Survey suggests Plumbers Viewed as More Employable than Lawyers or Scientists

12 Nov 2014

A new survey conducted by City & Guilds and Edge Foundation suggests that parents view plumbers as more employable than lawyers or scientists. Is this is sign of tides of change in attitudes to apprenticeships?

The survey asked over 3,500 parents. Of those surveyed, 57 per cent rated people with a plumbing qualification or apprenticeship as ‘very employable – higher than both a law degree (53%) and a science degree (52%). It also beats other traditional university subjects like English (22%) and history (8%).

Changing attitudes?

To some extent it can be argued that parents are opening up more to the idea of apprenticeships. According to the survey, one in three (72%) parents view vocational qualifications and apprenticeships as just as helpful as a university degree when it comes to helping young people get started in a career.

But that doesn’t quite tell the whole story. When it came to their own child, only 16% of parents hope their child will complete an apprenticeship with over double (37%) hoping their child would go to university – even though 57% of them feel that the education system is far too focused on academia and almost half (49%) believe that employers care more about work experience than good grades.

It seems the signs are there, but there’s still some way to go to change some people’s attitudes towards apprenticeships and alternative career paths.

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