Entre attentes et réalité: La construction de l’identité professionnelle des diplômé.e.s de la formation professionnelle et technique

Abstract

Based on a psychosocial perspective of identity and career transitions, this paper presents the results of a study on the occupational identity construction during the school-to-work transition. The analysis of 48 semi-structured interviews with vocational and technical training graduates in the province of Québec highlights the existence of five types of gaps between expectations and the reality of entering the labor market: thriving, contentment, temporary dissatisfaction, partial frustration, and disengagement. Results also show that the occupational identity construction during the school-to-work transition can be linear, laborious, or failed.