Adam Lloyd, Jenny Gore, & Max SmithThere is a growing awareness of the important and differential influence fathers have on child lifestyle behaviours compared to mothers. This ‘paternal’ influence could potentially carry across to children’s early career aspirations. A sample of n = 8235 school students in Years 3 to 11 were asked to indicate their occupational choices, give reasons for those choices and also provide information about their parents education and occupation. Using regression analysis, associations between paternal and maternal education levels and occupations with children’s STEM career aspirations were modelled. The findings provide further evidence of the potential differential influence parents have on their child’s aspirations.
Paternal influence on school students’ aspirations for STEM careers