The development of elementary-aged children's career aspirations and expectations.

Interviews were conducted with 123 first-, third-, and fifth-grade children to examine the types of careers they wished to have and expected to have. The older children desired careers that were more socially prestigious and less sex-typed compared to those of the younger children. The career thinking of older elementary-aged children was no more specific or realistic than that of younger children, with older children being more likely to aspire to fantasy occupations. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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There is increasing evidence in the research literature that career development is a lifelong process that begins in childhood (Magnuson & Starr, 2000; Trice, 1991; Trice & McClellan, 1993, 1994). The importance of career-related decisions made during the elementary school age period has been supported both by studies of children and by retrospective studies of adults. One investigation found that half of a group of children aged 9 and 10 believed they had already made decisions that would impact their future careers (Seligman, Weinstock, & Heflin, 1991). A retrospective study found that 23% of adults aged 40-55 had made decisions about their current professions in childhood (Trice & McClellan, 1994). Research also suggests that elementary-aged children may tend to aspire to careers that are out of the reach of all but a select few, such as a career as a professional athlete (Bobo, Hildreth, & Durodoye, 1998; Cook et al., 1996; Helwig, 2001).

Most of the research attention regarding the career preferences of youth has focused on high school students (Cook et al., 1996; Herring Wahl & Blackhurst, 2000). However, the career beliefs, knowledge, and aspirations of elementary-aged children have become the focus of an increasing body of research (e.g., Trice, Hughes, Odom, Woods, & McClellan, 1995; Trice & King, 1991; Walls, 2000; Wright et al., 1995). Increasing attention also has been directed to the role school counselors can play in assisting elementary-aged students in the process of gaining knowledge about careers and exploring career interests (Beale & Williams, 2000; Harkins, 2001; Hoffman & McDaniels, 1991; Murrow-Taylor, Foltz, Ellis, & Culbertson, 1999; Stein, 1991).

Furthermore, the American School Counselor Association National Model (ASCA, 2003) provides further impetus for school counselors to become involved in the career development of elementary-aged children. The ASCA National Model describes a comprehensive school counseling program as addressing the needs of children in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade in three main domains: academic, career, and personal/social. In the career domain, the National Model outlines student competencies such as developing skills to locate, evaluate, and interpret career information and demonstrating how interests, abilities, and achievement relate to achieving personal, social, educational, and career goals (ASCA). If children at the elementary level are making choices (or failing to make choices) that influence their career goals and plans, then the National Model clearly implies that elementary school counselors need to become involved in assisting their students in the process of career development.

Theories of career development provide school counselors with some guidance in understanding the career paths of elementary-aged children, though different theories provide conflicting views of exactly how children's career thoughts and plans develop. For example, the theories of both Ginzberg (Ginzberg, 1952; Ginzberg, Ginsburg, Alexrad, & Herma, 1951) and Gottfredson (1981) suggest that children go through a fantasy period in which their career choices are based solely on their interests and desires, with minimal attention paid to their abilities or the selectivity of the career. However, these two theories describe different ages at which children's career choices become more realistic. Ginzberg's theory indicates that children younger than 11 base their career choices on fantasy, and around age 11 they begin a transition to viewing career choices more realistically. In contrast, Gottfredson's theory suggests that children will express fantasy career aspirations no later than age 5 (though Gottfredson uses a more stringent definition of "fantasy" in her theory). Gottfredson postulates that at approximately age 5, children's career aspirations begin to be shaped by social influences such as gender expectations, social prestige, and the perceived difficulty of the career.

Another theory that provides a unique prediction about children's career development was proposed by Havighurst (1964), who described a model of six stages of career development, three of which occur during childhood and adolescence. Havighurst's first stage, identification with a worker, occurs during ages 5 to 10 and is the time of life when the concept of working becomes ingrained in the child's conception of his or her adult life. Parents and other adults close to the child are important models in creating this vision. Although Havighurst did not specify how closely children can be expected to model their parents' work experiences, some researchers have made the argument that the identification process should lead children to select occupations similar to those of their parents or close adults (Trice et al., 1995). In sum, these theories of children's career development all describe a developmental process whereby children come to refine their thoughts and plans regarding desired careers, but provide different predictions about important issues such as the age at which career thinking becomes realistic and whether parents and close adults serve as models for children's career selections.

PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY

Existing theories of early career development among elementary-aged children consistently describe a process during which the career aspirations of children become increasingly reality-based and specific. The theories differ, however, regarding the specific nature of the process and the age at which children progress through various stages. Empirical research, though hindered by the use of differing definitions of key constructs (e.g., fantasy careers), has provided mixed support for theoretical predictions about children's career development. Research also suggests that one specific career--professional athlete--is growing in popularity among children, particularly boys.

To provide school counselors with a better understanding of how to assist children in the career development process, additional information about the career goals and dreams of children would be useful. This study investigated four research questions regarding children's career aspirations and expectations: (a) At what point in children's development do they begin to aspire to occupations that are specific and realistic? (b) What is the developmental trajectory of children's tendency to aspire to sex-typed occupations? (c) At what point do children begin to consider the social prestige of occupations when choosing a desired career? (d) What is the relationship between children's career aspirations and the occupations of their parents?

METHOD

These research questions were examined with data gathered from structured interviews with 123 children in two public elementary schools in a semi-rural community in the Midwestern United States. Three grade levels were represented: first grade (n = 41), third grade (n = 38), and fifth grade (n = 44). Each child was individually interviewed by a trained graduate student using a structured interview protocol. Each interview took approximately 20 to 30 minutes, with older children tending to have longer interviews. Additional data were collected from a demographic form completed by parents of participating children.

Instruments

A demographic form was developed to be completed by the parents or guardians of participating children. This form solicited information about family ethnicity, family environment (e.g., child lives with single parent, child lives with two biological parents), annual family income, occupation and highest educational level of adults residing in the home, and occupation and highest educational level of noncustodial parent(s).

A structured interview form was created to obtain information from participating children. The interview form solicited information regarding children's career aspirations and career expectations. Following a protocol originally developed by Looft (1971), the interview form assessed children's career aspirations by first asking "What do you want to be when you grow up?" followed by "Now, what do you think you really will be when you grow up?" The interview form also included questions about children's level of knowledge of their parents' jobs. Additional information about this interview form has been provided previously (Blackhurst, Auger, & Herring Wahl, 2003).

Participants

Of the 123 participating children, 75 (61%) were male and 48 (39%) were female. The racial/ethnic membership of the group (as determined by parent designation on the demographic form) consisted of 110 Caucasian (89.4%), 2 African American (1.6%), 2 Native American (1.6%), 1 Hispanic (.8%), and 8 other (6.5%).

Family data obtained from the demographic form indicated that 92 (74.8%) of the children lived with two biological parents, 20 (16.3%) lived with a single mother, 7 (5.7%) lived with a biological parent and a stepparent, and 4 (3.3%) lived in some other type of arrangement. Family income ranged from under $10,000 per year to over $90,000 per year. The median family income category was $51,000-$60,000.

Procedures

Participants were selected and structured interviews were completed and audiotaped using procedures described elsewhere (Blackhurst et al., 2003). Following the completion of the interviews, the audiotapes were transcribed and the responses were coded for analysis. Occupations provided in response to the questions "What do you want to be when you grow up?" and "What do you think you really will be when you grow up?" were categorized based on whether they were sex-typed, whether they were specific or vague, and whether they were fantasy or realistic. Occupations were coded as being sex-typed if census data (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001) indicated that 75% or more of people in that occupation were male or female, a percentage cutoff that has been used in a previous investigation of children's sex-typed career aspirations (Sellers, Satcher, & Comas, 1999). One occupation not found in the census data--President of the United States--was coded as a male-dominated occupation, for obvious reasons.

The social value of the occupational choices was quantified using Stevens and Hoisington's (1987) ratings of the social prestige of occupations. These ratings, based on data from several national prestige surveys, range from 14.69 to 81.09 (M = 41.38, SD = 15.57). Examples of ratings are physician (81.09), history teacher (78.30), secretary (45.80), farmer (40.70), and bus driver (32.40). These prestige ratings have been used previously in an investigation of children's career knowledge (Walls, 2000).

Occupations were defined as fantasy selections if they were consistent with Ginzberg's (1952) description of the fantasy stage, in which occupational preferences are selected based solely on what the child wants to become with no awareness or consideration of possible internal or external barriers to that career path. The criteria outlined by Helwig (2001) also were used as a guide. These criteria included a high level of glamour, competitiveness, and visibility, and very low numbers of persons who actually have the occupation in the paying job market. Examples of occupations consistent with Ginzberg's and Helwig's criteria that were placed in the fantasy category included professional athlete, artist, singer, astronaut, and person in the X Games. In addition to meeting these criteria, none of the fantasy occupations just listed was held by any of the parents in the study.

Data Analysis

Developmental differences in response patterns to interview questions were examined by using chi-square analyses of the response categories of children in different grade levels. Tests of possible differences in the mean prestige ratings between grade levels were conducting using t tests. An alpha level of .05 was used for all statistical tests. Whenever a child provided two or more desired or expected careers, the first career given was used for analysis.

RESULTS

In response to the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" the large majority of children in each of the three grade levels provided specific careers or occupations (see Table 1). Older children did not provide more specific responses; in fact, although there were no statistically significant differences in the specificity of careers provided by children at different grade levels, the highest absolute proportion of specific careers was provided by first-grade children.

Similarly, a higher proportion of first-grade children provided realistic (as opposed to fantasy) careers when asked what they wanted to be as an adult, although again the differences between grade levels were not statistically significant. Fifteen percent of first-graders provided fantasy career aspirations, versus 34% of third-graders and 36% of fifth-graders. There were no significant differences in the proportion of girls and boys who provided fantasy career aspirations, although there was a substantial gender difference in the type of fantasy occupation reported. Of the 24 boys who provided fantasy occupations, 19 (79%) wanted to become a professional athlete. Only 1 girl reported wanting to become a professional athlete. Of the 11 girls reporting fantasy career aspirations, 3 wanted to become an artist and 6 wanted to become some type of performer (e.g., singer, drummer in a band).

The proportion of boys who stated that they wanted to become a professional athlete significantly increased from first grade to fifth grade ([chi square] [4, n = 75] = 11.98, p = .02). Thirty-six percent of third-grade and 35% of fifth-grade boys wanted to become a professional athlete, as compared to 7% of first-grade boys.

The older children in this sample were significantly less likely to provide a sex-typed career aspiration than the younger children (see Table 1). Of those children specifying a career aspiration, 69% of firstgraders reported a sex-typed career aspiration, compared to 57% of third-graders and 42% of fifth-graders ([chi square] [2, n = 117] = 6.26, p = .04). The tendency of older children to report fewer sex-typed career aspirations was evident primarily among girls. Excluding those who did not provide a career aspiration, 77% of first-grade girls reported a sex-typed career aspiration, as compared to 38% of third-grade girls and 24% of fifth-grade girls. In comparison, of the boys who provided a career aspiration, 65% of first-graders, 68% of third-graders, and 59% of fifth-graders gave a sex-typed career aspiration.

Although the majority of children aspiring to a sex-typed career selected a career dominated by persons of their own gender, 5 children aspired to a career most associated with persons of the opposite gender. Three girls wanted to become doctors, 1 boy wanted to become a teacher, and 1 boy aspired to become a nurse.

Analysis of the prestige rankings of the career aspirations indicated that older children tended to aspire to more prestigious careers than younger children (first grade, M = 47.7, SD = 12.9; third grade, M = 51.4, SD = 13.2; fifth grade, M = 54.2, SD = 13.4). The prestige ratings were not significantly related to either gender or family income.

When asked what they thought they really would be when they grew up, most children in this study named a different career or occupation than the one they provided when asked what they would like to be when they grew up. In other words, only a minority of children reported the same career aspiration and career expectation. Thirty-seven percent of children reported an identical career aspiration and expectation. Part of the reason for this limited level of agreement is that a significant number of children (22%) did not provide an expected career, responding that they were not sure what career they would actually have as an adult.

Just as with the career aspirations, substantial numbers of children were unable to provide specific careers or occupations when asked what they would actually do when they grew up. Seventy-three percent of first-grade children gave a specific career or occupational expectation, as compared to 58% for third-graders and 59% for fifth-graders.

Consistent with the developmental pattern of real versus fantasy career aspirations, there were no statistically significant differences in the proportion of children at different grade levels who provided fantasy career expectations. Excluding children who did not specify any career expectation, 12% of first-graders, 27% of third-graders, and 20% of fifth-graders reported a fantasy career when asked what they thought they would actually do when they grew up. Just as with career aspirations, younger children in this sample had a greater tendency to give a sex-typed career expectation. Excluding children who did not provide a response, 58% of first-grade children provided a sex-typed career or occupation when asked about their expected career, as compared to 43% for third-grade children and 24% for fifth-grade children ([chi square] [2, n = 95] = 8.08, p = .02). Boys were significantly more likely to report a sex-typed career expectation. Of those children providing an expected career, 49% of boys versus 28% of girls gave a sex-typed career choice ([chi square] [1, n = 95] = 4.22, p = .04).

One dimension on which children's career expectations differed from their career aspirations was the number of boys who stated that they expected to become professional athletes. Unlike their career aspirations, where older boys were more likely to state they wanted to become a professional athlete, when asked about their career expectations, fewer older boys indicated that they thought they really would become a professional athlete. Over one third of third-grade and fifth-grade boys expressed a desire to become a professional athlete, but only 12% of third-grade boys and 13% of fifth-grade boys expressed a belief that they would actually become a professional athlete.

An area of similarity between children's career aspirations and their career expectations was the prestige of their occupational selections. The mean of the prestige ratings for expected occupations increased at each grade level (M = 48.4, SD = 15.3 for first-graders; M = 52.6, SD = 13.6 for third-graders; M= 58.1, SD = 15.3 for fifth-graders). The mean prestige rating for fifth-graders was significantly higher than that of first-graders (t[51] = 2.30, p = .03). It is also worth noting that the overall mean prestige rating for children's career aspirations (M = 53.0, SD = 15.0) did not differ significantly from the overall mean prestige rating for children's career expectations (M = 52.8, SD = 15.5).

Approximately half of the children in this sample were unable to provide a specific job when asked to name their mother's and father's job. Thirty-nine percent of first-graders, 53% of third-graders, and 50% of fifth-graders provided a specific job when asked to name their mother's job. Corresponding percentages of children providing a specific job for their father were 38% for first-graders, 47% for third-graders, and 47% for fifth-graders. When asked to name their parents' jobs, many children gave the name of a business or organization rather than a specific job. There was little correspondence between parents' jobs and the jobs the children stated they wanted to have when they grew up. Six percent of the children aspired to the same occupation as their mother and 10% aspired to the same occupation as their father.

DISCUSSION

The majority of children in this study were able to name a specific career aspiration. The proportion of children naming a specific career aspiration did not increase with age. This suggests that there is a minority of older elementary-aged children who have not done significant thinking about their future careers. The importance of school counselors becoming involved in career development and career awareness activities with elementary-aged students, as mandated in the ASCA National Model (200a), is further supported by this finding.

Fewer than half of the children in this study reported the same career aspiration and career expectation. One interpretation of this finding is that these children have already entered a process of circumscription, believing that for one reason or another they are unable to actually achieve the career they would most like to have. However, other findings from this study contradict this interpretation. Neither the percentage of children who listed a fantasy career aspiration nor the percentage of children who listed a fantasy career expectation significantly changed from first to fifth grade. These findings do not reflect a process during these elementary school years of progressively giving up fantasy aspirations and expectations.

The number of boys in this study who reported that they wanted to become professional athletes was substantial. As with fantasy career choices in general, the popularity of professional athlete as a career aspiration did not decline with age but actually increased from first grade to fifth grade. Although fewer than 10% of first-grade boys expressed a desire to become a professional athlete, more than 30% of third- and fifth-grade boys indicated that they aspired to this profession. However, the percentages of third- and fifth-grade boys who actually expected to become a professional athlete were considerably lower. It appears that by third grade, many of the boys in this study were beginning to realistically appraise their chances of actually becoming a professional athlete.

The results of this study provided some evidence for Gottfredson's (1981) contention that by the fifth grade, children have circumscribed their array of career aspirations on the basis of perceived gender appropriateness and social prestige. The percentage of children who expressed sex-typed career aspirations declined significantly from first grade to fifth grade, with the decline evident primarily among girls. Although Gottfredson's theory suggests that career circumscription based on perceived gender appropriateness happens at approximately the first-grade level, the theory would not predict a further decline in proportions of older children choosing sex-typed career aspirations. These findings, then, may not be contradictory to this aspect of Gottfredson's theory, but neither are they supportive.

There are at least two possible explanations for the decline in sex-typed career aspirations found in this study. One is that sex typing of career choices in early elementary school is a part of young children's general tendency to view the world in black-and-white terms. Young children may learn to associate certain occupations with a single gender. As children progress through elementary school, they develop the cognitive ability to see exceptions to these general rules, such as realizing that if they are female they can still become a construction worker.

Another possible explanation is that children's perception of which occupations are acceptable for their gender is shaped by their experiences. Older children, given the greater amount of life experience they have, are more likely to have had contact with an adult in an occupation dominated by the opposite gender. Children who see examples of male nurses and female construction workers may be more apt to themselves aspire to a career that is not traditionally populated by adults of their own gender.

This study also provided some support for Gottfredson's contention that children beginning at about the age of 9 begin to eliminate career choices they view as lacking in social prestige or that require more ability than they believe they have. The older children in this study displayed a significant tendency to aspire to more prestigious careers than the younger children, suggesting that judgments of the social value of different careers had been made in the mid-elementary years. Yet that very rise in prestige level of career aspirations also suggests that these elementary children had not entered into a process of realistically appraising their own skills and talents and ruling out careers they perceived as being overly demanding given their abilities. The relevant student competency indicator from the ASCA National Model--"identify personal skills, interests and abilities and relate them to current career choice" (ASCA, 2003, p. 83)--had clearly not been achieved by this group of students.

There was only slight support in these data for Havighurst's (1964) prediction that children will display identification with workers close to them, particularly parents, as relatively few children indicated that they wanted to have the same occupations as their mother or father. A possible explanation for this finding is that children are increasingly influenced by broader societal images and less likely to model the career paths of their parents. This is not to say that children do not go through a process of identification with admired persons, just that these people may be more likely to be sports stars and performers than parents.

Finally, a comparison of the careers children stated they wanted versus those they expected to have revealed two interesting findings. First, the lack of difference in the social prestige ratings of career aspirations versus career expectations indicated that these children generally were not aspiring to high-prestige careers yet realistically expecting to settle for lower-prestige careers. Some children did follow this pattern, such as one child who wanted to become a singer but expected to become a social worker. But other children actually listed expected careers that were of higher prestige than their desired careers. Examples included two children with aspirations to become a teacher and a carpenter; both stated that they expected to become a doctor.

Second, there was a tendency for children's career aspirations to be more sex-typed than their career expectations. The children in this study provided a slightly broader and less sex-linked array of occupations when asked about their career expectations, as opposed to a more restricted list of career aspirations. This again contradicts the notion that children dream of having careers that are exciting and nontraditional but then settle for a more traditional (and sex-typed) career when asked what they really think their career will be.

Implications for School Counselors

The results of this study support previous investigations (e.g., Seligman et al., 1991; Trice & McClellan, 1994) that indicate that important decisions are being made by elementary-aged children about the types of careers they wish to have and expect to have. The clear implication of these findings is that school counselors should initiate career exploration activities with elementary-aged students, rather than waiting until students reach middle school or high school. In order to help students "... acquire the skills to investigate the world of work in relation to knowledge of self and to make informed career decisions" (ASCA National Model Career Development Standard A, 2003, p. 83), providing elementary students with career information is essential.

Another implication has to do with the nature of career exploration efforts. The type of circumscription described by Gottfredson (1981) and at least partially empirically supported by this study means elementary-aged children may be unknowingly and unnecessarily restricting their career options. This implies that career development efforts should explore not only what children say they want to become but also what they say they do not want to become. As stated by Gottfredson, "Exploration should probe the boundaries of unacceptability set earlier in life to see if they are appropriate" (1996, p. 217). An appropriate goal for the career development efforts of school counselors working with elementary-aged children is to enhance students' knowledge of the array of career choices available to them and to encourage students to refrain from prematurely eliminating careers--particularly those they may deem inappropriate for their gender--that may eventually be a good match for their interests and talents. Specific competencies from the ASCA National Model that apply here include "learn about the variety of traditional and nontraditional occupations" (ASCA, 2003, p. 83) and "understand the importance of equity and access in career choice" (p. 84).

Limitations

Two limitations of this study need to be considered when evaluating the results. First, a cross-sectional design was employed, meaning that inferences about the developmental differences between the career aspirations and expectations of children at the different grade levels must be treated more speculatively than if a longitudinal design had been used. Future longitudinal study of this group of children would be helpful in providing a more accurate look at the developmental differences experienced by this group. Second, the large majority of children in this study were Caucasian, and generalizations to other racial/ethnic groups must be made with great caution. Generalizing these results to children in urban areas and to children of lower socioeconomic status also must be done with caution.

Conclusions

The results of this study suggest that occupational aspirations and expectations of children undergo dramatic developmental changes during the elementary years, as well as resisting developmental change in other respects. As compared to the early elementary-aged children in this study, the older children tended to aspire to occupations that were more socially prestigious but less sex-typed. The older children were actually less likely to name a realistic career aspiration, with over one third of older boys wanting to become a professional athlete. Few children of either gender were likely to aspire to the occupation held by their parents.

School counselors can be instrumental in assisting elementary-aged students as they learn about careers and make tentative judgments about the careers they would like to have. The importance of addressing all three domains of the ASCA National Model at the elementary level--academic, personal-social, and career development--is clearly supported by the findings of this study.

Table 1. Characteristics of Children's Desired and Expected Careers

Nature of             First Grade               Third Grade
Career                 (n = 41)                   (n = 38)

                  Desired     Expected    Desired     Expected

Specific          36 (88%)    30 (73%)    28 (74%)    22 (58%)

Nonspecific        3  (7%)     3  (7%)     7 (18%)     6 (16%)

No career given    2  (5%)     8 (20%)     3  (8%)    10 (26%)

Realistic         33 (80%)    29 (71%)    22 (58%)    19 (50%)

Fantasy            6 (15%)     4 (10%)    13 (34%)     7 (18%)

No career          2  (5%)     8 (20%)     3  (8%)    12 (32%)
or nonspecific
career

Sex-typed         27 (66%)    19 (46%)    20 (53%)    12 (32%)

Non-sex-typed     12 (29%)    14 (34%)    15 (39%)    16 (42%)

No career given    2  (5%)     8 (20%)     3  (8%)    10 (26%)

Nature of              Fifth Grade
Career                  (n = 44)

                  Desired     Expected

Specific          38 (86%)    26 (59%)

Nonspecific        5 (11%)     8 (18%)

No career given    1  (2%)    10 (23%)

Realistic         27 (61%)    24 (55%)

Fantasy           16 (36%)     6 (14%)

No career          1 (2%)     14 (32%)
or nonspecific
career

Sex-typed         18 (41%)     8 (18%)

Non-sex-typed     25 (57%)    26 (59%)

No career given    1 (2%)     10 (23%)

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Richard W. Auger is an associate professor and Anne E. Blackhurst is a professor with the Department of Counseling & Student Personnel, Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Kay Hefting Wahl is with the Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. E-mail: [e-mail]