Government & Defence services as top professional career choice across gender: UNICEF
The Second Edition of the Bharat Career Aspiration Report 2024 (BCAR) tracking the state of Aspiration Potential, Career Awareness, & Accessibility of Professional Career Counselling among secondary and higher secondary students from low-income families is released. The comprehensive survey published by UNICEF YuWaah and iDreamCareer offers a nuanced perspective on young individuals’ diverse needs and aspirations during the transformative phase of their lives. The survey covered a sample size of 4968 students from grades 9-12 across 25 states of India for five months (August – December 2023). The report focuses on the crucial need for career guidance among adolescents in secondary and higher secondary grades.
Abhishek Gupta, Chief Operating Officer, UNICEF YuWaah highlighted, “The collaboration of public-private-youth stakeholders and their investment in career guidance is a crucial step towards empowering students. At YuWaah, we are on a mission to provide access to relevant skills and career guidance to 20 crore young people by 2030. The BCAR 2024, with its crucial insights, is a powerful tool that can assist policymakers, educators, and us at UNICEF in addressing the diverse needs of students and inspiring them to make well-informed career decisions”.
Ayush Bansal, Founder & CEO of iDreamCareer , emphasised, “In India, career guidance often originates from family, peer, and academic influences. However, this advice may not always align with an individual’s potential and passion, leading to gradual regret and disappointment in later years. The BCAR 2024 findings will serve as a guide for the government, schools, parents, and educators, helping them to identify possible solutions and implement them in line with NEP guidelines for career guidance in schools.”
The findings reveal that family members (30%) and school teachers (13%) are the top influencers in the career-related decision-making process for both male and female students. On career choices, out of 4968 respondents, 2999 students were interested in professional careers, and 704 were interested in vocational careers. Regarding the gender-wise distribution of students for professional careers, 1872 female students (62.42%) chose to pursue a professional career after schooling. Similarly, out of 704 respondents, 56.25% of female students chose vocational careers. In both cases, it was higher than the male students.
Out of the 21 professional career clusters, government and defence services were the top career choice for both genders. 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. Defence and Government Services were among males, followed by Sports and Fitness, Business Operations, and Entrepreneurship.
