnelle : Orientation professionnelle collective — La région parisienne et l'avenir professionnel des enfants
(Paris, 1943).
3
See, for example, A. ROSIER : " Orientation scolaire et professionnelle ",
in Mutualité du travail, Feb. 1951, quoted in Bulletin d'information et de documentation professionnelles, 15 J u n e 1951, p . 36.
2

COLLECTIVE GUIDANCE

125

pects in technical public services or undertakings in the course
of expansion.1 It is clear that such collective information facilities,
when directed to awakening curiosity in and a vocation for occupations offering opportunities for success, serve the best interests
both of young people and of the country.

1
For example a series of information lectures was organised in 1951 b y the
French Post, Telegraph and Telephone Department.

CHAPTER VII
FOLLOW-UP
When a centre has carried through a vocational guidance
examination and given advice, its task is not over. The career
of the person guided must he watched to see whether the guidance
is followed and whether the results obtained (first in the vocational
training establishment and then in the practice of the trade itself)
fulfil the counsellor's forecast. This process is the follow-up.
Follow-up is useful to the person concerned ; through it he can
be helped over temporary difficulties and the original advice
may even be changed if need be. It is essential to the services
themselves as a means of evaluating the effectiveness of their
methods, since success in an occupation is the best gauge of the
validity of the advice they have given.
Vocational guidance staff are therefore urged to make the
closest possible study of the cases they have handled, and the
regulations of many official centres now make follow-up one of
their specific duties. The forms used by the appropriate administrative bodies also remind guidance personnel of their task in this
respect : both the cover of the personal file used by the vocational
guidance centres under the jurisdiction of the Directorate of
Technical Education and the follow-up card used by the rehabilitation services under the Manpower Directorate have a space
for observations concerning follow-up or " later history ". 1
The mechanically annotated filing card used by the selection
services for recording the results of the psychological entrance
examination has special columns in which the results of training
are registered and thus also constitutes a follow-up document.
The conditions for follow-up are particularly favourable where
the centres have a welfare worker available, since one of this
officer's normal duties is to find out from the family what has
become of the examinee. Hence, voluntary centres such as those
run by the French National Railways and the Family Allowance
1

See fig. 7, p. 120 above.

FOLLOW-TJP

127

Fund generally have better facilities for follow-up than the official
centres. The centre run by the Family Allowance Fund for the
Paris area follows up all the cases it handles. An initial inquiry
is sent to the family six months after the examination ; if there
is no reply a welfare worker visits the home to make inquiries
on the spot. Official centres that have no welfare workers sometimes
try to get the necessary information about those they have advised
when younger members of the same family apply to the centre ;
but the information obtained in this way is not very satisfactory,
and the need for systematic inquiries has now been recognised.
In 1949 the National Labour Research and Vocational Guidance
Institute made an inquiry of this sort among the persons who
had been examined in its own guidance centre.1 In the same year
the Institute initiated a general survey 2 for the purpose of which
it asked all public centres to supply it with the basic information
for processing. Questionnaires were carefully prepared asking for
information on the circumstances of examinees between six months
and five years after examination. The first questionnaire was to
be filled in by the parents of children examined between six months
and one year before. For children examined three years before
there was one questionnaire to be filled in by the parents and
one by either the employer or the training establishment as the
case might be. Finally there was a questionnaire to be answered
by examinees who had received vocational guidance five years
before.
The main aims of the survey were to find out—
(1) what happened to the child after the examination, and
specifically, whether he followed the advice given ;
(2) whether he was successful—
(a) if he followed the advice,
(b) if he did not follow the advice ;
(3) whether he was satisfied—
(a) if he followed the advice,
(b) if he did not follow it ; and
(4) whether the family considered that the advice given was
helpful.3
1
For the results of this inquiry, see C. BÉNASSY-CHATJTFABD : " Vocational
Guidance in France, " op. cit., p . 407.
2
Le contrôle de l'orientation professionnelle, op. cit., pp. 3-42.
3
The replies to the last question showed that it had not in general been understood.

128

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN PRANCE

Only 41 out of 200 existing centres co-operated in the survey
and the replies collected by each centre were unfortunately not
numerous. They amounted altogether to 4,121 for the one-year
check ; 489 for the three-year check (306 for children placed with
an employer, and 183 for children sent to an educational establishment) ; and 144 for the five-year check.1
In spite of these low figures the Institute considered—on the
basis of a check-survey carried out by welfare officers among 100
test cases, the result of which corroborated the general survey—•
that the sample of cases covered was sufficiently representative
for the results of the survey to be significant.
The findings may be summed up as follows :
(1) The results vary very little from centre to centre, which
would seem to indicate good training of the staff.
(2) Guidance had been followed in the very great majority
of cases. As Piéron has pointed out, "guidance does not follow
the line of least resistance with a view to immediate advantage,
and therefore contributes in no small degree to an increase of
skill among workers ". 2 At the end of one year only 17.5 per cent.
of examinees had not followed the advice given and more than half
had followed it to the letter. After three years only 13.4 per cent.
of the boys and 8.2 per cent, of the girls in educational establishments 3 , as against 29.6 per cent, of the boys and 24.7 per cent.
of the girls placed in apprenticeship4, had not followed the counsellors' recommendations. After five years the guidance given was
still being followed by rather more than 80 per cent, of the boys
and 78 per cent, of the girls.6
(3) Success in the occupation was almost invariable where the
advice had been followed ; failures amounted to less than 3 per
cent. Among those who did not follow the guidance, however,
17 per cent, failed in the vocation they chose and had to give
it up.6
(4) Satisfaction, which is a difficult result to evaluate accurately
owing to its subjectiveness (and " it was hardly to be expected
that those who had failed to follow the guidance given, would readily admit their mistake by a declaration of dissatisfaction " 6),
1
Le contrôle de l'orientation
»Ibid., p . 3.
3
Ibid., p . 20.
4
Ibid., p . 22.
6
Ibid., p . 24.
6
Ibid., p . 4.

professionnelle, op. cit., p . 9.

FOLLOW-UP

129

m a y be taken as greater among those who followed the guidance
given, since only 8.9 per cent, regretted not having chosen a different occupation as against 30.5 per cent, among those who had
not followed the advice given. 1
I n the course of the more detailed survey carried out in the
Institute itself positive satisfaction was found among 82 per cent.
of the young people who had taken advice when it agreed with
their own preference and among 50 per cent, of those who followed
the advice although their own preference lay elsewhere ; there
was real satisfaction among only 46 per cent, of those who followed
their own preference against the advice given. 1 Some of the reasons
given for dissatisfaction were, moreover, very contingent. I n his
commentary on the survey the Director of the Institute wrote—
" This proves what might well have been expected, namely that
where preference and aptitude coincide the young person stands the
best chance of a happy and successful career, but that where aptitude
has been ignored preferences, which are not always either clear or
stable, if followed, lead t o a relatively high percentage of failures." x

No information has yet been published on the results of the
follow-up t h a t vocational selection centres and resettlement
services are required to carry out as a part of their regular duties.

Le contrôle de l'orientation professionnelle, op. cit., p. 4.

CONCLUSIONS
I t emerges from this study t h a t the present state of the vocational guidance services in France is by no means final ; they are still
in process of growth. But to what extent have they achieved
their objective ?
I t should be explained that no attempt will be made here to
arrive at a qualitative judgment. The French vocational guidance
services have themselves undertaken an objective review of the
value of their methods, the results of which were discussed in the
last chapter. Here the aim is only to estimate how much of the task
has been done in relation to the objectives set, t o measure t h e
road covered towards the ultimate goal and to define, where
appropriate, the causes of any delay.
In the case of adult guidance neither the aim nor the information available on results is sufficiently clear for any summing
up to be attempted. Guidance facilities have been made available
t o adult workers u p t o now only in exceptional cases ; the main
task at the moment is guidance of t i e disabled, which has been
pursued energetically during recent years ; it is not, however,
possible to estimate with any degree of accuracy the extent of
the needs and the proportion in which they have been met.
The position is different in the case of juvenile guidance, where
the competent services have had their goal laid before them by
legislation, t h a t is t o say, the guidance of all young people who
have not decided at the end of their compulsory primary schooling
(at the age of 14) to go on to secondary schools and are faced,
before leaving school, with a choice between preparing for an
occupation through further training and immediate employment.
School statistics for 1950-51 put the number of children in
public and private primary schools between 11 and 14 years
of age at 1,347,00o.1 No more recent data are available, b u t this
1
I n public schools : 578,000 boys and 531,000 girls ; in private schools :
93,000 boys and 145,000 girls. See : Bureau universitaire de statistique et de
documentation scolaires et professionnelles : Recueil de statistiques scolaires et
professionnelles 1949,1950,1951,
pp. 17 and 29.

CONCLUSIONS

131

figure will suffice to give an idea of the size of the problem. It
may be deduced that at least some 400,000 children become
liable each year to the compulsory vocational guidance examination.1 Specialists have remarked 2 that the number of examinations actually carried out in France amounts to rather less
than half.
Before proceeding to an examination of the available statistical
data on guidance examinations some remarks are necessary if the
figures are to be interpreted correctly. The statistics include, in
addition to the legally compulsory examinations, an unknown
number of examinations taken voluntarily.
The legal definition of vocational guidance referred to above
is considered too narrow by many teachers and by an increasing
number of parents, and the centres are asked for vocational guidance sometimes for children still at primary school (under 14),
sometimes for young people who have already started their secondary education, and sometimes even for a single child at different
stages in his school life.
The inclusion of these special cases in the total annual number
of examinations carried out by the centres therefore proportionately reduces to an unknown degree the significance of the figures
if they are to be used as an indication of the extent to which the
statutory objective has been attained. While some centres keep
records showing a clear distinction between the two kinds of
examination and the percentage each represents of the total, it
would be wrong, in the absence of comprehensive data, to generalise from such results, which may have been influenced by local
factors. We are obliged to assume, however, that the unknown
element is by no means a negligible quantity.
This reservation must be borne in mind, therefore, in interpreting the figures given below. For the country as a whole the
statistics stop short at 1948 and are as follows :

1
I t m a y be of interest to compare this figure with the total number of children
in t h e same age group ; according to available statistics there were 649,000 in 1946
and 555,000 in 1953. This means t h a t more t h a n 150,000 children escape liability
for the examination either because they go on to secondary school or continuation
courses, or because they are prevented from attending school by illness or other
circumstances.
2
" L'orientation professionnelle en France, " op. cit., p p . 9 and 16.

132

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN TRANCE

TOTAL NUMBER

OF CHILDREN

EXAMINED

GUIDANCE CENTRES
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1

THE

VOCATIONAL

(1941-48)
63,370
i
1

09,901
81,354
143,000
185,000
133,616

No statistics taken.

From more recent statistics for the département de la Seine it
may be presumed that the 1952 total was considerably in excess
of that for 1948 and probably amounted to or exceeded 150,000
examinations for the country as a whole. The figures for the same
département for the period 1942-51 are given below ; they clearly
show the very considerable success of efforts made after the
Liberation to expand vocational guidance facilities.
NUMBER OF CHILDREN EXAMINED BY THE VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE
CENTRES OF THE DÉPARTEMENT DE LA SEINE ( 1 9 4 2 - 5 1 )
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946

18,313
29,109
21,785
31,227
37,818

1947
1948
1949
1950
1951

59,960
34,695
42,245
58,759
51,801

Similar progress can be traced in the increase in the number
of centres from 98 in 1945 to 164 in 1952 for France as a whole,
in spite of the mergers which occurred in some cases. In the
département de la Seine, for example, the departmental centre has
been counted as a single unit with subsections since 1946, but
was constituted by the merger of about 30 separately administered
centres.
Another mark of the work done to expand vocational guidance
is found in the growth of state subsidies to the centres. As already
stated 1 such assistance represents only a part of the centres'
budget and if the total figures could be obtained it would probably
be seen that contributions from other sources have increased to
a similar extent, which would be an even more significant sign
1

See above, p p . 18-20.

133

CONCLUSIONS

of the growth of interest in vocational guidance. However, as
the subsidies to vocational guidance are voted b y Parliament
as part of the general budget, their amount is symptomatic of the
significance attached to it in France. A table of subsidies is given
below :

STATE SUBSIDIES TO THE VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE SERVICES

(1934-52)
(francs)
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943

367,500
294,200
287,000
315,000
369,000
1,547,250
1,252,550
1,259,000
1,259,000
3,340,300

1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952

3,450,000
16,600,603
20,998,655
38,000,000
105,000,000
135,000,000
151,998,000
285,000,000
600,000,000

I n interpreting this table account should be taken of the change
in the value of the franc during the period. Bearing this reservation
in mind it is still possible to pick out steps characterised by substantial jumps in credit reflecting a growth of interest in vocational
guidance. One was in 1939, after the enactment of the legislative
decree of 24 May 1938, making the vocational guidance examination compulsory for certain classes of schoolchildren. Another
was in 1945 immediately after the Liberation, when a great campaign for the practical organisation of vocational guidance centres
got under way. A third was in 1952, when the State's contribution
to vocational guidance more t h a n doubled without there having
been any significant currency depreciation—an increase due to
the fact t h a t under the 1951 Act the State's responsibilities for
these services were expanded.
The growth of public interest in vocational guidance takes
many other forms in which it is difficult to measure the variations.
The general diffidence, and particularly t h a t of the families t h a t
had been alarmed by the compulsory vocational guidance imposed
in 1938, has given way very largely to trust in the service. This
is shown b y the increasing number of requests for examination
of individual cases, which have reached such proportions in some
academic regions t h a t publicity by the regional vocational guidance inspectorates among parents' associations, explaining the
advantages of guidance, has had to be slowed down because centres

134

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN FBANCE

are unable to meet all the requests made to them by families.
The fact that in some centres a quarter of the examinations carried
out are now on a voluntary basis is a clear indication of this shift
of opinion. It is true that most of these voluntary examinations
are of young people with problems, but that in itself is a proof
that French families are beginning to feel the need for vocational
guidance services in the same way as for medical or dental services,
which represents a great step forward.
The expansion of vocational guidance in France and its extension to cover the entire juvenile population are no longer hampered
by lack of technical personnel, which represented a serious problem
in the period immediately following the war. There is now sufficient
systematically trained personnel available to cover present employment opportunities, so that the number of pupils admitted to
the National Labour Research and Vocational Guidance Institute
has had to be deliberately cut down. If material resources were
to allow an expansion of the services, however, it would be relatively easy to obtain staff, since the number of would-be trainees
at the Institute is constantly increasing, thus showing the prestige
attaching to this kind of training. The main obstacle hampering
the extension of vocational guidance in France today is financial :
those who have studied the matter would Mke to see the number
of centres and the volume of facilities available for vocational
guidance doubled, and, in spite of their growth, state subsidies are
still far below what would be needed for any such far-reaching
expansion.1

" L'orientation professionnelle en France, " op. cit., pp. 9 and 16.