Involvement and engagement with associations in both academic and personal careers
The research aims to understand how student engagement, depending on individual and regional resources and support mechanisms, shapes identities, skills and trajectories, in order to guide fairer and more effective support practices.
Context and humanitarian or social issues and challenges
Student engagement outside the university setting contributes to social cohesion, the development of civic skills and the vitality of associations. However, access to, recognition of and continuity in such engagement remain uneven depending on social and cultural capital, support mechanisms and regional resources. In contexts marked by calls to ‘get involved’, students have to juggle their studies, paid work, precariousness and career prospects, with the risk of dropping out of community involvement or becoming worn out. Stakeholders (CRf, Animafac, universities, local associations) are seeking to better understand what supports sustainable, transferable and valued engagement in order to guide their support mechanisms and prevent engagement from being reserved for the most privileged. ENLACÉ examines these dynamics by cross-referencing trajectories, socialisation effects, recognition of skills and territorial anchors, in order to inform operational and fair choices in support.
This research maps the diversity of student engagement ‘careers’; it identifies the obstacles and drivers of student engagement, such as recognition, support, resources, peers, and links to life plans. The aim is to measure the effect of territorial and institutional contexts and to qualify the uses of engagement (capitalisation, transfer, poaching) and the conditions for its sustainability. The aim is to propose operational recommendations for the French Red Cross, Animafac and their partners in the form of leverage sheets, support tools and skills development. The research aims to combine scientific rigour and social utility through a mixed methodology and transferable deliverables in the form of policy briefs, video clips and workshops.
Does the experience of engagement influence the construction of student, professional and civic identities? What conditions (recognition, support, peers, territories) promote or hinder its continuity and value in students’ educational pathways?
Field research and investigative method
A mixed method will be used. For quantitative data, the researcher will use an online questionnaire completed by approximately 1,500 respondents from four urban areas (Lille, Lyon, Paris, Pau), including both committed and non-committed individuals. Students will be recruited via universities, CRF and Animafac partners, with QR codes at events. As for qualitative methods, five mixed focus groups (4–5 participants) will be set up to map motivations, obstacles and perceptions. Thirty-five filmed biographical interviews with students (engaged, non-engaged, former students) will be conducted to describe their trajectories, their dropouts and the articulations of their life projects. Finally, 10 interviews with support staff (CRf tutors, Animafac advisors, association leaders) will supplement the data received. The sampling will take into account gender, social background, level of education, fields of study and types of associations, while complying with the GDPR (information, consent, pseudonymisation, controlled storage).
The scientific significance of the research and its implications for humanitarian and social actors
The project brings together the sociologies of youth, engagement, careers and territories. It provides detailed documentation on the recognition of skills, the different uses of engagement and their biographical effects, incorporating the territorial variable (metropolitan/peri-urban/rural). The main contribution is an empirical typology of trajectories and conditions for sustainability, supported by a mixed multi-site approach and an audiovisual corpus. It sheds light on the relationships between capital, peers and mechanisms, filling a gap in recent comparative data in France.
The results will be presented in concise, two-page summary sheets. These will be used to adjust the identification, support and recognition of commitments; in policy briefs for advocacy; and in video clips for training and dissemination. The challenge is to optimise equitable access, secure the pathways undertaken, and better promote the skills acquired, for the benefit of associations, students and local areas.
Biography
Maxime Duviau is a sociologist and qualified lecturer. He is a postdoctoral researcher at the TREE laboratory (UMR 6031, UPPA). His work focuses on youth, university socialisation and forms of engagement, with a focus on trajectories, territories and the recognition of skills. He has designed and conducted mixed surveys (questionnaires, interviews, focus groups) and promotes their results for public and associative action. He is the author of Rouler pour grandir (L’Harmattan, 2025) and currently coordinates ENLACÉ, a programme on student engagement and its effects on identities and careers, in partnership with the French Red Cross and Animafac.
Crédit photo : Pexels