By pre-school children are already thinking about the career they will have when they grow up. It is also at this early stage that they tend to rule out jobs that do not fit with their gender.
Four-year-olds have shown a strong gender bias towards jobs. Girls choose typically female occupations while boys tend to show interest in typically male occupations. Pre-schoolers seem reluctant to cross gender work roles.
To counter the impact of gender stereotypes on careers, many educators I’ve spoken to in my research say career-related learning should take place in early primary years. The concern is that by years 8-10 the subject and career choices of students were well and truly gender-segregated.
Evidence gathered across 50 countries showed that as a result of this gender segregation by year 10, far fewer girls pursue maths and science. The female students who do not complete advanced-level maths are unlikely to pursue the male-dominated science, technology, engineering, maths (STEM) post-school careers.