Dads influence on their daughters’ career paths
A February 23 post by the New York Times highlights a University of Maryland study that finds that today’s fathers seem to play a bigger role in their daughters’ career choices compared to men of previous generations
According to the Times, the researchers “used various data sets to study the career paths of 63,000 women born between 1909 and 1977. About 6 percent of women born in the first decade of the study worked in the same field as their fathers. But about 18 percent of women born in the last decade of the study followed their fathers’ footsteps.”
The Times notes that the study wasn’t designed to explore the reasons behind the change. However, it may be that today’s fathers are spending more time with their daughters and passing on more skills and values related to their careers, said Judith K. Hellerstein, associate professor of economics at the University of Maryland. Another factor may be that daughters also are paying more attention to the fathers.
I would be interested to hear if your father influenced your career path and in what way? Responses welcomed from daughters and sons!
My dad has had a huge influence on my career path. Growing up, I loved going on rounds with him at the hospital and visiting with patients. I wanted to be a doctor and chose biology as my major in college because of him. While I didn't quite make it to medical school, my work in health care PR and social marketing is tremendously influenced by what I've seen my father do in medicine throughout my life.