Background The main goal of this paper is to shed light on the meaning and the values that secondary school students, who entered a work-based learning program (DIMA) or a preparatory to professional training (3rd PFP), place on their early orientation. Population and methods We conducted a comparative study based on a computerized questionnaire including 96 items in a 416 middle school student population. All of them were enrolled either in the DIMA or the 3rd PFP program. Our cluster analysis method allowed us to build three different profiles. These profiles are specified by the relation to orientation that differs with the different schooling contexts. Results Our results put forward that the objective conditions of admission in these programs are influenced by school factors (school difficulties) as well as social factors (popular origin). If most middle school students have built positive representations with respect to the orientation towards these programs, for others, this change is forced. Besides the objective factors, our results put forward the influence of the anterior school experience and the relation to learning, to explain how does the orientation meaning build. Conclusion This early orientation appears to be linked to a will of detachment with a schooling context perceived as conflictual and alienating for the middle school students. However, this orientation is not source of remobilization and a way to access a qualifying training for all these adolescents. It is therefore necessary to consider the diversity of the subjective logics that organize the personalization process in adolescence. © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS
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