Transitions to upper secondary education are of crucial importance to understanding educational inequalities. They are also vital in explaining the contemporary dynamics of Early School Leaving. Global hegemonic discourses around educational transitions and Early School Leaving shape student pathways in terms of rational and linear choices, assuming equal opportunities for lifelong learning. Simultaneously, the European Strategy attributes key roles to Vocational Education and Training and to guidance in order to smooth educational transitions, reduce Early School Leaving and meet the needs of the knowledge-based economy. The aim of the article is to problematise the linear relationship between Early School Leaving, Vocational Education and Training, and guidance policies representing the dominant contemporary rhetoric concerned with ensuring smooth transitions and opening up long-term educational pathways for young people. The article provides an in-depth analysis of the political construction of the transition from lower to upper secondary education in Catalonia, identifying how it is conceptualised at a discursive level by policy actors and also how it is implemented at the institutional level. The results aim to be regarded as a useful analytical resource to inform critical policy analyses of educational transitions and their implications in terms of social inequalities.

过渡到高中教育对于理解教育不平等至关重要。它们对于解释“早期辍学”的当代动态也至关重要。假设教育机会均等，围绕教育过渡和早期学校离开的全球霸权话语会根据理性和线性选择来塑造学生的学习途径。同时，《欧洲战略》将关键角色赋予了职业教育和培训以及指导，以平滑教育过渡，减少早期退学率并满足知识经济的需求。本文的目的是对早期离校，职业教育与培训，代表着当代主流言论的指导政策，涉及确保平稳过渡和为年轻人开辟长期教育途径。本文对加泰罗尼亚从初中到高中过渡的政治结构进行了深入分析，确定了政策参与者如何在话语层面上对其进行概念化以及在机构层面上如何加以实施。研究结果旨在被视为有用的分析资源，可为对教育转型及其对社会不平等的影响进行重要的政策分析提供参考。确定政策参与者如何在话语层面上对其进行概念化以及在机构层面上如何对其进行实施。研究结果旨在被视为有用的分析资源，可为对教育转型及其对社会不平等的影响进行重要的政策分析提供参考。确定政策参与者如何在话语层面上对其进行概念化以及在机构层面上如何对其进行实施。研究结果旨在被视为有用的分析资源，可为对教育转型及其对社会不平等的影响进行重要的政策分析提供参考。