Your Dream Job & What You Do Are Connected, Says Study; Know How Career Goals Compare To Future Work

Hoff, whose research examined the career aspirations of 3,367 adolescents (age 13-18 years) from 42 US states, said “almost 50 percent of adolescents aspired to investigative or artistic careers”.

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Washington: Your dream job and the job you get are connected, suggests a study led by a team of international researchers who reported the existence of important discrepancies between dream jobs and employment realities of the young.

When it comes to career aspirations for teenagers, it's best to shoot for the moon so one can at least land in the stars, believes a University of Houston psychology researcher.

Hoff, whose research examined the career aspirations of 3,367 adolescents (age 13-18 years) from 42 US states, said “almost 50 per cent of adolescents aspired to investigative or artistic careers, which together account for only 8 per cent of the US labour market”.

The team conducted a large-scale coding effort using the Occupational Information Network to compile the automation risk levels, educational requirements and vocational interests of career aspirations, ANI reported.

"Results revealed that most adolescents aspired to careers with low potential for automation. However, there were large discrepancies between adolescents' aspirations and the number of jobs available in the labour market," said Hoff.

The most popular aspirations for females were doctors, veterinarians, teachers, and nurses.

The athlete was the most popular aspiration for males during early adolescence (accounting for 22-32 percent of male aspirations at ages 13-15) but became less popular in late adolescence (accounting for 5-13 per cent at ages 16-18).

"Both males and females showed a similar pattern of increasing variability in their career aspirations with age, indicating more diverse career goals," said Hoff.

Hoff said the “young girls often want to become teachers because that is what they see every day”.

"It's equally important to show them that other occupations exist, especially lesser-known careers with growing employment demands, such as those in the STEM fields," Hoff said.

“Adolescents who want to become doctors may end up with a really good job doing something else in the medical field, and that's a positive outcome. The negatives are they might end up working toward an unattainable career, pursuing education that's a bad fit in interest or ability," said Hoff.

Regardless of a rapidly changing labour market, little research exists on how the career goals of the youth correspond to projections about the work future.

"This kind of career development research can make a positive impact in helping individuals and societies prepare for the future of work," said Hoff.

Hoff said “it's good to encourage students to have prestigious careers, but as they get older, parents, teachers or counsellors should also be real with them and help them understand how many people actually work in their dream fields, and how likely it is they will get a job in that field”.

The findings of the study were published in the Journal of Career Assessment.