The objective of this article is to offer a cross-sectional analysis of the use of the concept of participation among the researchers of the PÉRISCOPE network (Plateforme Échange, Recherche et Intervention sur la SCOlarité : Persévérance et réussitE), which refer to the theory of activity (Engeström, 1987; Vygotsky, 1978). The study focuses on the activity of agents in a given context (class, school, community, etc.) based on the scientific literature available in the Research Network database between 2015 and 2019. To identify the uses and understanding of the concept of participation by researchers, a lexicometric analysis is proposed, based on linguistics and historiographic currents, such as the history of ideas, the history of concepts and discourse analysis. It emerges that the notion of student engagement was very important in this corpus, which tends to reinforce the interpretation that engagement occupies a very important place in the notion of participation. Also, the scientific activities of the PERISCOPE network have generated renewed scientific interest in certain themes such as participation, dropping out of school, school perseverance and school results. It also appears that adolescents are particularly targeted in studies on participation. Finally, the actions associated with students nuance and detail the researchers' understanding of participation in school settings. The analysis of linguistic and conceptual associations present in the scientific literature of this corpus provides keys to understanding how the concept of participation is understood.