University of Tokyo and Benesse Release Study on Children’s Career Aspirations: One in Three Maintain Same Goal from 5th Grade to 11th Grade

On May 29, the University of Tokyo and Benesse Corporation announced the results of a longitudinal study tracking children’s career aspirations. The study found that one in three children who stated their desired occupation in 5th grade continued to aspire to the same profession by 11th grade. For boys, careers such as doctors and teachers were the most stable, while for girls, roles like childcare workers and kindergarten teachers showed less change.

The research was conducted annually each July to September from 2015 to 2018 by the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Social Science and Benesse Educational Research Institute. It followed 2,991 children who listed a career aspiration in 5th grade until they reached 11th grade.

The overall match rate of desired careers between 5th and 11th grade was 35.0%. By profession, the highest consistency was seen in the “medical, nursing, and health” category at 59.5%, followed by “childcare and education” at 45.7%, and “research and technology” at 35.1%.

Interestingly, children with consistent career goals were 9.6 percentage points less likely to report “deeply researching things they question,” and 7.2 points less likely to “think deeply about their own future paths,” compared to those who changed their aspirations. Benesse suggests that having a clear goal might reduce the opportunity to explore other possibilities.

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https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUC29AI50Z20C25A5000000/