The Education and Employers charity are working with Region Skåne and Mälardalens University in Sweden to gain a better understanding of children’s career aspirations. The aim is to explore what factors are influencing their choices, and in turn, limiting their ambitions. The study will also look at how their ambitions compare with labour market demands.
Schools across Skåne County are being invited to take part in a Drawing the Future study, where children aged 6 – 11 will be asked to draw a picture of the job they’d like to do when they grow up and answer a series of questions about their learning. The study will build on a pilot carried out with 19 schools in the area. Drawings from the pilot can be seen below.
The methodology is based on the original Drawing the Future study which attracted over 20,000 entries from 20 countries and attracted global interest including being featured by the World Economic Forum. The study helped to uncover the stereotypes children often hold around the jobs people do based on their gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic background. It also explored whether children can see the future relevance of what they are learning in the classroom.
Find out more about the original Drawing the Future study.