Female students from low income income families aspire for professional over vocational careers: UNICEF report

The findings reveal that out of 4968 respondents, 2999 students showed their interest towards professional careers and 704 students were interested in vocational careers.

UNICEF's data was collected from students between grades 9-12 from 25 Indian states. (Representative image/ Express photo)

A survey published by UNICEF YuWaah and iDreamCareer reveals that female students from low household income families aspire for professional and vocational career choices. Over 69 per cent of female students prefer to pursue professional careers, whereas boys tend to have better access to career related information.

The UNICEF findings reveal that out of 4968 respondents, 2999 students showed their interest towards professional careers and 704 students were interested in vocational careers. In terms of gender-wise distribution of students for professional careers, 1872 female students (62.42 per cent) chose to pursue a professional career after their schooling. Similarly, out of 704 respondents, 56.25 per cent female students chose vocational careers. In both cases, it was higher than the male students.

Interestingly, out of the 21 professional career clusters, government and defence services was the top career choice for both genders. Among others, female respondents chose medical science and teaching as their preferred career choice, male respondents preferred engineering and technology among others.

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Out of 19 vocational career clusters, the top choices for female aspirants were Beauty and Wellness; Defence, Security and Government Services and Sports and Fitness. Among male it was Defence, Security and Government Services followed by Sports and Fitness and Business Operations and Entrepreneurship.

When it comes to basic and advanced career awareness levels among female and male respondents, the report reveals that boys tend to have better access to career related information as they move up in higher education, UNICEF survey revealed.

Additionally, the findings reveal that the family members (30 per cent), school teachers (13 per cent), friends (4 per cent) are the top influencers in the career-related decision-making process for both male and female students. Another 4 per cent of the respondents have cited external or school counsellors as their influencers. The remaining 49 per cent respondents did not have a response to this question.

Findings also reveal that 9.36 per cent of the total respondents (465 out of 4968) received career guidance services prior to the study and are aware of availability of such services too.

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Sample description and demographics

Data was collected by UNICEF from students between grades 9-12 from 25 Indian states. A total of 4968 responses were collected over a period of five months (August 2023 – December 2023) and used for analysis. Out of 4968 respondents, the number of female respondents was 3022 (61.05 per cent) and the number of male respondents was 1946 (39.17 per cent). The participants of the study are predominantly Hindi speaking candidates, belonging to low incomes families.

A total of 1740 students were from grade 12, out of which 520 were male and 1200 were females. A total of 1196 students were from grade 11, out of which 497 were male and 669 females. A total of 1227 respondents were there from grade 10, out of which 520 were male and 707 were females. A total of 805 students were there from grade 9, out of which 389 were male & 416 were females. 95 per cent of the respondents belonged to income levels of Rs 1.4-3.4 lakh per annum.