Postdoctoral researcher in sociology of higher education

About this position

Along with other research units at the University of Nantes, the Centre Nantais de Sociologie (CENS), a sociology research laboratory at Nantes Université, is participating in the “Ouverture sociale” project initiated in 2023 by the institution, which is committed to strengthening the social openness of its training courses. This project was supported by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche as part of the ExcellenceS program. It is in this context that Tristan Poullaouec, lecturer at CENS, proposed the following research project on the means of transportation used by university students which requires a postdoctoral contract.

The proposed research has three phases: 1. A first part of the research focuses on exploring bibliographic references and preparing a questionnaire survey (drafting and testing questions, personal data protection policy); 2. The second part of the research is devoted to collecting and cleaning the responses from students of the various departments of the University of Nantes, as well as matching these responses with data from the registrar’s office; 3.

The third part of the research is dedicated to analyzing and interpreting the data collected in relation to the chosen research question and the findings made. The successful candidate will work independently on all three phases of this research under the supervision of Tristan Poullaouec and with occasional support from the data analyst at the «Ouverture sociale» Chair. The survey aims to identifiy different categories of geographic mobility among students from high school graduation to master’s degree applications.

It adresses two issues: what do these geographic, residential or commuting movements imply for students and their families in terms of transportation to their place of study? Conversely, what impact do the means of transportation used have on study choices and academic schedules? The investigation report will attempt to provide general answers to these questions.

It will also provide cross-tabulated tables by field of study, level, location, distance from place of study, social background, gender, and academic trajectory in high school. In accordance with statistical confidentiality and the GDPR, anonymised individual data from the research and related documentation will be made available to researchers for future reuse.