According to members of Generation Z, the education system does not provide them with the skills necessary to thrive in a digital world.
A study conducted by Dell Technologies found that members of Generation Z in 15 different countries believe that their respective governments have room for improvement.
As a result of factors such as rising costs of living, climate change, and the pandemic, Generation Z is coming of age during trying times. They will take over the solutions that we have developed. The findings of a study that questioned over 15,000 young adults (between the ages of 18 and 26) from 15 different countries about their perspectives on how governments could construct resilient economies and the role that technology plays in finding solutions to global problems were just recently published by Dell Technologies. In general, members of Generation Z have a pessimistic view of the efforts of the government and educational institutions to build a better future. The most important findings are as follows:
• They believe the government is capable of finding solutions to problems, but it won't: Roughly half of them are willing to suffer economically in the short term if it means that policymakers will be able to invest in solutions for the long term, and more than half of them believe the government should make investing in healthcare a top priority. On the other hand, only a third are positive that the current investments made by the government will result in a thriving digital economy.
• Workplaces of the future will be hybrid: while one third of respondents desired work that was flexible and could be done remotely, another third of respondents desired work that took place in an office setting.
• They see a gap in education and skills: 44% of respondents said that school only taught them very basic computing skills, and 37% of respondents said that school education (for children under the age of 16) did not prepare them with the technology skills they needed for the careers they planned to pursue in the future. Forty percent believe that acquiring new digital skills is essential to expanding their career options in the future.
Aongus Hegarty, president of international markets at Dell Technologies, said in a statement that it is "clear that Gen Z view technology as pivotal for their future prosperity." It is now up to us, as the leading providers of technology, governments, and the public sector, to work together and improve the quality of and access to digital learning in order to set them up for success. Fourty-four percent of members of Generation Z believe that businesses and educational institutions should collaborate in order to close the digital skills gap, and given the rapid pace at which technology is advancing, this will require ongoing communication and cooperation.