"Boy's future dream" was to become "scholar and doctor"- come first for the first time in 15 years

Recently the NHK News On-line reported the following:

“男の子の将来の夢” 1位は15年ぶりに「学者・博士」

1月5日 5時07分

「大人になったらなりたいもの」のアンケート調査で、男の子は「学者・博士」が「野球選手」や「サッカー選手」を抑えて１５年ぶりに１位になりました。調査を行った生命保険会社は、日本人が３年連続でノーベル賞を受賞したことなどが影響しているのではないかと見ています。

このアンケート調査は、大手生命保険会社の第一生命が全国の保育園・幼稚園児と小学生を対象に毎年行っているもので、ことしは７月から９月にかけて寄せられた回答のうち１１００人分を分析しました。

その結果、男の子は１位が「学者・博士」で８．８％、２位が「野球選手」で７．２％、３位が「サッカー選手」で６．７％となりました。

「学者・博士」が男の子の１位となったのは１５年ぶりで、第一生命は日本人が平成２６年から３年連続でノーベル賞を受賞したことなどが影響しているのではないかと見ています。

また、「野球選手」が「サッカー選手」を上回ったのも８年ぶりで、早稲田実業の清宮幸太郎選手の活躍など、野球の話題が多かったことが背景にあると分析しています。

一方、女の子は１位が「食べ物屋さん」で１１．３％、２位が「看護師さん」で９．５％、３位が「保育園・幼稚園の先生」で６．９％でした。

「食べ物屋さん」は去年より４ポイントほど低くなったものの、２１年連続で１位となりました。

今回の調査結果について、第一生命は「昔から変わらず続く夢がある一方で、その時の世相が子どもたちの夢にも大きく影響を与えるとも感じました」としています。

My translation

In a questionnaire survey on boys which asked "what do you want to became when you are an adult",  for the first time in 15 years "scholar and doctor" had surpassed  "baseball player" and "soccer player" to reach the first place. A life insurance company which performed the investigation thought that Japanese had won the Nobel Prize continuously for 3 years could have an influence on the outcome.

Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance, a major life insurance company was doing this questionnaire survey every year targeting students in the whole country in the nursery schools,  kindergartens and primary schools. For this year, from July to September the response from 1100 people were received and analyzed.

In the result for the boys, "scholar and doctor" was in the first place at 8.8%, "baseball player" was in the second at 7.2% while  "soccer player" was in the third place at 6.7%.

"Scholar and doctor" for the first time in 15 years stood at the first place;  Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance believed that Japanese had won Nobel prize continuously for 3 years since 2014 could have an influence.

Also, regarding that "Baseball player" had surpassed "soccer player" for the first time in 8 years, the activities of Seimiya Kotaro, a player of the Waseda Business and the large amount of discussion topics about baseball stood in a background was also being analyzed.

On the other hand for the girls, in the first place was "food shop people" at 11.3%,  in the second place was "nurse" at 9.5%, and "a teacher of the nursery school or kindergarten" in the 3^rd place at 6.9%.

Although "food shop people" was 4 points short from last year, still it was in the first place for 21 years continuously.

About this survey result, Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance believed that "on the one hand, there are dreams which don’t change from the past, yet it can be felt that the society at that time can have huge impact on the dreams of children.”

     It is an interesting survey. It shows how social events could influence the thinking of a child.