A doctor walks through a hallway at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital on Aug. 21, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — As interest grows in healthcare workers due to the spread of the coronavirus, a growing number of South Korean elementary school students say they want to be doctors when they grow up.
The Ministry of Education and the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training conducted an online survey of 23,223 elementary, middle and high school students.
Among the elementary school students, 8.8 percent said they wanted to be an athlete in the future, which topped the chart for the third straight year. Doctors ranked second at 7.6 percent, up two spots from fourth a year ago.
The ministry said that the rankings of doctors, nurses, bio scientists and researchers inched up as the COVID-19 pandemic increased people’s overall interest in public health and medicine.
Teachers ranked third on the list at 6.5 percent, down one spot from a year ago, followed by creators including YouTubers, so-called ‘broadcast jockeys’ (BJs) and streamers at 6.3 percent, and professional gamers at 4.3 percent.
Middle and high school students showed a preference towards more stable jobs compared to elementary school students.
For middle and high school students, teachers ranked first at 8.9 percent, followed by doctors at 6.2 percent, police at 4.5 percent, soldiers at 3.5 percent and athletes at 3.4 percent.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
