Behind the Mask: The Differences and Stability of Children's Career Expectations

Abstract

The social scientists generally agree that career expectations influence an individual's career fulfillment. In virtue of cultivating quality early childhood education to meet children's learning needs, the study aims to explore the differences and stability of children's career expectations. The participants were kindergarten children and the sixth-grade elementary school children in Southern Taiwan. Their ages are from 5 to 12. The total valid samples were 278 questionnaires. The data was collected by using self-administered questionnaires which was adopted from Holland's (1997) and Lee's (2010) career personality category types. The data was analyzed by using percentage and average analysis, regression analysis, as well as the McNemar test of symmetry and Cramer's V to investigate the relation between the parents’ occupation and the children's career expectations. The main findings of the study are as follows: (1) Among the categories of careers, police officer, painter, doctor, teacher, and entrepreneurs were the most popular careers from the children's aspirations. (2) There is a significant gender difference in the children's career expectations. (3) Children show stable development in career expectations. Nonetheless, there is a gradual declining trend in absolute scores for career expectations. (4) The parents’ careers are often related to their children's career expectations. According to these findings, some pedagogical implications are proposed, and recommendations for future studies are offered.