Excerpt from an interview of Stéphane Beaud with Nassim, a student of immigrant origin, and popular, in 80 % au bac… and after ? (Beaud, 2002, 80% au bac… and after ? The children of the democratization of education, Paris, La Découverte, 372 p, p. 39)
“The sons of workers, statistically, it is true that they are in professional colleges… But I don’t party, I am in the other part. Me, I’m not in the statistics… But I must admit that this is true, I admit the statistics…
Even so, this is not bullshit, but personally, I think that it is stupid… (reflective) for Me, I say no : I’m not part of the statistics !… Even if I keep the statistics ! Because it is the majority, I respect that, I will say that it is not true in life, but, for me, in my head, it’s not true… You understand the nuance !… ”
One will refer with profit to Bernard Lahire (1994), “The reasons for the improbable : the popular forms of the “success” elementary school ” , in Vincent, Guy (ed), Education is a prisoner of the school forms ? Schooling and socialization in industrial societies, university Presses of Lyon, or in Tables of family, 1995, for the study of the successes of the improbable.