Male and Female High School Students' Expectations for Working in a Health-Related Field. Data Point. NCES 2020-082

This Data Point uses data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), a nationally representative study of more than 23,000 ninth-graders in 2009. Follow-up surveys were administered to the cohort in 2012, 2013, and 2016. This Data Point uses data from the initial survey in 2009 and first follow-up in 2012. Students who were freshmen in high school in 2009 were asked about their occupational expectations at age 30. They were asked the same question again in the spring of 2012, when most would have been in their junior year. Students wrote in an occupation, which was coded into an occupational category. This Data Point examines expectations for a career in a healthcare field. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects greater job growth in the healthcare sector than in all other employment sectors between 2016 and 2026. Healthcare occupations account for 16 of the 30 projected fastest growing occupations from 2016 to 2026.