This file photo shows high school seniors taking an exam at a school near Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — As online-based industries such as the metaverse are enjoying rising popularity, South Korean middle and high school students are developing stronger preferences for software developer as their dream job.
According to a survey conducted jointly by the Ministry of Education and the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training of 23,367 students, 15,257 parents, and 2,800 faculty members, athlete (8.5 percent) ranked first on the list of dream jobs for elementary school students. Since 2019, athlete has maintained its top spot.
Doctor came in second with 6.7 percent of the surveyed students picking it as their preferred job. Doctor overtook teacher last year and has kept the second spot for two straight years.
The ranking of scientist, which has often been cited as a dream job by elementary school students in the past, slipped to No. 14 at 2 percent.
For middle and high school students, however, computer engineer and software developer occupied higher rankings.
Their rankings inched up from No. 11 to No. 8 (2.7 percent) for middle school students and from No. 7 to No. 4 (3.4 percent), respectively, for high school students.
The primary factor behind the hike in their popularity is the accelerated development of the online industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has naturally increased students’ attention towards coding programmers and virtual reality or augmented reality professionals.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
