Helping young teen with career path

[melodys]

Engineering or Computer Science is a good option. It is intellectually challenging, generally stable, and pays very well with a bachelors degree.

It does tend to be male dominated, but after almost 20 years in the computer biz I have had almost no problems with discrimination.

[miss_cas]

My #1 piece of advice is to put academics first in high school. Her GPA counts from freshman year on until graduation as a senior. This GPA will get her perks in college including a free ride sometimes.

Sports are another option. However, the future is limited for a 14 year old female athlete and she will have to fall back on her college training in order to earn a living, unless she ends up coaching her sport.

Please don't consider this sexist, you would have mentioned your 14-year-old gold or silver medalist if your daughter had already made a name for herself in professional sports. Girls entering sports at a later age are usually not able to make a living at this except for coaching plus selling sponsorships. The WNBA is an anomalie.

As far as entering a 'trade', it has perks to be a female in a male dominated field. You will find more educational funding and more jobs available due to the govt required workplace diversity.

Good luck! Being popular in school won't pay the bills later, ruins academic performance and usually just has you socializing with the slackers and losers.

[peanut]

I think it would be very worthwhile checking out the Myers-Briggs personality test to get an idea of what types of jobs would be suited to her. The Myers - Briggs and Holland Categories tests are the best ones for determining career paths, imho. And I've studied this a lot.

I have also used a book "Discover Who You Are' by Kise, Stark and Hirsh to help me. But it's more aimed at Christians discovering purpose in life.

Fwiw, we have a lot of unemployed teachers here too.