Social Mobility & Social Justice
How does ethnicity and class affect ambition?
Tuesday 25th September 2018
Some years ago I read a news report that told us that if you ask a 7 year old what job they want to do when they grow up they will usually respond with one of 10 stock jobs. Teacher, train driver, astronaut, footballer, police officer etc. I do wish I'd kept the source article as I can't find it now, but today whilst aimlessly browsing the news pages I came across this piece of research by Prof Lucinda Platt of The LSE which looks at the ambitions of young people broken down by their ethnicity.
There are a number of differences which could be attributable to many things but lack of ambition seems not to be a factor. What is clear however is that as children grow older their aspirations become more realistic, moving from the professional sportsperson to other options. What is more, many children have made their mind up about whether they want to go to university or not by the age of 14.
The research also looks at why some children who aim high and get a good education do not go on to find high-paying jobs. Well worth a read in my opinion. It may well shape your CEIAG programme.
I found the BBC article link to the main report didn't work but found this link on the LSE Twitter feed that did work, it downloads it directly to your computer.
