"I Want to Become a Doctor or Nurse" How COVID-19 Changed Job Aspirations of Elementary, Middle, and High School Students

Increased Ranking of Doctor and Nurse as Desired Occupations
Elementary Students' Desired Occupations: YouTuber 4th, Webtoon Artist 9th

On the 17th, medical staff set up a temporary screening clinic in front of a company within the Jingwan Industrial Complex in Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi Province, where a COVID-19 cluster infection occurred. According to health authorities, one worker at a company in the Jingwan Industrial Complex tested positive, and as a result of conducting mass testing on about 200 employees at the company, 114 have been confirmed positive so far. It is known that 59 businesses currently operate in the Jingwan Industrial Complex, with about 1,200 workers residing there. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Due to the impact of COVID-19, the preference for doctors, nurses, and life and natural scientists has significantly increased in career aspiration surveys among elementary, middle, and high school students.

On the 24th, the Ministry of Education and the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training announced the results of the '2020 Elementary and Secondary Career Education Status Survey,' conducted on 23,223 students from 1,200 schools. The top desired occupation for elementary students was athlete, and for middle and high school students, it was teacher, the same as last year.

Doctor Ranks 2nd Among Career Aspirations of Elementary and Middle School Students, Nurse Ranks 2nd Among High School Students

It is notable that the rankings of desired occupations such as medical personnel and life science researchers have risen within the top three. In particular, doctor ranked 2nd among career aspirations of elementary and middle school students. For elementary students, the ranking rose from 4th to 2nd, and for high school students, it increased from 11th to 5th.

Nurse rose one rank to 2nd among high school students' desired occupations and moved up from 10th to 8th among middle school students. Life and natural scientists ranked 3rd among high school students' desired occupations, climbing three places compared to last year.

4th Most Desired Occupation for Elementary Students is YouTuber, 9th is Webtoon Artist

Webtoon artist (cartoonist) ranked 9th among elementary students' desired occupations in 2020. Video creators such as YouTubers ranked 4th, dropping one place from last year. This occupation had attracted attention by ranking 5th in 2018 among elementary students.

Compared to 10 years ago, newly emerging occupations in the last three years include YouTuber (creator), baker, beauty designer, webtoon artist (cartoonist), computer engineer/software developer, illustrator, and soldier. Among middle school students, soldier ranked 4th and beauty designer 7th. Among high school students, soldier ranked 4th, software developer 7th, and beauty designer 8th.

As career aspirations among elementary, middle, and high school students diversify, the cumulative ratio of the top 10 occupations has also decreased. For elementary students, it is 48.8%, middle school students 39.7%, and high school students 33.9%, each decreasing by 7.2 percentage points, 9.2 percentage points, and 6.3 percentage points respectively compared to last year.

Increase in Non-Face-to-Face Counseling and Career Information Acquisition

Last year, due to COVID-19, non-face-to-face career counseling using phone or online methods increased. The use of online media such as 'internet videos' as a source of career information also rose significantly compared to the previous year. The usage rate of videos increased by about 8 percentage points, reaching 27.9% for high school students and 26.9% for middle school students.

Additionally, as education fostering entrepreneurial spirit in schools became more active, positive responses regarding entrepreneurship among high school students increased. The proportion of students interested in entrepreneurship was 35.9%, up 3.5 percentage points from last year. Interest in small and medium-sized enterprises among high school students also rose by 1.4% to 36.5% compared to last year.

Gu Yeonhee, Director of the Lifelong Future Education Bureau at the Ministry of Education, said, "The results of the 2020 Career Education Status Survey clearly show the impact COVID-19 had on career education last year. Based on the survey results, we will develop and distribute various career education learning materials and programs that combine online and offline methods to ensure that career education is not hindered even in the COVID-19 situation."