Athletes ranked top career among children, teachers least popular: Survey

Taipei, April 4 (CNA) A survey released on Saturday found that athletes remain the most desired profession among elementary school students in 2026, followed by e-sports players and social media influencers, while teachers were among the top 10 least popular careers.

Mandarin Daily News (MDN), an educational newspaper that conducted the survey, said the top 10 favorite professions, in order, are professional athletes, e-sports players, online influencers, doctors, bakers and pastry chefs, software programmers, painters, singers, computer engineers, and stylists.

The 10 least popular careers, in order, are fishermen, farmers, doctors, construction workers, animal and aquaculture workers, babysitters, architects, homemakers, teachers and clergy members, and drivers.

Meanwhile, the survey found that career preferences among junior high school students are similar to those of elementary school students, with a few exceptions.

Doctors were one of them, appearing among both the most liked and least liked professions in the two groups.

MDN said this may be because while the job offers high pay and social status, concerns over medical disputes and long working hours may deter students.

Teachers were also among the least popular professions in both groups, which MDN attributed to teaching requiring long hours and patience, with rewards that are not immediate.

The newspaper added that teachers also must handle a variety of complex issues raised by both parents and students.

Generally speaking, MDN said children tend to like jobs they find interesting, fun, or well-paid, and avoid ones they see as hard, risky, or boring. This may be because this generation is growing up in environments saturated with computers and electronic devices, providing them with diverse access to information, the MDN said.

The survey was conducted online from March 5-25, with 1,582 valid respondents, including 1,286 elementary school students and 296 junior high school students.

The results were released in a news release on MDN's official website, which also presented rankings of children's favorite and least liked professions but without providing exact percentages.