Nearly 80 Percent of Teens Not Interested in Following in their Parents’ Career Footsteps

Junior Achievement Poll Shows Teens Learn More about Careers from Teachers/Job Shadowing, than from Parents

Washington, DC (January 27, 2004)—There once was a time when a son or daughter was expected to follow in their parents’ occupational footsteps. However, things have changed significantly since those days. A new Junior Achievement poll of 1,000 teens between the ages of 13 and 18 shows that 78 percent of teens say they are not interested in following in their parents’ career paths, up from 76 percent last year. From a gender standpoint, 82.5 percent of girls were not interested, while 76.1 percent of boys were not interested. The poll was conducted in October and November of 2003.

“Children are naturally rebellious against their parents during their teens and this may explain why they are so emphatic about not following in their parents’ footsteps in this particular poll,” said Dr. Stuart Shapiro, Executive Director of the Job Shadow Coalition. “However, teens still rely on caring adults to provide them with guidance. That’s why teens look to teachers and Job Shadow for career information.”

In the poll, teachers/counselors were the number one source of career information for teens, followed by the Internet and Job Shadow ing. Parents were ranked fourth. Job Shadow moved up from sixth place in 2003 to third place in 2004 as the activity became more commonplace. Parents had been in third place in 2003.

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.

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