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What Will I Be When I Grow Up? An Analysis of Childhood Expectations and Career Outcomes

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  • Sarah Brown
  • John Sessions
  • Karl Taylor

Abstract

In this paper we utilise the British National Child Development Study to explore the determinants of children’s career expectations formed at the age of sixteen. We analyse how such career expectations impact upon human capital accumulation at the same age. We also analyse the extent of any divergence between childhood career expectations and the actual career outcomes experienced by the individuals at three distinct ages in adulthood (23, 33 and 42) as well as the impact of any such divergence on early- and mid- career wage growth. Our findings suggest that career expectations are an important determinant of human capital accumulation, which in turn is a key determinant of occupational status.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Brown & John Sessions & Karl Taylor, 2004. "What Will I Be When I Grow Up? An Analysis of Childhood Expectations and Career Outcomes," Discussion Papers in Economics 05/2, Division of Economics, School of Business, University of Leicester.
    • Handle: RePEc:lec:leecon:05/2
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    Cited by:

    1. Jane Greve & Morten Saaby & Anders Rosdahl & Vibeke Tornhøj Christensen, 2021. "Uncertain occupational expectations at age 19 and later educational and labour market outcomes," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 35(2), pages 163-191, June.
    2. Juerg Schweri, 2021. "Predicting polytomous career choices in healthcare using probabilistic expectations data," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(3), pages 544-563, March.
    3. Bando, Rosangela & Li, Xia, 2014. "The Effect of In-Service Teacher Training on Student Learning of English as a Second Language," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 6596, Inter-American Development Bank.
    4. Rosangela Bando & Xia Li, 2014. "The Effect of In-Service Teacher Training on Student Learning of English as a Second Language," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 86173, Inter-American Development Bank.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Expectations; Education; Human Capital; Occupational Status;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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