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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 5, 2008
MOST TEENS OPTIMISTIC
THEY’LL HAVE IDEAL JOB ONE DAY ACCORDING TO JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT
POLL
Students select
"classroom education" as preferred source for learning career
skills; "on the job training" a distant second
Colorado Springs, Colo. – More than
half of all teens surveyed (54 percent) believe they are
"extremely likely" or "very likely" to have their ideal job one
day according to a Junior Achievement survey conducted by Harris
Interactive, which polled teens nationwide. Such optimism among
teens is relatively uniform across gender and age bands but is
down significantly from a similar poll in 2000 conducted by
Junior Achievement.
Achieving self-awareness of one’s noble
purpose and vocational calling is a right of passage that,
increasingly, teens look to their schools to help them develop.
Where do they expect to learn the skills needed for their future
careers? According to the survey, nearly half (47 percent)
selected a traditional source—"classroom education." Coming in a
distant second was "on the job training" (24 percent).
"Results of this poll demonstrate how
critical it is to get work-readiness programs into our schools,"
said Sean C. Rush, president and chief executive officer of JA
Worldwide. "Junior Achievement helps prepare students for
success in a global economy and bridges the gap between what
they learn in school and what happens in the world of work."
Junior Achievement has three
work-readiness programs, which are invited into classrooms by
educators and taught by business people and other volunteers
from the local community. JA Careers with a Purpose™ helps teens
answer the age-old question, "What do I want to be when I grow
up?" In addition to providing students with information about
specific career paths, program activities teach students the
skills associated with understanding the world of work such as
enhancing personal awareness of vocational interests, skills,
and values; recognizing the importance of ethics in career and
life decisions; and exploring careers in high-growth, in-demand
industries such as healthcare.
With the help of a $250,000 grant from the
HCA Foundation, Junior Achievement is reaching middle grades and
high school students in their classrooms. "We’re inspiring
students to align their skills and interests with a career
calling," said John Steele, Senior VP of Human Resources at HCA.
"JA Careers with a Purpose can help our young people be
successful in their work and in their lives. This is an
investment in the future workforce."
The survey was administered online in
December 2007 by Harris Interactive on behalf of Junior
Achievement and included responses from 626 teens, ages 13 to
18. The Junior Achievement survey and JA Careers with a PurposeTM
are sponsored by HCA Foundation and the John Templeton
Foundation.
The complete poll results can be read
here.
Methodology
Harris Interactive conducted this online survey on behalf of JA
Worldwide from December 12 to December 19, 2007. The 626 survey
respondents, ages 13-18, lived within the United States. Results
for 13-17 year olds were weighted as needed for age, sex,
race/ethnicity, parental education, urbanicity and region.
Results for 18 year olds were weighted as needed for age, sex,
race/ethnicity, education, region and household income.
All sample surveys and polls, whether or
not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple
sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify
or estimate. These might including sampling error, coverage
error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with
question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting
and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words
"margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be
calculated are different possible sampling errors with different
probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with
100-percent response rates. These are only theoretical because
no published polls come close to this ideal.
Respondents for this survey were selected
from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris
Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the
composition of the U.S. 13-18 year old population. Because the
sample is based on those who agreed to be invited to participate
in the Harris Interactive online research panel, no estimates of
theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
About JA Worldwide® (Junior
Achievement)
JA Worldwide is the world's largest organization dedicated to
inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global
economy. Through a dedicated volunteer network, JA Worldwide
provides in-school and after-school programs for students in
grades K-12. JA Worldwide offers educational programs that focus
on three key content areas: entrepreneurship, work readiness,
and financial literacy. Today, 140 individual JA operations
reach more than four million students in the United States, with
an additional 4.3 million students served by operations in 118
other countries worldwide. For more information, visit
www.ja.org.
About HCA
HCA is the nation’s leading provider of healthcare services,
composed of locally managed facilities that include
approximately 169 hospitals and 115 outpatient centers in 20
states and England. At its founding in 1968, Nashville-based HCA
was one of the nation’s first hospital companies. For more
information, visit
www.hcahealthcare.com.
About the John Templeton Foundation
The mission of the John Templeton Foundation is to serve as a
philanthropic catalyst for discovery in areas engaging life’s
biggest questions. These questions range from explorations into
the laws of nature and the universe to questions on the nature
of love, gratitude, forgiveness and creativity. Our vision is
derived from John Templeton’s commitment to rigorous scientific
research and related scholarship. The foundation’s motto, "How
little we know, how eager to learn," exemplifies our support for
open-minded inquiry and our hope for advancing human progress
through breakthrough discoveries. For more information, visit
www.templeton.org.
About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research.
With a long and rich history in multimodal research that is
powered by our science and technology, we assist clients in
achieving business results. Harris Interactive serves clients
globally through our North American, European and Asian offices
and a network of independent market research firms. For more
information, please visit
www.harrisinteractive.com.
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