Dream Big Day inspires over a million students nationwide to explore future careers and break gender stereotypes

Reaching over 5,600 schools and one million students, ‘Dream Big Day’ was celebrated by teachers and students across the country, as it inspired young students to explore their future careers.

Offering students a unique insight into a diverse array of professions, Dream Big Day, which took place on Friday 28 June 2024, invited parents, teachers, volunteers and industry professionals to celebrate and encourage the aspirations of young learners, as it worked to empower young children to break free from gender stereotypes, explore a wide range of career paths and believe in their potential to achieve their dreams.

With participation from over 5,600 schools, the event featured a whole range of resources designed to help students discover different professions and future careers. This included activities from some of the UK’s top organisations such as Barclays LifeSkills, Network Rail, MEI, Pearson and more.

Speaking on the event, James Hughes, headteacher at E-ACT Blackley Academy and Dream Big Day Primary School of the Year Award Winner, said: “Our Dream Big Day is something that our children will remember for the rest of their lives.

“Our children had the unique opportunity to experience a day of STEM careers focused around a Mission To Mars. The day was introduced by Professor Brian Cox who suggested to the children that the first person to walk on Mars could be sitting in our assembly hall.

“From here, the children heard a presentation from a graduate of the European Space Agency, programmed Mars Rovers, experimented on Martian soil, built Robots and visited an immersive planetarium.

“Dream Big Day enabled our children to experience real life science and engineering workshops that will inspire their future aspirations and dreams. We can’t wait for the next one!”

The event was brought to life by leading career building platform Careermap, following research that only 54 per cent of primary school learners believe the statement ‘I can be whatever I want to be,’ and a further 1 in 10 students feel they have limited career options when contemplating their futures.

Further research also found that gender stereotyping in children’s aspirations starts as early as age seven, with over four times as many boys as girls aspiring to be engineers – a typically ‘male’ profession.

 A stereotypically ‘female’ job was found to have connotations of caregiving, and girls were found to be four times more likely to want to become vets than boys, whilst two and a half times more likely to wish to become doctors.

How to still get involved

For any schools or teachers who may have missed the annual event, resources can still be accessed via Dream Big Day Resources. Designed to help students discover various professions and gain valuable insights into the world of work, schools involved will be able to help their pupils:

• Explore their interests and passions
• Break down gender stereotypes in careers
• Promote diversity and inclusion in future workforces
• Build confidence and inspire big dreams.

Speaking on the success of the event, Colin Bell, CEO of Careermap Media Group, commented: “We are absolutely thrilled to hear about the incredible experiences children had during our Dream Big Day, and it’s wonderful to know that the day left a lasting impact.

“Our goal has always been to inspire the next generation, break stereotyping of careers and show pupils that the possibilities are limitless and that one of them could indeed be the first to walk on Mars.

“We are grateful for the support and enthusiasm from all the primary schools across the UK, and we look forward to continuing to create memorable and impactful experiences in future Dream Big Day events.”