The medical and teaching professions top the list of preferred career choices British parents wish for their children, while construction employment trails in comparison, research has found.
A survey conducted by ConstructionSkills, questioning 600 parents, revealed that 41% of respondents wanted their children to become a doctor as a first career choice compared with civil engineer (6%) and a construction site manager (4%).
Moreover, seven in 10 parents feel they have the greatest influence on their children’s career aspirations, while only 13% of respondents rated careers advisers and teachers as the primary influence.
Half of black and Asian parents (53%) claim to have higher expectations of their children than white parents. They are also more concerned about their children’s career choices, as 57% plan on playing a key part in their children’s career decisions, compared to 39% average.
And almost three quarters of black and Asian parents believe that their child will need to work harder to succeed, because of their ethnic origin.
Moreover, a third of parents claimed that learning a trade would be the most useful career path for their child and a further 15% opted for an entry level position that allows on-the-job training.
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Paul Sykes, recruitment manager at ConstructionSkills said: “The good news is that 40% of parents said they would be pleased if their child wanted to go into the construction industry and 86% would be proud if their child chose a career traditionally dominated by the opposite sex.
“However, there does seem to be a gap in some parents’ understanding of what the construction industry has to offer and we need to seek to address this. We have a massive skills demand and the industry clearly has some way to go to become a first-choice employer for our graduates and school leavers,” Sykes concludes.
