Gender stereotyping exists in apprenticeship careers provision, report shows

A new report released by charity Education and Employers shows that negative perceptions around apprenticeships among students, teachers and parents are affecting take-up.

The ‘Teenage Apprenticeships: Converting awareness to recruitment’ report states that more needs to be done to ensure equal guidance for both academic and vocational pathways and challenge views about the suitability of different apprenticeships across genders.

The report demonstrates the need for teachers to be given further advice and information on apprenticeships and for students to have the opportunity to meet employers (including former or current apprentices) in school, to mitigate the lack of reliable information available.

It also shows that employers believe parents are one of the biggest barriers to stopping school leavers starting an apprenticeship.

In addition, it highlights that pupils see apprenticeships to offer ‘low pay’ and less flexibility than attending university.

Other findings reveal that young people who have a positive perception of apprenticeships have received a greater number of employer engagement activities in school and that young people see the career education they receive as mostly biased to academic education.

Dr Elnaz Kashefpakdel, head of research, Education and Employers, said: “Our findings highlight the pressing need for closer ties between employers and state schools to ensure that all young people – regardless of gender and backgrounds – have information about all the possible career routes available to them.

“To achieve this, we are calling on more people who have taken an apprenticeship route to go into schools and colleges to talk to young people informally about the job they do by signing up to volunteer with schools.”