Rouages: “Behind every career plan lies the question of identity.”
Cheikh Latrache and Matthieu Evrard are psychologists working for the French Ministry of Education. Seconded by the local education authority to SCUIO-IP, they advise, guide, and listen to students at the University of Montpellier as they choose their courses and enter the job market. This month, as part of the video series "Rouages" produced by UM, they tell us about their work.
I'm talking about a time that people over 30 can't remember, when we no longer talked about guidance counselors but rather national education psychologists. Their mission? To contribute to the success of students by helping them develop their education and career plans. "With more than 26,000 courses available after high school and 11,500 different professions, many students feel lost or helpless. We are here to guide and support them through this complex process," explains Matthieu Evrard, who has held this position at UM for three years after working in overseas France.
Like him, there are four of them, employed by the local education authority but seconded part-time to the joint information, guidance, and professional integration service, SCUIO-IP. " We are a small cog in a larger wheel, which is SCUIO-IP, and within which there are several services," explains Cheikh Latrache, who has been working in Montpellier for nearly 20 years. Alongside the guidance and information service, where those nicknamed "psy EN" work, there is a service dedicated to support and professional integration and a third service responsible for conducting surveys on the professional integration of students.
More than 700 students per year
Head to the Science Library on the Triolet campus, where the two professionals welcome more than 700 students each year, not only from the Faculty of Science, but also from various IUTs, IAE, and Polytech, enrolled in programs ranging from freshman year to master's and sometimes even doctoral degrees. "Half of the students come to request a change of major, while the other half come to develop a plan for continuing their studies with a professional goalin mind," explains Cheikh Latrache.
To guide them as effectively as possible, national education psychologists draw on their knowledge of different fields and professions, but also on their knowledge of themselves. "We try to match interests, qualities, values, and skills with a certain type of profession or field. The psychological dimension is central," explains Matthieu Evrard, who holds a master's degree in psychology. This is a requirement for eligibility for the DECOP, the state diploma for guidance counselors and psychologists.
A well-stocked toolbox
In addition to interviews, these psychologists also provide advice as part of collective actions organized at the request of departments and faculties at all University of Montpellier sites, including the Béziers and Nîmes campuses. "The goal here is for students, whether in initial or continuing education, to begin to develop a project-based approach on their own," continues Cheikh Latrache. We also offer C3R certification for success, resilience, and recovery, which allows students who have dropped out to develop a future project and acquire written and oral communication skills."
Faced with students who are tempted to view educational psychologists as "magicians capable of guiding them with a wave of their wand," the latter have a well-stocked toolbox at their disposal: guidance tools such as personality tests and questionnaires; well-known references such as Onisep, CIDJ, andIJBox; digital workspaces that now offer access to employment resource guides; government platforms such as trouvermonmaster.gouv.fr and, of course, Parcoursup.
A world of constraints
These tools have certainly made it easier to access information about training and guidance, but they have also profoundly transformed it: "With Parcoursup, young people have a clearer idea of what's out there than I did in my day, " explains Matthieu Evrard. On the other hand, there's something a bit time-consuming and anxiety-inducing about having a set number of choices and a schedule to stick to. " This anxiety-inducing aspect may be increasingly present in the work of educational psychologists.
"We step in to help people at a time when they are questioning themselves and feeling uncertain, and it's this support that I really enjoy,"emphasizesCheik Latrache. " It requires listening, kindness, and an ability to welcome the other person's request. "Behind any career guidance project lies the question of identity and the place one will occupy in society, which is why students often arrive with a very high level of stress. Our job also aims to reduce this stress by giving them some leeway in a world of constraints," concludes Matthieu Evrard.