Today's college students are very interested in issues related to globalization and sustainability. However, only four out of ten believe that their education has prepared them well enough to solve these problems, according to a recent IBM study designed to measure attitudes and opinions of the next generation of global workforce and business leaders.
3600 students were interviewed across 40 countries. The students were asked the same questions as were asked to 1,500 CEOs around the world in the study "2010 Global CEO Study".
In the first part of the survey, which asked the same questions to the college students as the international business leaders, it was found that creativity is the key factor for future development.
Other important information that emerged was that globalization has become an increasingly important area. Here, only four out of ten argued that their education prepares them adequately for dealing with the present and future globalization. The students acknowledged that globalization also contributes to solving major global problems in the world.
In China, 76 percent of the students consider that global thinking is among the most important things. However, only 38 percent of students in China feel that their education has prepared them well enough for global competition.
Only 17 percent of the students in Japan, less than in any other region, believe that their education has prepared them well enough to benefit from growth in emerging markets.
According to IBM, both CEOs and students predict that the amount of information will increase gradually. The students think that it is more important to be able to predict the future than the CEOs. Both students and CEOs, however, insist that creativity will be most important factor for future leaders.
Cecilia Helland