Teaching is no longer the post-school career of choice for Australian teenage girls, who are now much more interested in pursuing a highly paid career in medicine, or working in other healthcare professions, than returning to the classroom.
Meanwhile, teenage boys continue to nominate being a professional athlete as their dream job.
The career goals of Australian 15-year-olds were compiled using the OECD’s Programme for International Assessment (PISA) surveys of more than 10,000 students in 2022.
Students were asked what they wanted to be at the age of 30.
National Centre for Vocational Education Research has previously found 15-year-olds with clear career goals perform better at school. However, by the time students had reached 25, the research found only half had actually achieved their goals.
While teaching was the top choice when the survey was last conducted in 2018, more girls in 2022 dreamt of being a doctor, nurse or midwife.
Other top jobs included an actor, psychologist and lawyer.
The drop in the popularity of teaching comes as education unions have painted a picture of the profession as overworked and underpaid for several years. Data also shows teachers are increasingly subjected to violence.
For boys, the second top choice was science and engineering. Being a carpenter is no longer in the top 10 list, and teaching has also dropped in popularity, with boys now more likely to consider a high-paying career in tech.
Catherine McAuley Westmead student Majerin Pieris, 15, knew she wanted to be a doctor aged 10, after seeing a battlefield doctor depicted in a war film.
Year 10 student Majerin Pieris wants a career as a doctor.Credit: Rhett Wyman
“I saw how essential doctors and medical personnel are to saving people’s lives,” she said.
She acknowledged the job came with the potential to earn a high salary but said her aspiration was not motivated by that.
“It comes with benefits as well, but for me, what really matters is helping people,” she said.
Baulkham Hills High School careers adviser Chris Buchli said some students who attended the selective school were influenced strongly by family perceptions when it came to choosing a job and cited financial return as among the reasons for their choices.
Freeman Catholic College Bonnyrigg Heights career adviser Michelle McCallum said that, while there may have been a decline in interest in becoming a school teacher, scholarships, incentives and early entry attracted some students to education degrees.
Clancy Catholic College West Hoxton careers adviser Anne Weeks said at her school, more students were now interested in cosmetic nursing while traditional fields such as law remained popular.
“Industries such as the beauty industry have seen huge growth and also a change in customer base to much younger clients, so this has created more opportunities and career paths,” she said.
In her 13 years in the job there had been a shift away from the traditional caring professions despite demand for workers in areas such as teaching and aged care.
“The caring professions are perceived as low pay for hard work: not an attractive proposition for this generation,” she said.
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