Too many Year 12 boys are on the road to disappointment—
how it happens and what to do    067

This road is pleasant going, and those who travel it have no idea of their final destination, and neither do their parents. But parents do want their sons to be successful in further education, successful in their chosen occupational career, and successful in life which for many people means a happy marriage, family and comfortable lifestyle. The Year 12 road to disappointment puts these worthwhile goals considerably at risk, with boys far too often ending up with only limited choices and having to face the consequences.

Now boys, when compared with girls, are sometimes less socially skilled, and partly as a result may have less work experience and less interaction with adults. This can reduce information available about career and subject choice. It is well documented now, and has been for a number of years, that overall girls are doing better at school and better at university, with far higher completion rates. See the article on this website: “Girls outperforming boys…” for a detailed consideration of the factors involved. This trend really gains momentum during Year 11 and of course right on through Year 12. Boys do need special support and encouragement but so often it seems everything conspires against them.

I believe it is most advantageous for children in Year 10 and for part of Year 11 to be engaged in paid employment. Working at Officeworks for example is quite suitable as employees are rotated through various positions. Working at McDonald’s also has advantages provided that your son spends some of the time working at the front counter, the place where more often than not it’s the females doing the hard work of engaging the customer.

Consider that many recruiters are now using video interviewing to cull numbers. Recently KPMG, one of the big four accounting firms, received 10,000 applications for perhaps 375 or so new graduate positions. 8500 were rejected immediately with the remaining 1500 being invited to send in a video interview of themselves, conducted over the Internet using web cams. Now whom do you think has the advantage here—boys who have little work experience and are mainly found in the back areas of McDonald’s making hamburgers; or girls with a great deal of employment experience, including front counter work at McDonald’s where they have to constantly interact with members of the public? It is important to note that out of those 1500 some 700 were rejected from any further consideration, and these were students whose resumes and results indicated they were suitable for employment. However these students did not present in a personable and engaged way. On this occasion they were not able to turn their university work into occupational opportunity.

Information about career and occupational choice should be accessed by both boys and girls during Year 11 and particularly in Year 12. Universities run information days and additionally there are career expos. These opportunities are more likely to be attended by girls, in groups or by themselves. Boys, when they do attend, are invariably dragged there by their mothers. The result is less information, less engagement with the real world, and more support for the concept that as Year 12 continues forever there is no need at all to research information and make choices. See article on this website: “University open days are not parties”.

The result, for some boys, is that they drift into a general business degree for example, because they cannot think of anything else. Perhaps later they decide they should have chosen an economics or commerce degree because of the potential for additional career opportunities. If an education in the trades is chosen then boys must be very diligent in seeking out available apprenticeships as these can be difficult to obtain. If this is not done then time will be wasted with alternative pathways.

You can see that the road to disappointment can be better understood by looking back. Of course it is highly advantageous to understand what is happening now and so take positive steps immediately to help your son to be better engaged with his future. This means attending information and career days, researching career information, and working hard at school to achieve the best results he can. On this website there are many articles showing parents how they can support their children in better engagement and higher achievement. Doing nothing much during Years 11 and 12 will inevitably result in lower achievement producing fewer options. Nothing is more certain than this so you need to take action now, while there still time to change outcomes.

All content copyright—Mark Thackray—Australian Educational Services