26 Sep 2023

Young People in Scotland Research: 2022/23

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) has published its Young People in Scotland research for 2022/23, a commissioned study to gather insight from secondary school pupils (aged 11-18) on their career aspirations. Whereas the research showed there was a healthy interest in construction amongst males, it was the industry that appealed the least to females.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) has published its Young People in Scotland research for 2022/23, a commissioned study to gather insight from secondary school pupils (aged 11-18) on their career aspirations. The study covered a range of areas, including which route students planned to take after school, preferred job sectors and what factors were seen as most important when choosing a future career. The study revealed that only four per cent of those currently in study planned to go onto a modern or graduate apprenticeship, versus 42 per cent of those looking to go to university.

Construction fared badly amongst the females surveyed, with only five per cent of students listing it as their desired job sector. However, for males the outcome was more positive, with the sector one of the most popular, with 30% of participants interested – only sport, engineering and computing rated higher. This study was conducted with a sample group of 1533 students, all of whom completed the online questionnaire at school.

See the full research paper here.