“You can be anything you want to be.”
It sounds empowering, doesn’t it?
But a major new OECD report suggests it may do more harm than good.
📊 This year, the OECD published The State of Global Teenage Career Preparation — the largest study of its kind, with data from 700,000 students across 81 countries.
They found that:
▶️ Many teens have ambitious job goals — doctor, lawyer, architect
▶️ But 1 in 5 expects to get a high-status job like that without going to university
▶️ These students are career misaligned, and they face worse job outcomes later on
Part of the problem is that these kids were told they could “be anything” — but not shown how.
That phrase skips over:
❌ What jobs actually involve
❌ What it takes to get there
❌ Whether it fits their interests and skills
Here’s what we can say instead:
✅ “Let’s explore what you’re good at and what you enjoy”
✅ “There are lots of great paths. We’ll find one that fits you”
✅ “You don’t need to choose now. You just need to stay curious”
And most importantly:
Celebrate all ambitions, not just the famous gold-plated professional ones.
You can have a fantastic career as a baker, a builder, a caregiver. And of course, the myriad of professions which don’t exist yet.
The OECD report makes it clear that children start narrowing their career ambitions from as early as age six (!!) and also that parents play a huge role in helping kids keep mentally open to possibilities and also grounded in the reality of what it takes to build their dream life.
You don’t have to start having these formal conversations at age six, of course. You can layer them on as your children grow.
I’ve put some specific tips in the carousel below.
