Teaching remains top job choice for middle and highschoolers, but bulk doesn't know what they want to do

Despite ongoing concerns over violations of teachers’ rights, a new survey shows that teaching remains the most desired career among middle and high school students.

A teacher wears a carnation for Teachers’ Day. [YONHAP]

Despite ongoing concerns over violations of teachers’ rights, a new survey shows that teaching remains the most desired career among middle and high school students. The findings also point to a need for stronger career-exploration education, as middle schoolers recorded the highest share of students with no desired career.

The Ministry of Education and the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training said Thursday that they surveyed 37,408 students, parents and teachers from 1,200 elementary, middle and high schools nationwide between May 16 and June 13 for the 2025 Career Education Survey.

Among elementary school students, athlete ranked first with 14.1 percent, marking the eighth straight year it has topped the list. It was followed by doctor at 6.6 percent, content creator at 4.8 percent, teacher at 4.5 percent and chef or cook at 3.9 percent. The top five were the same as in 2024.

For middle schoolers, teacher was the most preferred career at 7.5 percent. Athlete followed at 5.4 percent, then doctor at 3.6 percent, police officer or investigator at 3.2 percent and nurse at 2.9 percent. Preference for teaching rose 0.7 percentage points from 2024, while interest in becoming a doctor dropped 1.5 percentage points.

High school students also chose teacher as their top desired career at 7.6 percent. Nurse ranked second at 5.0 percent, followed by biologist and researcher at 3.7 percent, health care technician at 2.9 percent and police officer or investigator at 2.6 percent. Biologist and researcher rose from seventh place in 2024 to third this year, and health care technician jumped from 11th to fourth.

A boy meets his teacher for the first time on Jan. 2 in an elementary school in Daegu. [NEWS1]

Teaching has held the No. 1 spot among middle and high school students every year since the survey was designated an official national statistic in 2015.

The share of students who said they have no desired career was highest among middle schoolers at 40.1 percent. The figure was 28.7 percent for high schoolers and 21.9 percent for elementary schoolers. The rate rose slightly for elementary and middle school students but dropped by 0.3 percentage points for high school students.

The most common reason for having no preferred career was not yet knowing what they like. This was cited by 42.8 percent of elementary school students, 50.9 percent of middle schoolers and 44.0 percent of high school students.

Among high school students’ post-graduation plans, 64.9 percent said they hope to enter university, down from 66.5 percent a year earlier. The share hoping to find employment increased 2.3 percentage points to 15.6 percent. The percentages of undecided students, at 11.2 percent, and those who desire to start a business, at 3.3 percent, were unchanged from last year.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]