A government minister said
Toys hurt girls career opportunities.
But to what extent are the toys children play with shaping their future prospects in the job market?
Everyone has memories of toys they enjoyed playing when they were young.
It may be a building block, a train, a doll house or a tea set.
This does not necessarily mean that those who play with them are construction workers, train drivers, housekeepers or tea women.
However, Education Minister Elizabeth Teras recently warned that children's toys could affect their careers.
She said gender
Specific toys may cause girls to give up science and math and urge parents to buy Lego toys for their daughters to get them interested in engineering.
In the past few decades, women have made great progress in the British labor force, but there are still huge gender differences in some occupations.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, more than 80% of "science, research, engineering and technical professionals" are men.
In contrast, 82% of workers engaged in "care, leisure and other services" and 78% of women engaged in administrative and secretarial work.
Toy marketing uses gender stereotypes to direct dolls, cookware and pink princesses to girls to show boys action men's wear, building kits and blue racing cars, critics say.
Feminists and sports groups that make Toys have been lobbying British retailers to "organize toys by type rather than by gender", saying that gender-discriminatory stereotypes limit children's interest.
As a result, some retail giants, such as Marks and Spencer, and Hamleys, the London toy store, have canceled the labels for "Girls" and "boys.
But not everyone colluded.
A study suggests that children may be inclined to certain game preferences.
So, will the toys children play with affect their career choices?
Becky Francis, a professor of education at the University of Rockhampton, thinks so.
"Different types of toys give boys and girls different information and have different educational content --
Both of these factors are important and may have an impact on future school education and career choices . "
A small study she conducted found that boys tended to acquire toys involving action, construction and machinery, while girls were directed to the interests of dolls and hair salons, etc, which were considered "female.
The message seems to be that boys should do things and solve problems, and girls should care and nurture, she said.
In addition, she believes that stereotypical "boy toys" tend to be more educational.
"Boys toys tend to contain teaching information, have technical guidance, and assemble things with Lego and Meccano, while girls toys tend to revolve around imaginative and creative games that cultivate a difference she says.
Research by retail group Argos found that more than 60% adults engaged in design
Led jobs such as architects and designers like to play with building blocks when they were young. Even more -66% -
Doing math-related work, such as accountants and bankers, prefers puzzles.
A person who seems to fit the stereotype is the former
The father of three, Neil Sinclair.
He said his favorite toy is the action man. "My brother -
He joined the Army.
I played with them for hours.
"We will set it up in the garden and use camouflage and tactics to decide who will win according to tactics," he said . ". But the 43-year-
The old man said that he did not remember anything but being a soldier, and had looked at the job since he was four.
"That's it before mom and dad made me an action man, so it's chicken and eggs.
At the end of the day, the action man is a doll anyway --
"This is just one person who may have been cut off the crew and scars, another blonde," he mused . ".
However, Sinclair is not a typical commando.
When he left the Army, he was trained as a teacher and then decided to transfer to become a full-time teacher
Time nurse.
He said that it is very beneficial to play an important role in children's learning and development, and the key to toys is to give children choices.
"I will bring a storage box full of toys --
Building tools, musical instruments, everything-
Let them decide what to play.
"Every child is different and different on different days," he said . ".
This is the philosophy shared by space scientist Maggie Aldrin. Pocock.
Her father doesn't separate the toys, she says, and she likes Lego toys and trains.
"Some children tend to do this --
"It's not divided into boys and girls," she said . ".
But scientists do not get such freedom in school.
When she told the teacher that she wanted to be an astronaut, she was advised to try nursing.
Although it upset her, the "more fun toy" was labeled as a boy, not even
Gender-specific products like cooking utensils tend to advertise boys in chef's hats and girls in aprons, a mother who thinks the problem is more than just toys.
"This is a social point of view, everywhere.
It's important to have an example.
We need to see female scientists on TV and in the East . "
Child and family psychologist Margaret mcalist believes that toys have a more important impact on children's career choices than toys.
"It's a rather superficial way of saying it's too easy to encourage girls to play with cars and trucks and they're more likely to be engineers --
There is no real evidence of this.
"It's too limiting and guiding the child's experience --
"Job prospects are a long way from early work," she said . ".
McAlester believes that encouraging children to explore, question, interact with others, and work together will have a greater impact.
"People with good soft skills perform best in all respects.
In addition, children have access to toys in other settings, such as nurseries, in addition to the home, so you can't really monitor what your child is playing. "She said.
The key is to ensure that children have access to a "healthy game diet," said game and child development psychologist Dr. Amanda guomo ".
"The role of the game is to introduce a variety of experiences as widely as possible.
The problem is that parents usually choose simple choices due to time constraints, but they should look for things that toys may develop, such as fine motor skills, which can help hand-written control.
There is also an element that breaks the stigma --
Many parents don't let a boy have a doll.
"The store also needs to stick its head on the railing and make a stand and they don't need to remove all the pink or blue as long as there are more options in the middle," she said.
When it comes to career, Gummer believes toys can play a role in enhancing faith.
"No one plays with Lego and no one learns how to build a house, but they may learn how to overlap bricks to create a stable structure.
"It's more about confidence and familiarity than the actual skills," she said . ".
This view has been echoed by research from Washington and Lee University in the United States, which shows that wearing a finalized Girl Toy --
Like Barbie.
In a typical uniform in the male field --
Like firefighters or astronauts.
Will affect whether girls think they have the ability to work in these industries.
Sinclair believes that the most important thing for parents is to remain open. minded.
"There was a boy, I used to be a child care worker, who liked to dress up as a ballerina.
He is good at sports and he has good football skills.
He also likes Lego.
He may be a PE teacher, a ballet dancer, or an engineer. who knows? " he says.