After reading the NYTimes.com article, “More Dads Influence Daughters’ Career Paths”, I got to thinking about this very topic. In Open, we see how severly Andre Agassi’s career path is influenced by his father, and most research resigns itself to the notion that fathers, in general, pass along job skills and interests to their sons…but what about daughters?
The article sites a research study conducted by the University of Maryland, in which they looked at women’s tendencies to follow in their father’s career footsteps. In a nutshell, the research shows that as time goes on, more and more women’s career paths are being influenced by Dad. The study examined the career paths of 63,000 women born between 1909-1977 and found that only about 6% of women born in the early 1900s worked in the same fields as their fathers, versus 18% born in the 1970s.
Hmmm…my dad went to Lehigh University; I went to Lehigh University. My dad built his career in the pharmaceutical industry and that’s were I started mine. Coincidence? Apparently not.
Anyone else out there (guys and gals) who followed in their father career footsteps?
I too followed a similar career path to my dad…..so I am guessing there was similar influence. As a teenager, I was unsure which direction to take in life and, with a little direction from my dad, I became an engineer just like him.
Unfortunately, I realized as soon as I hit the working world that I had made a big mistake. One year later I had quit my job to become a real estate entrepreneur. Although it has been difficult over the past few years in real estate, I am still working hard and getting closer and closer to realizing all of my goals.
I think that it is extremely difficult to know exactly what you want to do with your life at an early age and it takes trial and error along the way to figure it out. Based on this information, I believe that we look to the people that we are most alike and admire (typically our moms and/or dads) for direction which thereby influences our career choices.
Dave,
It’s fascinating (and scary) to think of the psychology behind the choices we make. I’m so proud of you for having the courage to leave a career that didn’t fulfill and pursue your dreams. There are going to be great times and not-so-great times no matter what career path you choose, so at the end of the day you might as well be following the one that means the most to you.
Erika