Teenagers have a weak understanding of what types of jobs are available to them, a new study has found.
One-third of 15- to 16-year-olds want to work in just 10 occupations and the most popular option for state school students is teaching, according to a survey of 11,000 young people aged 13-16.
Children at private schools are almost twice as likely as their state school peers to want to be lawyers, according to the study by the Education and Employers Taskforce, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills and career development community b-live.
The research suggests that young people do not understand the range of career opportunities that are available and the impact of decisions they make at 14, 16 and 18, according to those behind the study.
“As a country we are doing our young people a huge disservice if we don’t give them enough information to allow them to make proper informed decisions about their futures,” said Nick Chambers, director of the Education and Employers Taskforce. “This reports highlights the massive information gap between what young people know about careers and opportunities open to them and the actual jobs that exist.”
TOP 10 MOST POPULAR CAREER CHOICES IN STATE SCHOOLS
Teacherlecturer - 5%
Lawyer - 4%
Accountant - 4%
Actor - 4%
Professional sportsperson - 4%
IT consultant - 3%
Doctor - 3%
Armed forcesfirefighter - 3%
Psychologist - 3%
Graphic designer - 3%
TOP 10 MOST POPULAR CAREER CHOICES IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Lawyer - 7%
Accountant - 6%
Doctor - 6%
Journalist - 4%
Manager - 4%
Teacherlecturer - 3%
Actor - 3%
Psychologist - 3%
Fashion designer - 3%
Airline pilot - 3%.
