Adolescent occupational expectations: two decades of LSAY-based research

The fifth section of this publication contains four chapters that have a particular focus on employment and other labour market outcomes. The first chapter, Adolescent occupational expectations, is written by Dr Joanna Sikora. It draws on several studies, published between 2011 and 2018, that have used LSAY data to investigate the influences of educational plans, occupational plans, gender, and socioeconomic background on later outcomes. The main findings were: � 56% of boys and 66% of girls planned to become professionals at age 15 years, both of which are significantly higher than the actual proportions observed in the adult population � More than one quarter of participants had failed to achieve their occupational expectations at age 15 years by the time they were 25 years old, with similar proportions failing to realise their expectation of completing university � Students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds were more likely to downwardly adjust their educational and occupational expectations over time � Occupational uncertainty at age 15 increased the likelihood of occupational uncertainty at age 22 by 45% � The gender gap in expectations of STEM careers remained relatively stable between 1999 and 2015, with computing, engineering, and mathematics appealing to relatively few young women � Females were less likely than males to retain career plans concerning computing and engineering (19% vs. 32%).