Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Dream Jobs of First Graders and their Parents in Japan



Since 1999, Kuraray, a major manufacturer of synthetic leather for school backpacks (randoseru), has been conducting annual surveys on what jobs Japanese first graders want to have in the future.  Here are the results for 2020. 


GIRLS  

1. Baker 

2. Celebrity, singer, or model 

3. Nurse 

4. Florist 

5. Nursery school teacher 

6. Worker at ice-cream shop 

7. Doctor 

8. Teacher 

9. Police officer 

10. Beautician


BOYS 

1. Athlete

2. Police Officer

3. Driver (of buses, trains, etc.)

4. Firefighter or rescue worker

5. TV star or anime character 

6.  Researcher

7. Baker

8. Doctor

9. Carpenter or artisan

10. YouTuber 


An interesting look at boys' number one choice - 56.9% want to be a soccer player, 19.1% a baseball player, and 4.0% a rugby player.


WHAT PARENTS WANT

Parents of new first graders did not have the same choices, but overall want their children to have steady jobs. 


GIRLS 

1. Nurse 

2. Public servant 

3. Pharmacist 

4. Doctor 

5. Medical professional 

6. Company worker 

7. Baker 

8. Teacher 

9. Nursery school teacher 

10. Celebrity, singer, model


BOYS 

1. Public servant 

2. Doctor 

3. Company worker  

4. Athlete 

5. Police officer 

6. Figherfighter or rescue worker 

7. Researcher 

8. Engineer 

9. Driver (of buses, trains, etc.)

10. Medical professional 


I don't remember if I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up at the start of first grade. Do you remember?  If you have grown children, did they end up doing what you or they wanted?


5 comments:

Julie said...

I still didn't know what I really wanted to do even when I was a teenager. Times are so changed with technology and new ways of learning and working.

Miranda said...

I don't recall if it was that early in life, but some time in elementary school I wanted to be a veterinarian. As I got older, I realized I would not do well putting animals to sleep, so I gave up on that goal.

diamondc said...

Pamela: Vey interesting statistic.
Thank-you for sharing, wanting to be a U-Tuber makes me smile.

Catherine

Vireya said...

Fascinating survey!

I don't think I had any job ideas when I was that age. And in fact I never figured out what I wanted to do - just fell into various types of employment during my life. And my son didn't end up doing anything I thought he might be suited to.

Leonore Winterer said...

How interesting that even Japanese parents dare to dream big, with celebrity/athlete still ranking in their top 10!
I don't know if I had a dream job in first grad, but I know I wanted to become a teacher for a long time, followed by a few years of wanting to be a banker...I guess I was a strange kid?!