Career Choices or Coin Tosses?

India is home to the world’s biggest youth population but 90% of our students are still choosing careers with the accuracy of a coin toss. The Bharat Career Aspirations Report 2025 (BCAR 2025) exposes a truth we have ignored for too long: only 1 in 10 students receives any real, professional career guidance. Let that sink in.

A child who loves design is told to “take science.” A curious mind is forced into medicine because it is a “family tradition.” A student chooses commerce simply because “friends did.” None of this is clarity. It is chaos disguised as choices.

BCAR 2025 studied over 21,000 students across India and the verdict is blunt: our young people are navigating the most defining decision of their lives without guidance, mentors or any direction.

And the cost? Wasted talent. Unhappy careers. A workforce running on misalignment instead of motivation. It is high time schools, parents and policymakers recognise that career guidance is not optional. It is essential. A well crafted career roadmap is not a privilege. It is the minimum our students deserve.

India doesn’t lack potential. It lacks guided pathways. Career counselling is not a luxury. It’s the difference between a generation that merely survives and the one that actually thrives.

The wake-up call is here. The question is: will we listen?

Source: Bharat Career Aspirations Report 2025 (BCAR 2025), UNICEF YuWaah & iDreamCareer.