This article focuses on training for social workers, looking in detail at the content of their curriculum. It compares the cases of Italy and France to uncover how different educational institutions use vocational training to distance themselves from scholastic rationale, aiming to produce professional social workers. Based on the study of the different approaches deployed at the start and throughout the training, it illustrates that the emphasis on student “personality” triggers a twofold effect in the framework of a common disciplinary paradigm across the two countries. On the one hand, it induces the biographical homogenisation of students, and on the other, it triggers a single vision of social work recipients.