New research from Education and Employers reveals that childhood career aspirations often fail to match adult reality.
A poll of 2,000 adults found that more than half are now in roles unrelated to what they hoped to do as children – and 68% didn’t even know their current job existed when they were at school.
The OnePoll study also showed that:
- 72% didn’t have a good understanding of career opportunities when younger.
- 44% wish they had been introduced to a wider range of career options.
“When children are asked what they want to do when they grow up most focus on jobs like teacher, doctor, vet, pilot, actor or footballer. But very few will actually go on to do these roles as adults – and our research shows that 68% only discovered the work they do now later in life – they had no awareness of it as children.
It’s important we give young people as much information as possible about the careers and opportunities available to them to allow them to make informed decisions.”
Nick Chambers, CEO Education and Employers
Iceland
Watch: What do children think their parents do?
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We asked children to describe their parents’ jobs – and their answers revealed just how unclear many young people are about the world of work.
- One boy said his dad “tells people how to build a house” – in reality, he’s a mechanical engineer.
- Another explained their mum “bosses teachers around” – though she actually works as a payroll officer for a group of schools.
This light-hearted exercise highlights a serious issue: if children don’t understand the jobs around them, how can they aspire to the wide range of opportunities that exist?
Inspiring
Full news release
More than half of adults are now in a role which is totally unrelated to what they thought they’d be doing as a child.
- A poll of 2,000 adults found it was because 72 per cent didn’t have a good understanding of the career opportunities available to them when younger.
- And 68 per cent were not aware their current job even existed when they were at school.
The research revealed 44 per cent wished they had more varied career options to better understand the job opportunities available.
With more relevant careers advice (49 per cent), being told about a more varied list of possible jobs (44 per cent) and learning about the different routes into careers (43 per cent) among the things which would have helped to feel more prepared.
Furthermore, 57 per cent are worried their children also aren’t getting enough access to career and job information and don’t understand the range of opportunities open them. The research was commissioned by Inspiring the Future, a national programme run by the charity Education and Employers which encourages people from different professions to volunteer to visit schools and chat with children and young people about their careers.
Nick Chambers, CEO of the charity said
“When children are asked what they want to do when they grow up most focus on jobs like teacher, doctor, vet, pilot, actor or footballer.
“But the research shows very few will actually go on to do this job as an adult, with many working in fields they didn’t even know existed when they were starting to think about their future careers.
“It’s important we give young people as much information as possible about the careers and opportunities available to them to allow them to make informed decisions.
“Introducing children to more varied types of jobs and career routes help tackle the limited and ingrained stereotypical views children often have about the jobs people do based on their gender, ethnicity or socio-economic background.
“It allows them to start thinking about a wider – more exciting – range of options including many jobs where there is huge demand and where employers struggling to find people, often having to rely on recruiting from overseas”
Following the findings, the charity put children’s knowledge of careers to the test, by quizzing youngsters on what their parents do for a living.
One little boy described their dad’s role as ‘telling people how to build a house’ – but in reality, he is a mechanical engineer.
And another said his mum ‘bosses teachers around’ but she is actually a payroll officer for a school trust.
The study found the top jobs people wanted when they were kids were to be a doctor or nurse, a teacher – or a footballer.
While others wanted to be a scientist or pilot, and six per cent would have liked to be an artist or archaeologist, according to the OnePoll.com figures.
But of those who didn’t end up pursuing these roles, 12 per cent went on to realise there weren’t enough opportunities to do the role.
- It also emerged almost half (48 per cent) rated their careers advice at school as poor or even non-existent with just 25 per cent considering it at good or excellent.
While 31 per cent feel their offspring don’t understand the career opportunities available to them, with 57 per cent worried their children aren’t getting the help and advice they need.
A further 47 per cent don’t often talk to their children about their own working life.
Nick Chambers added: “One of the most positive things we can do for the next generation is to open their eyes to the sheer variety of jobs and opportunities available.
“Showing children the wide range of careers – from environmental science to gaming design, from forensic linguistics to food innovation – helps them understand there’s more than one route to success and happiness.
“It also encourages them to explore their strengths and passions in different ways.”
Why this matters
This research underlines why our Inspiring the Future programme is so important. By connecting schools with volunteers from across professions, we broaden young people’s horizons, challenge stereotypes, and help them discover career paths they may never have considered.
Call to action
We are calling on corporates, funders and philanthropists to support this work. With your help we can:
- Reach more young people in state primary and secondary schools – especially in underprivileged areas.
- Provide children with access to diverse role models in diverse sectors – including those in high-demand (and less well known) industries.
- Ensure every young person has the knowledge and confidence to make informed choices about their future.
Find out more about supporting our work
With thanks
This research and the engaging video with the children has been made possible thanks to the generous pro bono support of the team at 72Point
We would especially like to thank:
- Gemma Francis
- Danielle Baird
- Dan Harding
- Nadette Kabamba
for their expertise and contribution to this project.