PARENTS are trying to steer their children away from pursuing lucrative 21st century careers, because they don't understand the opportunities, a study shows.

Seventy-five per cent of mums and dads believe that conventional academic subjects such as maths and English taught at school and beyond, are more valuable than creative and new technology subjects.

The research has revealed that despite the creative industries being one of the fastest growing sectors, with an estimated 2 million jobs available, there is still a sentiment from parents that they wouldn’t be happy if their child chose to pursue a creative career.

Expanding fields such as game development, visual effects, art, music and social media, according to a poll of 1,000 parents of under 18 year olds, commissioned by Escape Studios.

When asked which degrees would be most valuable from a lifelong career perspective – parents identified as their top three choices – computing (13 per cent), medicine (12 per cent) and engineering (11 per cent).

The arts ranked last at 2 per cent. These findings showcase the importance of educating parents in the growth of the creative sector, as the future workforce will help to build the UK's growing creative industries, which as of 2018 contributes £101.5 billion to the economy, say analysts..

Escape Studios says, due to parents' lack of understanding of the career options available within the creative industries, almost half said they would try to influence the degree their teenager chooses to study at university. Dads (49 per cent) are more likely to influence this than mums (39 per cent).

Parents stated that they would be happier if their children opted for career paths such as training to become an engineer (29 per cent), a doctor (37 per cent or a Scientist (23 per cent), while the most disliked future career paths were identified as social media influencer (35 per cent), bloggers (31 per cent) and gamers (27 per cent).

Only 8 per cent of parents wanted their child to pursue being a visual effects artist or animator, even though the creative industries can offer many lucrative job opportunities. Forecasts predict the UK could create up to 1 million new jobs in the sector by 2030[3].

Parents believe that the most important subjects for their children to study in school are maths (67 per cent), English (62 per cent) and computing (54 per cent). Crafts, Music, art and design each received less than 20 per cent.

Director of Escape Studios, Dr Ian Palmer, said: "Skills such as problem-solving, decision making, risk-taking, and communication can all be used in jobs across the creative industries.

"Alongside storytelling and imagination. Children that adopt to technology at an early age learn skills that offer them a better chance of getting a job in the digital sectors.

"We know there is a wealth of opportunity in terms of roles that are also future-proof. It’s predicted that 87per cent of creative jobs are resistant to automation, creating a very resilient creative workforce.”

Despite this, nearly half of parents (47 per cent) think that smartphones shouldn’t be allowed in school, as a tool for learning. However, 71 per cent admit that allowing their children to use technology from an early age, is beneficial for their development.

The top 5 jobs that parents would ideally like their children to pursue, are:

1. Engineer (29 per cent)

2. Doctor (27 per cent)

3. Scientist (23 per cent)

4. Lawyer (18 per cent)

5. Architect (16per cent)

The top 5 jobs that parents ideally don’t want their children to pursue, are:

1. Social media influencer (35 per cent)

2. Blogger (31 per cent)

3. Gamer (27 per cent)

4. Stockbroker (15 per cent)

5. Banker (13 per cent)