Aussie teens want 'glamorous' jobs like footballers, actors and YouTubers: report

Australian Rules Football legend Adam Goodes in training — Aboriginal activist and Australian Rules Football legend Adam Goodes reaches to catch a ball during a team training session at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia, August 4, 2015. Reuters/David Gray

Several Aussie teens are aiming for “glamour jobs,” a new report has revealed. Boys want to become professional footballers or YouTubers, while girls are dreaming to become actors or ballet dancers.

An Australian Institute of Family Studies report released this week found that six in 10 Aussie teens want a professional or managerial job. However, just 35 percent of the workforce ends up in these occupations.

Very few of them are interested about less prestigious jobs like manufacturing, hospitality and retail. The survey is taken from a longitudinal study called Growing Up in Australia that looks into the development of up to 10,000 kids and families.

Glitz and glamour

Eleven percent of teens aged 14 and 15 said they want glamorous occupations. They listed “fantasy” aspirations, regardless of socio-economic status.

For University of Sydney Business School’s Marian Baird, the result of the poll may be good, because the respondents are thinking beyond the traditional idea of what is and what is not a job. She explained that less conventional jobs were becoming pivotal in the economy as technology is changing the nature of work.

Furthermore, the poll found a “highly gendered” difference between the aspirations of Aussie boys and girls. Australian Institute of Family Studies director Anne Hollonds said that legal or social professions was the top career choice for girls, while it as not in the top 10 selections for boys. Instead, boys want to be in the field of engineering, construction, transport and communications. Some girls also want to be in the media, literature or art.

Baird reacted to the gender divide, saying there is still a binary division between the expectations of boys and girls in 2017. “I think this goes to show how we gender the labour market from a very early age,” The Australian quotes her as saying.

Hollonds noted a crossover between boys and girls in some fields. These include architecture, medical, design, planning professions. "The highly gendered career aspirations may have been shaped at a much younger age by parents' occupations, the local area labour market, or their own interests and perceptions of available jobs," she said in a statement, according to news.com.au.

Meanwhile, four in 10 teens have not decided on what career they want. Jennifer Baxter, the institute’s senior research fellow, said teens not planning their future can actually be advantageous if it means they get to explore several options.