Louis-André VALLET
Directeur(trice) de recherche
Download on HAL Louis-André Vallet’s PHd, defended in 1992 :
“La mobilité sociale des femmes en France : la participation des femmes aux processus de mobilité sociale intergénérationnelle”
Research interests
Louis-André Vallet’s research focuses on social stratification in France since the mid-twentieth century and is often conducted within collaborative frameworks with a cross-national comparative perspective. His work addresses the structure and temporal trends of social inequalities in education, intergenerational and intragenerational mobility, and the link between education levels and social position. Louis-André Vallet is also interested in the notion of causality in the social sciences as well as statistical analysis methods for categorical variables and longitudinal data.
Recent communications
- 2026, “My tribute to John: How I have been accompanied by John Goldthorpe’s work during my PhD, then academic career, beginning in 1980”, “Accompanying Text”, Spring Conference of the Research Committee 28 on Social Stratification and Mobility, Pablo de Olavide University, Sevilla, May 20th-22nd.
- 2024, “On the Relationship between Inequality of Educational Opportunity and Inequality of Social Opportunity: A Reassessment of the Third Section of “L’inégalité des chances” (1973)”, International Symposium “Engaging with Boudon: Insights for Contemporary Sociological Science”, Sorbonne University, Paris, June 27th-29th.
- 2024 (with Stéphane Benveniste, Elise Huillery and Jean-Marc Germain), « Webinaire “Mobilité sociale : si l’on misait sur le capital humain ?” », Rencontre économique de l’IGPDE, Ministère de l’Economie, des Finances, et de la Souveraineté Industrielle et Numérique, Paris, 21 Mars.
- 2023 (with Chlöé Farrer and Sébastien Goudeau), « Presentation of the Synopsis de l’ouvrage collectif du Réseau Thématique Pluridisciplinaire du CNRS “Recherches autour des questions d’éducation” », International conference Éducation et inégalités, RTP and MITI-CNRS, Paris,May 15th-17th.
- 2022, « Méritocratie et mobilité sociale : un aperçu de la recherche empirique en sociologie », Colloque “Méritocratie” : Analyses et Controverses, Collège de France, 24 Mai. « Social Mobility and Meritocracy: An Overview of Empirical Research About France (with a Brief Comparative Perspective) », European Academy of Sociology, Paris, October 29th.
- Video: https://www.college-de-france.fr/fr/agenda/colloque/meritocratie-analyses-et-controverses/meritocratie-et-mobilite-sociale-un-apercu-de-la-recherche-empirique-en-sociologie
- 2020, « La mobilité sociale en France depuis les années 1970 au prisme d’une perspective comparative (Europe, Etats-Unis). Mesures et causes », Quatrième journée du Séminaire DREES-ONPES Trajectoires et parcours des personnes en situation de pauvreté et d’exclusion sociale, 19 Octobre, visio-conférence.
- 2019 (avec Marta Veljkovic), “Intragenerational Mobility and Career Fluidity in France Over Birth Cohorts and Across Age (1970-2015): The Role of Counter-Mobility and Other Types of Career Patterns“, ECSR Conference on Inequality over the Life Course, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, September 12th-14th.
- 2018, “Change in Social Fluidity over Birth Cohorts in France: Educational Expansion and Democratization of Education as Key Explanatory Mechanisms”, Research Committee 28 (Social stratification), XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology, Toronto, 15-21 juillet.
- 2018, “The Democratization of Education, its Apparent Paradox, a Plausible Explanation, and its Empirical Proof“, Séminaire de l’axe Politiques éducatives du LIEPP, mercredi 21 février 2018, LIEPP, Paris et Workshop Intergenerational Mobility and Income Inequality, 12-14 Mars, University of Haïfa, Israël.
Teaching
- Sociologie de l’éducation et des inégalités d’éducation : France et une perspective comparative (2ème année, Master de sociologie, Sorbonne Université, until the 2023-2024 academic year).
Resources : Quelques repères pour l’accès aux données d’enquête.
Former PhD students
- Jean-François Mignot (2009, CNRS Research Fellow)
- Noémie Le Donné (2015, Senior Analyst at the OECD Directorate of Education)
- Milan Bouchet-Valat (2015, INED Research Fellow)
- Marta Veljkovic (2022, Assistant Professor at Sorbonne University)
- Olivier Monso (2024, Expert on the Analysis of School Inequalities at DEPP-Ministry of Education)
Scientific Responsibilities
- Member of CSEN – Conseil Scientifique de l’Education Nationale.
- Member (to represent the CNRS) of the Scientific Council of CEREQ – Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches sur les Qualifications (2022-2025).
- Member of Réseau Thématique Pluridisciplinaire du CNRS ‘Recherches autour des questions d’éducation’.
- Member of Comité stratégique 2020 relatif à l’ouverture sociale dans l’enseignement supérieur.
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Étude Longitudinale Française depuis l’Enfance (ELFE).
- Fellow of the European Academy of Sociology (since 2019).
Louis-André Vallet was Chief Editor of the Revue française de sociologie between July 2014 and June 2020 and a member of the RFS Board between January 1991 and June 2021.
He was or has been a member of the Board or Advisory Board of the following journals:
- Acta Sociologica (2015-2018)
- European Sociological Review (2000-2017 and 2021-)
- Social Forces (2009-2013)
- Bulletin de Méthodologie sociologique (2010-2024)
- Économie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics (2010-2024)
He is also a member of the Société Française de Statistique.
He led the Scientific and Organizational Boards for the ECSR 2018 Conference in Paris (29-31 October 2018).
International collaborations
Louis-André Vallet was a member of the Board of the Research Committee 28 “Social Stratification and Mobility”, in the International Sociological Association between 2018 and 2023. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the European Consortium for Sociological Research (ECSR) between 2012 and 2018.
He was also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the National Educational Panel Study (Germany) between 2009 and 2021.
