What are the determinants of career preferences? The case of high school students in Chile

ABSTRACT

Identifying factors influencing career preferences is relevant for faculty, education planners, and authorities when designing educational policies. However, these factors vary according to the socioeconomic context. We estimate a discrete choice model to investigate the determinants of career preferences using a survey of high school students (n = 1,658) in Santiago, Chile. Results show that gender, academic performance, type of school, parents’ occupation, and high school track are significant, but their influences vary among career categories. We concluded that a gender gap exists. Males are more prone to choose STEM areas, whereas females prefer humanities and health careers. The influence of the parents’ occupation is evident in specific fields, with differences between girls and boys. High school vocational track influences career preferences.

KEYWORDS:

• Career preferences
• Chile
• SDG 4
• Quality education
• SDG 5
• Gender equality
• SDG 10
• Reduced inequalities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carola Blazquez

Carola Blazquez is a professor at the Universidad Andrés Bello(Chile). She is a Civil Engineer from the Universidad Técnica Federico Santamaría (Chile), MSc and PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is an expert in geospatial analysis, transport safety and waste collection systems. Engineering education is another of her topics of interest.

Víctor Cantillo

Víctor Cantillo is a professor at the Universidad del Norte (Colombia). He holds a degree in Civil Engineering from the Universidad del Norte, an MSc from the Universidad del Cauca (Colombia) and a PhD from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He is an expert in transport and logistics modeling, discrete choice modeling, econometrics and engineering education.

Lucy García

Lucy García is associate professor at the Universidad del Norte (Colombia). She is a systems engineer from the Universidad del Norte, MSc and PhD from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. She researches on digital divides, engineering education, women in STEM and human-computer interaction.