EA Chairperson, Mervyn Storey, Oscar (P7), Annie (P4) and Education Minister, Paul Givan, at Ballysally Primary School, Coleraine.
A new report, exploring the career aspirations of Children in Northern Ireland, has been launched on Wednesday 29 January at Ballysally Primary School, Coleraine.
The ‘Drawing the future’ study, carried out by Education and Employers charity, was made possible thanks to the ‘A Fair Start’ programme, with support of the Department of Education, the Education Authority, and the teachers and children who took part, reveals a lack of awareness many children have about the opportunities open to them. Their knowledge is unsurprisingly heavily based on what they see around them their family, people working in the local area, or on TV, the internet or increasingly on social media and is impacted by social and economic deprivation.
For the boys footballers, farmers, engineers, and builders were among the top jobs with the girls teachers, vets, hairdressers, and artists were among those chosen as a career.
Education Minister Paul Givan said:
“High quality careers education and guidance is crucial in ensuring learners are aware of their future options and available pathways. It is not simply advising on job options, it is also about opening doors, expanding horizons and empowering young people to make informed decisions about their future.
“As Education Minister, I want to ensure that all young people, regardless of gender, location or background, have access to the support and information that they need to make confident, well-informed choices. Exposing children to more real-world examples in a way that is both exciting and embedded in everyday school life, as well as being age appropriate, can help transform the way they view certain professions and roles.”
Welcoming the report, Geoff Dunn MBE, Principal Ballysally Primary School said:
“I am so grateful to the many volunteers who have attended today’s Primary Futures careers event. “Our pupils have learned that their work in the classroom will impact their future, and with effort, determination, resilience and an ‘I can’ mindset they can follow their passions and dreams.
“This programme should be made available to all school across Northern Ireland as I feel it is often too late to inform pupils about career options in post-primary school.
“I believe it is vital to introduce primary school children to a plethora of relatable and yet creative employments and they should have the chance to meet a diverse range of people doing different jobs, regardless of their background or family connections.”
Mervyn Storey, Chairperson of the Education Authority said:
“The Principal and staff of Ballysally Primary School are to be commended for being part of this programme. Giving our children at an early age this range of information could be life changing. It sows the seed of what their future career could be and undoubtedly lead to an employment opportunity that they never thought was possible.”
As well as the report launch a special event took place which saw a wide range of people chatting to the primary aged-children at Ballysally about their job in person.
Talking virtually with the children was Professor of Solar Physics, Louise Harra from the Davos Observatory in Switzerland.
Professor Louise Harra, Director, Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium, Davos, Switzerland said:
“I was delighted to have been asked to chat to the children today. I was born and grew in in Lurgan, County Armagh and I never got the chance to see a range of people with different careers coming to my school and showing me the opportunities that were open to me. That is why I am so keen to volunteer and will be encouraging other people to do so.”
This study uses an internationally recognised methodology undertaken in 22 counties to examine children’s career aspirations and compares them with labour market demands and the future of the economy.
The event was part of the Primary Futures programme that has been piloted in 30 schools with the intention to make it available to all schools across Northern Ireland.
Top 10 choices for boys and girls included:
Footballer, Teacher, Farmer, Vet, Engineer, Hairdresser, Builder, Artist, Police, Footballer, Mechanic, Doctor, Rugby Player, Nurse, Youtuber, Singer, Chef, Fashion Designer, Teacher, Baker.
Key findings from the report:
There is a significant misalignment between the jobs children aspire to and economic forecasts. For example, 35% of children aspire to careers in culture, media or sport but only 1% of projected jobs are in those areas
Children’s aspirations cover only 31% of current employment in Northern Ireland
Very few children aspire to jobs in key growth areas such as technology / robotics/ Al / Cyber and net zero
Parents, TV, internet and social media are the biggest influence on children’s aspirations
Fewer than 1% of children mentioned hearing about a job through visitors to the school coming to introduce their work
Socio-economic disadvantage makes a big difference to children’s aspirations. For example, girls in high-rate FSM schools see much more interest in creative/performing arts than girls in low-rate FSM schools (21% vs 12%)
Local environment also makes a difference for some interests. For instance, in rural areas 13% of boys want to be farmers compared to 0% in urban areas
There are marked gender differences in the jobs children aspire to. The top choices for boys are Footballer, Farmer, Engineer and Builder whilst for girls they are Teacher, Vet, Hairdresser and Artist
Expectations for going to university are higher for girls (50%) than boys (36%) while the expectation of doing an apprenticeship are lower than university for both boys and girls (25% for both groups)
Levels of misalignment improve little among children aged 11 compared to aged 7, even if interest in specific jobs does. For instance, 40% of boys aged 7 want to be professional sports players or work in the uniformed services (police, firefighters etc), compared to 36% by age of 11.
Meanwhile, 28% of girls aged 7 want to work with animals or in creative or performing roles – unchanged at 28% at age of 11
Schools can play an important role in compensating for the lack of understanding children often have of the opportunities open to them which can set self-imposed limits on their
ambitions for the future
Programmes such as Inspiring the Future (and the version for primary schools – Primary Futures) that use technology to connect schools and employers at a national scale provide easy to organise, cost effective virtual and in-person opportunities for children to meet inspirational people doing a wide range of occupations and sectors. It helps to broaden horizons, raise aspirations and increase children’s motivation to learn.
Education and Employers Charity
Education and Employers is a UK based charity launched in 2009 which aims to “provide young people with the inspiration, motivation, knowledge, skills and opportunities they need to help them achieve their potential”.
It undertakes research into the effectiveness of employer engagement in education and works with the leading national bodies representing education leaders, business and government.
The charity runs Inspiring the Future which uses innovative online match-making technology to connect schools and colleges with tens of thousands of volunteers working in different sectors – for free.
These volunteers, from a huge range of jobs – from app designers to zoologists, and at all levels – from apprentices to CEOs, have signed up to share their knowledge, experience and enthusiasm about their jobs with young people.
Meeting volunteers helps to broaden career aspirations, raising attainment and tackling gender and other stereotypes. People can volunteer from an hour a year either in person or virtually in a primary (Primary Futures) or secondary school to chat informally about their job and career route, take part in career speed networking session, give young people careers insights, mock interviews or feedback on CVs.