Feb 16, 2020

Question of the Day: What are the top five jobs that 15 year olds expect to be doing by the age of 30?

Answer:

Source: PISA study with responses from 600,000 15-year old students from 79 countries. 

Questions:

  • What job do you hope to be doing when you are 30 years old? 
  • Which jobs listed above have the greatest difference between boys and girls? 
    • Which do boys choose more girls? 
    • Which do girls choose more than boys?
    • Can you explain these differences? 
  • Why do you think the top choices worldwide haven't changed much over the past 18 years since the last survey? 
    • Do you think the world of work has changed in that period? 

Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers (OECD PISA study):

Traditional 20th century and even 19th century occupations such as doctors, teachers, veterinarians, business managers, engineers and police officers continue to capture the imaginations of young people as they did nearly 20 years ago, before the era of social media and the acceleration of technologies such as artificial intelligence in the workplace.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where the findings were discussed by educationists, business leaders, teachers and school students, OECD Education Director Andreas Schleicher said: “It is a concern that more young people than before appear to be picking their dream job from a small list of the most popular, traditional occupations, like teachers, lawyers or business managers. The surveys show that too many teenagers are ignoring or are unaware of new types of jobs that are emerging, particularly as a result of digitalisation”.

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This NGPF Interactive "Will your job be done by a machine?" helps students consider the impact of automation on a variety of careers. 

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This FinCap Friday "Human vs. Machine" helps students see the impact of automation on the workplace of the future. 

 

 

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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