How primary careers education is challenging stereotypes
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How primary careers education is challenging stereotypes
Children form ideas about what they want to do in the future early on in primary school. For some, this means ambitious dreams in a world of possibilities. For others, wider stereotypes get in the way.
Research shows that by Year 2 children are already ruling out options based on gender, limiting pathways for girls in particular. By Year 4 social class comes into play. These perceptions feed into career outcomes later in life.
That’s why since 2022 at the Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) we have been running a pilot programme, working with more than 1,000 primary schools, 400,000 children and 500 employers, including the BBC, Virgin Atlantic and the NHS, in disadvantaged areas to break down stereotypes.
The goal is to show how modern careers education can make a difference. Emerging evidence suggests it can.
Modern careers education
There are three main elements of the approach.
The first involves encouraging teachers to weave career-related learning through the curriculum - making the most of children’s day-to-day experience.
Training, delivered by Teach First and through Careers Hubs, emphasises how existing topics can be reference sites for broadening ambitions.
We have seen schools using hands-on activities like bridge building to demonstrate the link between engineering jobs and science learning. Others have connected characters in class reading to a range of professions.
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The second element involves showing how careers education has more impact when it becomes a whole-school endeavour. In practice, this has meant lead teachers working with senior leaders and governors to weave aspirational careers through all elements of school life, including assemblies, parental engagement and even secondary transition.
The third element is bringing in the voice of employers. Employer role models have come into school and pupils have gone out to workplaces.
Employers have been involved in curriculum delivery, forming new and creative relationships. There has been an emphasis on long-term partnerships, so the work has sustainability beyond the pilot scheme.
Changing perceptions
The data from the second wave of the pilot is out today, and there are some encouraging signs.
There has been a 30 per cent increase in girls’ interest in traditionally male-dominated sectors like business and finance, and notable growth in fields like sport and fitness (by 15 per cent), digital (14 per cent), law (13 per cent), and construction and building (8 per cent).
Furthermore, 83 per cent of teachers have observed an increase in children’s confidence when thinking about different professions and 87 per cent said they had seen a decrease in pupils’ feelings that they were restricted by stereotypes for any future career.
The proportion of schools incorporating careers education into their curriculum rose from 18 per cent to 60 per cent, while those with formal career strategies grew from 10 per cent to 54 per cent.
What’s next?
High-quality careers education is part of a rich and broad primary curriculum. As we have shown in the pilot, this is not about giving young children a specific path to a specific job.
It is about giving everyone, regardless of background, a sense of possibility and breaking down negative stereotypes.
As the final wave of the pilot rolls out, we hope that teachers and leaders will see the power of career-related learning and continue to embed it within their curriculum.
We’re inviting all educators to register for free to attend CEC’s next Careers Excellence Seminar on 12 March, from 10.30am. This will explore the significance of starting careers education early.
Educators can also access free resources and support through CEC’s primary resources website.
Oli de Botton is CEO of the Careers and Enterprise Company
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