MOST TEENS OPTIMISTIC THEY’LL HAVE IDEAL JOB ONE DAY ACCORDING TO JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT POLL

Students select "classroom education" as preferred source for learning career skills; "on the job training" a distant second

Colorado Springs, Colo. – More than half of all teens surveyed (54 percent) believe they are "extremely likely" or "very likely" to have their ideal job one day according to a Junior Achievement survey conducted by Harris Interactive, which polled teens nationwide. Such optimism among teens is relatively uniform across gender and age bands but is down significantly from a similar poll in 2000 conducted by Junior Achievement.

Achieving self-awareness of one’s noble purpose and vocational calling is a right of passage that, increasingly, teens look to their schools to help them develop. Where do they expect to learn the skills needed for their future careers? According to the survey, nearly half (47 percent) selected a traditional source—"classroom education." Coming in a distant second was "on the job training" (24 percent).

"Results of this poll demonstrate how critical it is to get work-readiness programs into our schools," said Sean C. Rush, president and chief executive officer of JA Worldwide. "Junior Achievement helps prepare students for success in a global economy and bridges the gap between what they learn in school and what happens in the world of work."

Junior Achievement has three work-readiness programs, which are invited into classrooms by educators and taught by business people and other volunteers from the local community. JA Careers with a Purpose™ helps teens answer the age-old question, "What do I want to be when I grow up?" In addition to providing students with information about specific career paths, program activities teach students the skills associated with understanding the world of work such as enhancing personal awareness of vocational interests, skills, and values; recognizing the importance of ethics in career and life decisions; and exploring careers in high-growth, in-demand industries such as healthcare.

With the help of a $250,000 grant from the HCA Foundation, Junior Achievement is reaching middle grades and high school students in their classrooms. "We’re inspiring students to align their skills and interests with a career calling," said John Steele, Senior VP of Human Resources at HCA. "JA Careers with a Purpose can help our young people be successful in their work and in their lives. This is an investment in the future workforce."

The survey was administered online in December 2007 by Harris Interactive on behalf of Junior Achievement and included responses from 626 teens, ages 13 to 18. The Junior Achievement survey and JA Careers with a Purpose^TM are sponsored by HCA Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation.

The complete poll results can be read here.

Methodology
Harris Interactive conducted this online survey on behalf of JA Worldwide from December 12 to December 19, 2007. The 626 survey respondents, ages 13-18, lived within the United States. Results for 13-17 year olds were weighted as needed for age, sex, race/ethnicity, parental education, urbanicity and region. Results for 18 year olds were weighted as needed for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate. These might including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100-percent response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the U.S. 13-18 year old population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to be invited to participate in the Harris Interactive online research panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

About JA Worldwide® (Junior Achievement)
JA Worldwide is the world's largest organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy. Through a dedicated volunteer network, JA Worldwide provides in-school and after-school programs for students in grades K-12. JA Worldwide offers educational programs that focus on three key content areas: entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial literacy. Today, 140 individual JA operations reach more than four million students in the United States, with an additional 4.3 million students served by operations in 118 other countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.ja.org.

About HCA
HCA is the nation’s leading provider of healthcare services, composed of locally managed facilities that include approximately 169 hospitals and 115 outpatient centers in 20 states and England. At its founding in 1968, Nashville-based HCA was one of the nation’s first hospital companies. For more information, visit www.hcahealthcare.com.

About the John Templeton Foundation
The mission of the John Templeton Foundation is to serve as a philanthropic catalyst for discovery in areas engaging life’s biggest questions. These questions range from explorations into the laws of nature and the universe to questions on the nature of love, gratitude, forgiveness and creativity. Our vision is derived from John Templeton’s commitment to rigorous scientific research and related scholarship. The foundation’s motto, "How little we know, how eager to learn," exemplifies our support for open-minded inquiry and our hope for advancing human progress through breakthrough discoveries. For more information, visit www.templeton.org.

About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a long and rich history in multimodal research that is powered by our science and technology, we assist clients in achieving business results. Harris Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

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