YEAR 7 PUPILS VIEWS OF THE FUTURE

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YEAR 7 PUPILS VIEWS OF THE FUTURE

• Ken Roberts
• University of Liverpool
• The research on which this paper is based was
  funded by the Department for Children, Schools
  and Families, but all the views expressed are
  solely the authors

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Evidence

• 610 Year 7 Pupils
• 27 non-selective state secondary schools
• Three regions London, Greater Manchester, Devon
  and Cornwall
• Workshops (15-25 pupils)
• Questionnaire
• Group discussion

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Why investigate Year 7s aims?

• Theory
• Fantasies discarded when aims become realistic?
• Or foundations for later ambitions?
• Policy context
• Raising participation age
• Diplomas
• Apprenticeships
• Higher education, social class, social mobility

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The job I want ( in percentages)88 said that
they knew what job they wanted to do in the
futureOf these 65 said that their aim had been
unchanged for at least two years At age 12
pupils have few opportunities to act on the basis
of their choices, though they may attend dance,
drama or singing classes, or a football academy
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• A limited number of occupations are mentioned.
  Apart from celebs, these are public occupations,
  and the jobs of people known personally.
  Knowledge of any overall context seems sketchy
  or non-existent knowledge of different
  industries and occupations the stratification of
  jobs by income, prestige or social value. Even
  sociologists are not always competent on this,
  and there is no single, official, definitive map
  of the occupational structure. Rather, there are
  a variety of ways of comparing and classifying
  jobs. The exception to the vagueness is that
  certain occupations are nearly always seen as at
  or near the top (medicine, law, politicians, plus
  celebs, but then an odd assortment the ideas of
  specific individuals).
• Huge swathes of employment are rarely if ever
  mentioned public administration, finance,
  hospitality, retail and manufacturing. Likewise
  the occupation of manager low-level non-manual
  and non-skilled occupations.
• Very likely knowledge of the context will develop
  only after crucial choices have been made,
  whether actively or passively. This will be akin
  to political socialisation where children will
  know which ethnicity they are part of before they
  know what it stands for or its history, and will
  often support a political party before they know
  anything about its policies. Occupational choices
  typically firm-up only after people have entered
  their occupations.

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Success ratings of students/trainees Nil or weak
patterning by socio-demographic predictors except
thati. Boys rate sports coaches more highly,
and girls rate nurses more highlyii. Vets are
most highly rated in Devon and Cornwalliii. SAT
scores
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Going to university.

• Generally positive about this to be successful,
  to get a good job, to make parents proud.
• Aware that there is a hierarchy of universities
  that Oxford and Cambridge are the best (so they
  want to go there) that there is a top 10.
  No-one mentions Russell Group, or any other of
  the groups.
• Some are unsure, but only a minority is dead set
  against.
• Sometimes the choice of university appears
  inconsistent with job aspirations (chef,
  beautician, dancer).

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Percentages who want to go to university
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Staying on after 16

• Ideas about whether you have to or can stay on
  after 16, or to 18, are related to whether the
  secondary school is 11-16 or 11-18
• Some in favour to get a better education, and a
  better job.
• But there is majority opposition to having to
  stay at school after 16 dont like school, waste
  of time, boring, slow me down (although wants to
  become a vet).
• Some think that you should be able to leave at 15
  or even 14.
• Many who wish to leave school find college an
  acceptable alternative.

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Post-14/16 routes

• No clear ideas about apprenticeships or diplomas,
  more likely to know that A-levels are suitable if
  you are clever, doing well.
• When apprenticeships are spoken about, pupils
  nearly always have traditional apprenticeships in
  mind when you have a mentor watch a skilled
  worker do a job and get training follow a role
  model.
• A few know that apprenticeships can be an
  alternative 14-19 route a combination of school
  and college.
• Likewise a minority know that diplomas are to be
  available from year 9. This seems to depend on
  the school (mentions cluster in this way). Its
  where you can combine school and college.
  However, the majority have absolutely nothing to
  say they are unaware of diplomas.

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The biggest influence on how I think about the
future mean rankings
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Mean influence rankings of the job I want to
get one day
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Mean influence ratings by SAT scores
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Summary

• By age 12
• Wanting to go to university is near universal
• Whereas job aims/hopes are related to SES and
  academic performance
• During secondary education
• Educational aims are likely to be aligned with
  job aims/hopes and academic capability
• Weak relationships at age 12 between SES and
  academic performance on the one hand, and on the
  other hand, evaluations of different occupations
  and responsiveness to different influences, are
  likely to tighten. These trends will favour the
  separation of pro-school and anti-school pupil
  sub-cultures

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Tasks and challenges for careers information,
advice and guidance

• How to reach different destinations
• Relate aims/hopes to capabilities
• Enlarge knowledge of
• Educational routes
• Occupational structure
• Will this be by adding new patches, or
  enlarging existing patches?
• Questions
• Will IAG affect eventual outcomes?
• Or will the effects be governed by otherwise
  determined outcomes (by pupil characteristics on
  the one side, and opportunity structures on the
  other)?

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