Many Australians Regret Their Education and Career Choices

Almost half of Australia’s workers say that if given the chance, they would have studied something totally different after leaving school, while one in seven say they chose the wrong career.

The survey found that many Australian workers have deep seated concerns about the quality of their education - both at school and post school - and many have regrets about the career choices they made.

Amongst the key findings of the survey:

• 71% of people wish that they had studied further
• 48% of people wish that they had studied something totally different.
• 16% say that they chose the wrong career, while 25% say they are ‘not sure’.
• 39% say that their school education did not prepare them well for working life.
• 20% say that their post-school education did not prepare them well for working life.

Australia ranked in the middle of the 33 countries surveyed with 50% happy with the way the country’s education system prepared them for working life, slightly higher than the global average of 49%.

People across the globe were much more satisfied with their post-school education, with a global average of 65% saying it prepared them well for working life.  Australia was in line with the global average.

Almost three quarters of Australians (71%) say they wish they had studied further while the same number say they wish they had studied harder.

Women were much less satisfied with the quality of the school and post-school education than men.

An overwhelming 71% of people agreed with the proposition that ‘post-school/professional education should be more practical and less theoretical”.

In Australia, 59% of respondents were happy with their career choice, while 16% said they had made the wrong choice and 25% were ‘not sure’. More women than men expressed the view that they had chosen the wrong career.

It is only natural that people reflect in a positive way on what they have done and the extent to which they have achieved their professional goals.  It is to be expected that many wish they had worked harder while at school, college or university. There are also many who have had second thoughts about the career choices they made.

Regrettably, someone who discovers that they are in the wrong career is probably not as productive as they could be and may be missing out on a more fulfilling professional life.

It’s also important that people don’t over react or set up false expectations in evaluating their study and career choices.

It is now the norm for most employees to have several career changes in the course of a working life, so it’s possible for someone who is dissatisfied with their career to do something positive about it.

Both men and women cited ‘financial’ considerations as the major obstacle to changing career, followed by ‘time’ and ‘family’.