KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 — Ninety-two per cent of Malaysians have specific careers in mind for their children, with a clear bias towards medicine, according a global study released recently.

In the ‘Learning for Life’ report commissioned by HSBC, parents also expressed a preference for professional, science-based careers that combine high income and job security.

Medicine emerged the top choice for 25 per cent of Malaysian parents, followed by engineering at 18 per cent, and finance (9 per cent).

Earning potential was the second-most cited reason for parents’ preference for their children to enter specific occupations (46 per cent), behind benefit to society (49 per cent).

The report also showed that 52 per cent of Malaysian parents said “being happy in life” is one of the three most important goals they want their children to achieve as adults.

“An increasingly competitive job market and better access to higher education has made it more difficult for graduates worldwide to stand out from their peers,” said Lim Eng Seong, HSBC Malaysia Retail Banking and Wealth Management head.

“Parents acknowledge that children not only need to get to the highest educational level possible, they also see social skills as a key factor to success, and expect universities to equip their children with these,” he added.

The same survey also reported that 88 per cent of Malaysian parents preferred international tertiary education for their children.

The study involving 5,500 parents in 16 countries was conducted online between March and April 2015 by market research company Ipsos MORI.