Beginning in 2004, IBM has published a Global CEO Study to “understand and articulate the goals of leaders worldwide”. This year, IBM also published a companion piece, the Global Student Study which asks students the same questions given to CEO’s in an attempt to discover differences in opinions and commonalities.

According to the study, more than 3,600 students worldwide filled out the online survey from over 40 different countries, representing both undergraduate and graduate students. The most defining differences between the results from the CEO survey and the student survey were in student’s beliefs concerning globalization and sustainability. The report states that, “students were much more concerned with these issues than CEOs, and most importantly, saw them as inherently connected”.

The full 13 page study is available here:
A few highlights from the report include;

• Among the nine leadership traits CEOs and students were asked to select, students placed a higher emphasis on only two qualities -– global thinking and a focus on sustainability.
• Twice as many students selected globalization and environmental issues as one of the top three factors to impact organizations and expected major consequences to business and society from a scarcity of resources.
• Compared to all other regions, the views of students and CEOs on sustainability diverged most sharply in North America. Students there were almost three times as likely as CEOs to expect scarcity of natural resources to have a significant impact. They were more than twice as likely to select environmental issues as a top external force. And 60 percent more students than CEOs in this region anticipated that customer expectations for social responsibility will increase significantly.
• Given students' concerns about globalization and sustainability, the Study found a gap in educational experiences, as well as business expectations. Asked how well their education has prepared them in a number of areas, only four out of 10 students believe their education has prepared them well to address these issues.
• In China, 76 percent of students value global thinking as a top leadership quality, more than students anywhere else. Yet, only 38 percent of students in China believe their education has prepared them for global citizenship, which is lower than students in any other region.

I am interested in the reaction some of our readers and campus sustainability advocates have to this report. Do you find the results surprising? What has been your experience working with the Millennial generation on sustainability initiatives? Student readers, do you agree that the education you are receiving is lagging in preparing you to tackle these issues with confidence?