A new international survey of 20,000 children aged seven to 11 has revealed that young people in developing countries often have more aspirational career ambitions than boys in the UK. The study, conducted by the Education and Employers careers charity, asked children in 20 countries to draw pictures of the jobs they wanted when they grew up.
In the UK, boys frequently aspired to become footballers or YouTube stars, while girls were more likely to choose careers such as nurse, dancer, or hairdresser. However, in countries like Uganda and Zambia, children aimed for professions such as doctors or teachers. The findings highlight how gender stereotypes are established from an early age, with UK girls less likely to want to become engineers or scientists compared to boys.
The charity noted a significant mismatch between children's expectations and the reality of the jobs market. Andreas Schleicher, OECD education director, commented that careers counselling in secondary schools comes too late, as children arrive with strong assumptions based on their daily experiences. David Cruickshank, global chairman of Deloitte and chair of trustees for Education and Employers, emphasised that children's career aspirations are most influenced by who they know.
The results will be presented to business leaders at Davos next week. Nick Chambers, chief executive of Education and Employers, stressed the need for primary school children to hear about the vast range of career options available to them to avoid ruling out possibilities at an early age.
