What Kids in 2015 Want to Be When They Grow Up
Ask a group of kids what they want to be when they grow up and you can expect to hear a slew of answers: pro athlete, doctor, teacher, veterinarian, firefighter — likely in that order, according to a new report from the team at Fatherly.
In its recent “Imagination Report,” which Fatherly co-founder Simon Isaacs tells Yahoo Parenting is the first of its kind, the website surveyed nearly 500 children, ages 1 to 10, asking one simple question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The answers range from the expected (“astronaut”) to the surprising (“hedge fund manager”) to the downright impossible (“dinosaur”), but they provide a great snapshot of the outside influences that are most affecting our kids.
Story: What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? Kids’ Great Answers
Infographic: Fatherly
If there was any doubt of the impact of athletes like LeBron James, Tom Brady, and Tiger Woods on America’s children, take note that “pro athlete” locked up the top spot for the most popular would-be profession (10.1 percent of kids surveyed). Doctor (8.1 percent), teacher (5.3), vet (4.7), firefighter (3.6), scientist (2.8), astronaut (2.5), engineer (2.5), and police officer (2.0) also made the top 10 … along with the perennial kid favorite answer “I don’t know” (8.1).
Story: Kids Who ‘Talk Back’ Become More Successful Adults
Infographic: Fatherly
When considered by gender, it becomes clear that girls are less influenced by the Michael Jordans of the world and are more interested, perhaps, in the Julia Childs. While the top professions for boys were athlete (16.2 percent of kids surveyed), firefighter (5.6), engineer (4.6) and astronaut (4.1), the chosen jobs for girls were doctor (14.3), teacher (8.1), scientist (3.7), and chef/baker (3.7).
Infographic: Fatherly
And though fewer than half of kids expressed interest in careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), girls reported more leanings toward those fields than boys — 41 percent for girls versus only 32 percent for boys. That’s a positive development, considering a 2013 White House report found that women represented only 24 percent of the STEM workforce.
Although plenty of respondents to the survey had lofty goals — it’s not easy to become a doctor, or an athlete, or a video game designer, after all — some children have more simple ambitions. Like one respondent who, when asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?” had this logical answer: “Taller.”
Top photo: Corbis Images
Please follow @YahooParenting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Have an interesting story to share about your family? Email us at YParenting (at) Yahoo.com.
