Young people’s aspirations undermined by lack of confidence

A desire to earn money in the future was the main driver for both girls and boys

HOPES AND DREAMS: Young people in the United Kingdom

NEW RESEARCH by the National Literacy Trust and Lancôme reveals that 2 in 5 young people (43%) and adults (38.7%) in the UK either don’t believe or are unsure they will achieve their aspirations.

The report, Aspirations, literacy and gender, is based on surveys of 4,317 young people (aged 11-17) and adults across the UK and focus groups.

A desire to earn money in the future was the main driver for both girls’ and boys’ aspirations.

However, gender differences emerged that saw girls more likely to be motivated by wanting to help people (58.3% vs 40.5%) and do something good for the world (50.3% vs 39.6%), while boys were twice as likely to want to be famous (26.7% vs 13.6%).

While young people have high academic, professional and personal hopes for their futures – including getting good grades, getting a job, having a family, travelling the world and being happy – the research found that a lack of confidence in their own abilities and perceptions of gender inequality are holding them back. This is especially true for girls.

Both young people and adults believe confidence is vital to achieving their hopes and dreams.A lack of confidence was identified as one of the greatest barriers to realising their aspirations, particularly for girls and women (55.5% and 46.6%) compared to boys and men (41.7% and 35.4%).

Perceptions of gender inequality in the workplace also proved a particular challenge for girls and women.

COMPARISON

More than 1 in 3 girls (34.7%) and women (39.8%) don’t think women are treated equally in the workplace. In comparison, 1 in 5 boys (20.3%) and men (24.5%) thought this to be the case.

Girls were also twice as likely to see their gender as a barrier to achieving their aspirations than boys (12.4% vs 6.4%), and were more likely to be held back by other people’s negative attitudes (46% vs 36%). They also felt more keenly that they lacked opportunities to gain experiences they need (31.7% vs 27.3%) than boys.

The report revealed that good literacy skills could be the key to helping young people and adults overcome these barriers and achieve their goals.

While both young people (90.8%) and adults (78.5%) recognise the importance of good literacy skills for achieving their aspirations, this belief strengthens with life experience.

Adults were more likely than young people to agree that good literacy skills give you the confidence to pursue your aspirations (83.2% vs 65.9%), help you achieve your dream career (76.7% vs 40.5%) and help you reach your personal goals (69.4% vs 39.1%).

“To help young women achieve their aspirations, we must equip them with the literacy skills and confidence they need to express themselves”

Billie Dunne, senior programme manager at the National Literacy Trust

Young people also said getting good grades at school (74.8%), having confidence in their own ability (73.4%) and having a positive mindset (72%) were important for achieving their aspirations.

The research was inspired by the National Literacy Trust and Lancôme’s Words for Work: Women in Leadership employability programme.

In its first year, the programme directly improved the literacy skills, confidence and leadership abilities of nearly 1,000 young women aged 16-18 across the UK through teacher-led workshops, a day exploring the workplace and finding out about different roles at Lancôme, and panel events with inspiring women in leadership positions. 

Today, Lancôme has pledged to extend the Words for Work: Women in Leadership programme for an additional two years, inspiring 5,000 young women in the UK to get the job they want.

ABILITIES

Billie Dunne, senior programme manager at the National Literacy Trust, said: “Young women have ambitious hopes and dreams for the future, but a lack of confidence in their own abilities and perceived gender inequalities in the workplace are putting these out of reach for far too many.

“To help young women achieve their aspirations, we must equip them with the literacy skills and confidence they need to express themselves, communicate their ideas, listen to others and make their mark on the world.

“That is why we are so thrilled to be working with Lancôme to give 5,000 young women the literacy skills, confidence, leadership abilities and opportunities they need to turn their dreams into reality.”

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