Poll Shows Majority of Teens Not Interested in Fastest-Growing Jobs
Job Shadow Coalition/Harris Interactive Poll Shows Most Teens Shunning Top Five Industries with Greatest Job Growth
Washington, DC, (January 12, 2004) - A new poll shows that more than half (51%) of teens have no interest in pursuing the top five fastest-growing career fields, which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has determined will have critical workforce needs in this decade and beyond. Those who were interested in these careers preferred the higher paying, higher education-requiring “computer and data processing” (25%) and “healthcare” (21%) fields over lower paying fields such as “residential care” (1%), “cable and pay television services” (1%), and “personnel services” (1%). The scientific poll of 642 teens between the ages of 13 and 17 was conducted in December 2003 by the Job Shadow Coalition and Harris Interactive.
“This startling disconnect between the jobs that teens are interested in and the future needs of employers could have seriously adverse implications for our economy,” said Dr. Stuart Shapiro, Executive Director of the Job Shadow Coalition. “While it is encouraging that students are interested in the computer and healthcare fields, the fact that the majority of teens are not interested in the jobs that will be needed presents real challenges. It shows that we in the educational community need to do a much better job of preparing our kids for the transition from high school to work and higher education.”
Teens were also asked to choose from the five highest-paying career fields. Once again, a plurality of respondents favored “computers and mathematics” (19%), followed closely by “healthcare” (17%), “law” (15%), “architecture and engineering” (10%), and “business management” (9%). Nearly a third of the respondents were not interested in any of these career fields.
“Pay and opportunities to advance are obviously motivators for today’s teens,” said Dr. Shapiro. “However, we still see a disconnect because many of these higher paying careers require higher education and math and science skills. Unfortunately, most of today’s teens will enter the workforce without this kind of preparation. That’s why Job Shadow is so important. If we can teach today’s teens what kinds of education and skills they will need to do jobs they are interested in, they will be more likely to achieve success in the workplace as adults.”
Job Shadow is a yearlong national effort to enrich the lives of students by acquainting them with the world of work through on-the-job experiences and a carefully crafted school curriculum that ties academics to the workplace. The effort helps young people understand how what they learn in the classroom leads to success in the workplace.
Kicking off on Groundhog Day, February 2, 2004, more than one million young people will have a chance to explore their futures when they “shadow” workplace mentors as part of the seventh annual Job Shadow Day initiative. National Job Shadow is a coordinated effort of Junior Achievement, America’s Promise - The Alliance for Youth, and the U.S. Department of Labor. Monster, News Corporation, and the American Hotel and Lodging Association are the major co-sponsors. For more information, go to www.jobshadow.org.