When I grow up, I want to be ...
The OECD regularly conducts research with 15 year olds to see where they expect to be professionally when they reach
30 years of age. The answers are always fascinating. Despite great strides in education for girls, the latest findings from the OECD suggest that girls still decide to pursue particular careers based on 'factors not necessarily related to their actual skills' (see PISA in Focus, 2012/03, PDF).Girls in many countries equal or surpass boys in science proficiency. Yet if girls achieve high grades in science or mathematics, most still aren't choosing to pursue careers in engineering and computing. Instead, in every OECD country, more girls than boys reported that they wanted to work in health services, a science profession with a caring component. So girls who are high achievers in science aren't looking to become engineers or computer scientists, but instead are aiming for top positions in other science-related professions, such as medicine.
Are you interested in finding out more about this and other OECD studies? The Library subscribes to OECD iLibrary, a database of OECD data and analysis. You can find statistics going back to the 1960s, as well as all OECD books and papers published since 1998. The content covers 80 countries and a range of themes such as agriculture, economics, employment, and social issues.
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