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According to a study, first-born are more likely to become engineer or doctorAccording to a study, first-born are more likely to become engineer or doctor

1623 Nov 16, 2017

According to a recent study, children who are born first in the family are more likely to choose engineering or medicine as a career choice and as a consequence earn more than their siblings who choose streams like academics and humanities as a career choice.

The findings, led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Munich, Germany, showed that the second born children are less likely (27 percent) to apply for the engineering and medical course as their career choice.

The probability of choosing engineering or medicine as a career choice even further decreased with the third born choice. Third born are 36 percent less likely to apply for engineering or medical course.

The difference in the choice of university program is not only due to first born having better grades in the school but also due to the fact that parents invest more on the first born in early years which plays a crucial role in shaping the ability, preferences and ambitions of the siblings though they live in the same shared environment.

"Our results suggest that parents invest more in earlier-born children than in later-born and that this shapes sibling differences in ability and ambitions even within the family," said Kieron Barclay, demographer at Max Planck Institute.

"First-borns benefit exclusively from parents' attention as long as they are the only child at home. This gives them a head start," said Mikko Myrskyla, Director at the Institute, in the paper published in the journal Social Forces.

Tags: Eduction Engineering As A Profession Medical As A Profession Education Of Children