Why do so many young girls want to be CSI?

Question

Okay...we all know it's because it looks so cool on those science-fiction programs masquerading as police shows. Do they have any idea what the work actually involves? Just how tedious and dull some of the tasks can be? Or how disgusting it can be to see dead bodies and the stuff that comes out of them? Not to mention the low job demand - we only have two guys who do that for us in our agency - and it's a pretty good size Sheriff's Office. I tell a lot of these kids to apply to the jail or patrol and work their way up, but they seem to think they can circumvent that and go straight to CSI (they can't). I mean, don't listen to me, I've only been doing this for a decade. Do young people ever have ideas about their futures which DON'T involve the media telling them what to think?

Why single out young girls? Because everywhere I go it has been my experience that young girls (teens through twenties) tell me they want to be either CSI or FBI agents. If I suggest they do something real - to take a step towards those goals - they recoil..."No, I don't want to be a cop...I just think it would be COOL to (have a glamour job in law enforcement) be a CSI Investigator/FBI Agent, etc."

I never hear guys say that. They pretty much have been raised to expect that they will have to work real jobs.

A few years back all the young ladies wanted to be profilers - because of Jodie Foster and the love affair Hollywood had with that discipline...now it's CSI. If they make a show about a sexy and sassy Arson Investigator, then that will be their next fantasy job.

When I was a kid it was flight attendants...imagine that job being precieved as galmorous!

I meant glamorous...or is it glamourous...I can't live without a spell checker...

Answer 1

I think the young'ins watch the show because the job is glorified to be cool and interesting (as you mentioned). It is amazing how much CSI has affected job demand for that career track (Penn State now offers a course sequence pretty much inspired by CSI). In reality, the technology that they use on all the CSI shows is way out of the reach of pretty much all city crime fighting departments (eg: next-day DNA testing). Some of that stuff I would be surprised if the FBI has available. So you a right to label the show science-fiction.

And have you heard of the "CSI Effect"? There was a story on (I think) Dateline that showed some examples of juries acquitting suspects because the prosecutor didn't have the latest and greatest evidence available (like a DNA match). They also interviewed some crime investigators and prosecutors that certainly feel the pressure to come up with evidence that is outside their tech abilities to obtain.

Your last question: I think a lot of us young folks are going into future careers that aren't based on the media hype. There are students out there that want to get into practical careers in business, science, engineering, marketing/sales, teaching, etc. I myself am just about done studying electrical engineering and I don't mind that my chosen profession is pretty much invisible to a good portion of the public (who confuse people like me with electricians). There is only one TV show in my recent memory that features engineering and that is Prison Break. The main character, Michael Scoffield, is one badazz structural engineer. In contrast, a large portion of the shows on TV either feature crime investigation, doctors/surgeons or lawyers. One excellent movie that I can think of that features engineering would be Apollo 13.

Answer 2

I think women usually have an instinct to protect or seek justice for those who can not do it for themselves. It's great that there are so many young women interested in a field that involves so much math and science (at least, what I see on television leads me to believe it involves math and science, I could be completely mistaken).

As far as them not wanting to work their way up, you see this in every field. I dealt with it all the time when I was regional staff for a large retailer- applications and resumes from people who might have and MBA, but very little understanding of customer service, teamwork, or retail in general. A good friend of mine owns a small chain of cafes. While we were chatting the other day he was telling me about a kid who wanted a job as a Sioux (second in command) chef, and thought he deserved it along with $45000 a year because he had just graduated from a local culinary school. A Sioux chef in any respectable place has worked very hard for at least ten years before getting that position and that amount is almost unheard of to start in that industry.

I hope it does not seem like I'm trivializing your vent (goodness knows we all need to vent every once in a while), I'm just trying to say you are not alone :D

As for as the media telling young people what to think, the few times I have seem said shows (I don't own a television so it's not that often) I see a portrayal of people who have no personal lives working very hard, very long hours around some insanely gross stuff... really not too glamorous... jmho

I hope your day gets better:D

Answer 3

alright, so why single out the girls... for arguements sake, I'll conceed that you meant young people in general...... No, they have absolutely NO idea what CSI work involves, they don't get the whole job supply/demand thing. And no, they don't understand that you have to work your way up the ranks... and NO, they won't listen to you. But, think back to when you were their age... did you know? Now, the good part of all those *cop* shows is that people doing this job are getting the credit they deserve (before this show, your department was glanced over as purely for the science brains stuck in a lab, you weren't considered to be doing a *cool* job... NOW how many young kids and even adults give you recognition and think your job's cool?? I'll bet a ton more lately?)

Answer 4

Wait until they get a look at all the college coursework required to qualify for that type of work.........
TV can make even dead bodies look glamorous....."smell-o-vision" would put an end to that!

Answer 5

Maybe they just have this idea that they can help & make a difference. I can see a lot of people doing things like that for that reason.

Answer 6

Really? SO MANY YOUNG GIRLS? Can you site your source? Where did you get that tid bit of information? I don't know one young girl that wants to be CSI.

Answer 7

cause the chick from the west wing is a hotti

Answer 8

because they watch too much tv