The Evolution of Young Women's Career Priorities: An Educational Perspective

Abstract

Modern society presents young women with many challenges that require them not only to have high professional competencies, but also adaptive and entrepreneurial skills. The transition from school to higher education is one of the key moments in young women's lives. It involves a revision of previous plans and aspirations. It is a time when reflection on one's career aspirations and how to achieve them takes place. The study is part of a strand of research on factors supporting and inhibiting women's careers. Its main objective is to verify to what extent young women's attitudes towards careers change in two successive stages of their education (secondary school and university). Particular attention was paid to the changes that occur in respondents' expectations of the level to which work satisfies their basic needs (such as, inter alia, job stability, good pay, good interpersonal relations or opportunities for development). Furthermore, the study examined how the self-assessment of the surveyed women evolves in areas such as life activity, motivation, openness to change and willingness to take risks. Surveys conducted among female secondary school and university students revealed significant differences in the perception of one's own capabilities and career preferences between the groups studied. At the same time, they demonstrate that young women’s life priorities change with age. The results indicate that young women, as they enter adulthood and enter university, begin to focus more on their need for professional stability at the expense of their previously perceived needs for independence and challenge-seeking. As they gain academic experience, their professional expectations change, which can have far-reaching consequences for their entrepreneurship and future careers. The findings generate further areas of research that would aim to verify the factors influencing the change in attitudes. The results of the research may serve the developers of the core curriculum in secondary schools, study programmes, as well as employers interested in attracting young women into the workforce