Mission Australia's national youth survey has revealed more than half of young Queenslanders believe there are obstacles preventing them from gaining employment or furthering their studies, with young women more concerned than young men.
Youth Survey 2015, in it's 14th year, surveyed 4,109 Queenslanders between the ages of 15 and 19.
Of those surveyed, 59.3 per cent were female, 40.7 per cent were male, 169 participants identified as Aboriginal and 32 identified as Torres Strait Islander. 
Mission Australia Queensland state director Darren Young said this year's survey focus??was how young people felt about their future, especially with regards to job prospects, as national youth unemployment is more than double the general unemployment rate.
"In the context of high youth unemployment and a rapidly changing job market, this year we wanted to find out how young people felt about their futures and what may stand in their way to achieving those goals. It's important we listen to their fears and policy makers respond accordingly," Mr Young said.
Over half of Queensland teenagers believed there were barriers to their study and/or work goals, in line with national survey outcomes.
Queensland teenagers said the biggest issues they faced were financial difficulty, academic ability and lack of available jobs.
15-year-old Kenneth Richardson, one of the Queenslanders surveyed, had applied for about fifteen part-time jobs so far with no response.
Kenneth said employers didn't give teenagers much of a chance to prove themselves.
"Some employers just think teenagers are untrustworthy and they don't know how to do a job properly," he said.
"It's important for me to find a job, me and my family struggle financially, so I just want to try and find somewhere where I can get some money, make some profit and help my family out.
"A lot of teenagers are doing a lot of irresponsible things but that doesn't mean they are going to do that in their workplace, they should be given the chance no matter what."
Young women felt a greater pressure from these barriers, with financial difficulty and academic ability worrying them almost twice as much as young men (23 per cent compared to 13.3 per cent and 22.4 per cent compared to 13 per cent respectively).
Mr Young said transition to work programs and training opportunities could ease young Queenslanders concerns about entering into the job market, alongside policies to ease financial concerns.
"In 21st century Australia we have to ensure the policies and supports are in place so children do not self-limit their aspirations because of financial concerns," Mr Young said.
"More nuanced place-based approaches should be utilised to link young people to local industries and to provide a more co-ordinated approach that is responsive to local needs."
Mr Young raised concerns that young women seem to be lacking confidence in their educational abilities.
"Disappointingly young women were more likely than male respondents  (22.4 per cent compared with 13 per cent) to identify academic ability as a barrier to achieving their post-school goals," Mr Young said.
"While we shouldn't oversimplify such responses, it does concern me that young women, who academically achieve on par, if not better than, males, appear to be lacking confidence in their skills."
A greater proportion of young women planned to go to university after high school compared to young men, 75 per cent compared to 58.2 per cent respectively. 
Young women were also more likely to travel or take a year off after high school than young men, 33 per cent compared to 21.2 per cent respectively.
The survey found, on average, young women were more concerned with personal issues than their male counterparts, with stress affecting over half of the young women surveyed.
Young men tended to be more concerned with school or study problems and depression concerned them more than it did young women, who considered body image more worrisome.
Over a quarter of young Queenslanders agreed alcohol and drugs were among the biggest issues facing young Australians today, an increase in concern from the last two years.
Alcohol and drugs were the biggest concern for 30 per cent of male participants, followed by economic and financial matters at 21.5 per cent and equity and discrimination at 20.6 per cent.
For young women the issues were switched around, with equity and discrimination their number one issue, concerning 27.7 per cent of the female participants, followed by alcohol and drugs at 21.8 per cent and mental health at 19.3 per cent.
"This may reflect debates we are having at a national level, particularly around domestic and family violence," Mr Young said.
"It highlights the increased need to tackle wider gender equality,
"Despite some progress, women are still woefully under-represented in leadership roles across all sectors,
"Without strong female role models I fear young women will continue to lack the confidence to aim high and attain their goals."
Mr Young said the overt concern of drugs and alcohol could be related to the increase in drug awareness, especially the drug ice.
"Alongside general concerns surrounding alcohol and drugs use in peers, this concern may reflect the permeation of the drug ice through many communities in Australia, as well as its prevalence in media and political discussions," Mr Young said.
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