Our elder daughter is 16, just done GCSEs and in the middle therefore of A Level choices. Her peer group seems completely obsessed with the consequences for getting a job of their choices and unwilling to countenence anything that is not directly vocational.
I have done my best to persuade her to choose the subjects she enjoys most and is best at, on the basis that if she's bright enough and gets good enough grades/degree then she'll find a job regardless of subjects (and, of course, that education has value for purposes other than improving one's income-earning potential). A happy young person with good grades in English and History is a better prospect than a miserable young person with mediocre grades in Maths and Physics.....
swansonj, I'd endorse your view of life, but choices at A level do have a bearing on what your daughter will be channeled into later. My school's curriculum timetable wouldn't allow me to do both history and geography so I had to drop one! Similarly it wouldn't allow me to do Art and Maths, but I wasn't prepared to budge on that so agreed to do Art in my 'spare' classes... made it hard work but that's what I wanted and the school backed off.
So, look at what she's good at and likes doing in her own time outside school... if possible get her to do some free aptitude tests which you can do on-line. My son did some of those with friends for the fun of it and the personality traits that emerge can give some often revealing and reasonable correlations about what your daughter is good at, what she enjoys and where her 'heart' draws her towards. Being rational, what she is good at at GCSE isn't necessarily the same at A level anyway. A range of subjects with arts and science may be good, but, if you can, try to steer her away from psychology... [I'm somewhat biased!] Your daughter will probably do 4 subjects for the first 6th form year to take her AS exams and then choose the best 3 and drop one to concentrate for the last year up to the A-level exams.... it's all high pressure but it builds slowly so she'll take it one project at a time... but make sure she understands the first one is as important as the last so she can get stuck in from the start.
I loved maths at O-level, but discovered I detested the teacher at A-level and never got to grips with it afterwards, in fact it was so limiting I grew to dislike 6th form, I did Maths, Geography, English Literature [in lieu of History which I regret even now], and Art [we had to do General Studies but we got no preparation -it was a 'have a go, and see how you get on' exam!] but by then had a week-end job and bought a motorbike so school wasn't as important after that.
I'd always wanted to be an architect from about 8, so career's lessons were a joke as the teacher didn't have a clue. In fact the Head of the 6th Form tried to suggest I should go to Polytechnic and aim lower... but she lacked imagination and confidence..
Nothing is worse than being locked into a programme of subjects that steers you towards a 'career' you know nothing about and may find she hates, so get her to spend the summer talking to as many people she meets about what it is they like or dislike about their job and how it fitted their expectations so that she can form her own opinions about what she would like.... then that needs to fit in with what she's good at... if she's not good at subjects at GCSE it will only get harder, so best choose wisely! Get her to talk to all her friends' parents, your friends and peers and find out about what real jobs are about and she'll discover how many people hate what they do having decided on a career path to please their parents.
I like your approach, it's her life: the hard part, for you, is letting her live it.
I was told, "you are good at what you like and you like what you are good at..." It all comes down to enthusiasm... that carries the day for everything and makes her shine above the rest. The spark that makes her happy. Reassure her that you'll love her no matter what she does... that security will let her try things with self belief and confidence.
