Charity claims girls in London find out about careers from television but don’t know how to get the jobs

 
Inspiring: a charity claims television programmes such as Call The Midwife have driven a rise in interest in certain careers
20 January 2014

Tens of thousands of teenage girls living in London do not know anyone with a job and are getting their career inspiration from television programmes, a charity has warned.

The Education and Employers Taskforce said too many girls were leaving school knowing nothing about the world of work and ruling out hundreds of job options because they did not know anything about them.

The charity called on working women to become role models and talk about their careers on school visits as part of their Inspiring Women campaign.

It estimates there are 50,000 teenage girls living in workless households in London.

Nick Chambers, director of the charity, said: “These 50,000 girls don’t necessarily have role models in work.

“They don’t have links to different types of jobs. Often they find it very hard to get insights into the world of work and what jobs they would like.

“For many of these young people a lot of their knowledge is influenced by the television and social media. People see roles on TV — doctors or brainy scientists — and think that’s what science is all about.

“They don’t realise there is a whole team of people doing a wide variety of jobs, some of which they would be very well suited for.”

Hot job: CSI: Miami has increased the appeal of forensics work

He added that programmes including Call the Midwife and CSI: Miami had inspired interest in midwifery and forensic science, while the “Brian Cox” effect had seen an upturn in physics.

Mr Chambers said: “This is positive, but just seeing someone on TV doesn’t help you find out how to actually get that job. A lot of people see a role but don’t know how to get there and what A-levels to take, especially if they don’t have a careers service or family connections.”

Latest figures show there are more than 300,000 households in London with children where nobody works.

Mr Chambers said some children in these homes were from the second or third generation who had never worked, adding: “It’s incredibly hard. ... These kids don’t have the networks. We want to level the playing field.”

The charity wants to encourage young people to find out about the vast range of jobs that are available.

Inspiring Women is organising a careers fair next week at Basildon Upper Academy, with women workers talking to pupils about their jobs.

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