Most children who visit my office get this question somewhere during the consultation: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
It is interesting to see that most kids aged 3 through 7 will have an answer to that question. However lots of teenagers disappoint me with some variant on "I have no idea". Teenagers live for today. Their brain is different. Somehow everything beyond today is hardly worth any attention. This "old" knowledge has recently been confirmed by f-MRI studies.
But don't parents play a role too? I think that the indecision we see in teenagers regarding their future doesn't improve from "modern parenting". No, don't get me wrong, I certainly don't want to go back to those times where parents determined the trade for their children. Parents should go beyond just saying "I leave it to my children to choose what they want to be when they grow up". I certainly believe parents should coach their kids from young age to think about what different choises there are, what each job implies. Learn them to weigh the up and the down sides of jobs. Teenagers who have an idea about what they want to be are more likely going to attend the correct school and will probably perform better.