Abstract The career preferences of a cohort of 1,773 pupils in ten co-educational comprehensive schools were studied at three points between the ages of 11 and 17. At all three ages, there were enormous differences between the sexes in their job plans, although girls and boys gave similar responses to questions about the characteristics of their ideal job. There were also significant differences between children of different social class and academic ability, and some indications of differences between ethnic groups. Individual children showed little consistency in the occupations they named, although some jobs, notably hairdressing and teaching, were chosen at an earlier age than others. One of the strongest predictors of the occupational aspirations of 17 year-olds was their perception of what their parents wanted for them when they were 14. Boys' aspirations seemed to be based on their individual abilities and achievements, whereas girls' aspirations were more strongly related to ascribed factors such ...