Children's dream jobs revealed

Children’s responses to the question ‘When you grow up, what would you like to be?’ may give an important insight into their emotional state and ability to deal with difficult family circumstances, according to new research.

The study, which explored the link between family poverty, career aspirations and emotional and behavioural problems, analysed the career dreams of 9,000 seven-year-old children in the UK.

The 12 most popular occupations were: teacher, scientist, hairdresser, sports player, fire fighter, police officer, artist, actor/entertainer, animal carer, vet, doctor and builder.

The study found that the role of career aspirations among children had a protective effect and contributed to their resilience.

Researchers at the Institute of Education, University of London found that children in families below the poverty line are more likely to dream of a job in the public sector –  as doctors, teachers and police officers – than children from more advantaged backgrounds.

The study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, also shows that just over 80 per cent of seven-year-olds aspired to become managers and professionals. More girls than boys dreamed of professional careers, a pattern which was repeated in research with teenagers.    

According to the research, a third of all boys wanted to be sports players, with most of them choosing football, when they grow up. Those aspiring to be professionals mostly reflected aspirations of ‘financial success or concerns about image, power and popularity’, the study reveals.

Working with the emergency services was also a popular choice for boys, with 12 per cent aspiring to be policemen and around 5 per cent wanting to be firemen.

Girls were more likely to choose jobs caring for people or animals. Just under a quarter (23 per cent) wanted to be teachers, 12 per cent wanted to be vets and 6 per cent, doctors.

Professor Eirini Flouri, a specialist in developmental psychology who led the research, said, ‘The findings are significant, but aspiration protected against one type of difficulty – the effect of poverty on children’s acted on behaviour, not on emotional or depressive symptoms.’

The study noted small regional differences in children’s career choices. Children in England were most likely to choose to be doctors, seven year olds in Scotland and Northern Ireland mostly aspired to be vets, while children in Wales seemed least keen on becoming teachers.

Factors related to aspirations can be identified earlier in a child’s life. Professor Flouri said, ‘As children in primary school are still relatively young, their aspirations may reflect their sense of hope for the future.

‘Early aspirations may therefore be a very good indicator of a cluster of characteristics associated with resilience – or the lack of it – such as a self-perception of competence or a feeling of hopelessness.’

Professor Flouri will now study the data from the same children at nine months, three, five and seven years to determine the early factors for career dreams among seven-year-olds. The research paper is expected to be published in the next six months.