Using panel data from France (DEPP) and Switzerland (TREE) the pathways to higher education in the two countries were analysed, looking specifically at the accessibly of higher education through different educational tracks while taking into account different characteristics of the students, i.e. gender and different immigrant backgrounds. How the institutional settings in both countries influence access to higher education with a special interest in the integrative function of vocational baccalaureate certificates. If the educational characteristics of the North African youths in France and those of students with Turkish or former Yugoslavian background in Switzerland were similar to those of the native students, the former would have at least the same odds of obtaining a baccalaureate diploma and access to tertiary education.