Latest news with #StephanieMarken
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Yahoo
Gen Z is anxious about using AI, too
A new survey shows young Americans feel uneasy about AI. Despite their concerns, Gen Z knows AI is here to stay. Survey respondents want AI training but say schools aren't prepared. Young Americans feel uneasy about AI — and a new survey shows they're not getting much help from their schools. Four in 10 Gen Zers say they feel anxious about using AI, according to a Gallup poll by the Walton Family Foundation and GSV Ventures. Nearly half worry it's hurting their ability to think critically. At the same time, Gen Z knows AI isn't going anywhere. About 44% say they'll need to know how to use it for their future careers. The survey looked at how Gen Z uses AI in daily life and how they think it'll shape the future. It found that while nearly half of young people use generative AI weekly, many say they're doing so "without a map." The findings are based on a web survey last month of nearly 3,500 13- to 28-year-olds living in the US. Gen Z's feelings about AI echo broader national concerns. A separate survey by Pew Research Center last year found that more than half of US adults say they're more concerned than excited about AI's impact on the country over the next 20 years. According to Pew, about 43% of adults said they think AI will harm them, while one-third said they weren't sure what to expect. Only 23% of adults think it'll have a positive impact on how people do their jobs. That survey was conducted in August last year with over 5,000 people ages 18 and over. Despite the clear demand for AI know-how, there's a gap between what Gen Z students want and what schools offer. While over half of students think schools should be required to teach AI skills, 28% say their schools explicitly allow AI use. Nearly half either don't know their school's policy or say it doesn't have one. Even when policies do exist, they're often confusing. Just one in three students said their school's rules around AI were "extremely clear." That uncertainty is leading students to avoid AI altogether. About 47% said they skipped using AI for schoolwork because they weren't sure if it was allowed. "AI is only becoming more embedded in the future of work and learning, and schools will play a critical role in helping students navigate it," said Stephanie Marken, a senior partner at Gallup, in a press release on Tuesday. "These findings point to a clear opportunity for educators to guide Gen Z in using AI with purpose and confidence." In response to the demand for AI education, the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School recently unveiled a new MBA major and undergraduate concentration in AI. Faculty began discussing a new AI curriculum last year, Wharton professor Giles Hooker told Business Insider. "We are at a critical turning point where practical AI knowledge is urgently needed," said Eric Bradlow, the vice dean of AI and Analytics at Wharton, in a university press release announcing the changes. In China's capital, Beijing, AI education is compulsory for students — including elementary schoolers. Starting this fall, schools in the city must provide at least eight hours of AI instruction per academic year, the Beijing Municipal Education Commission said last month. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New poll finds about half of rural young people feel job market pressures in their hometowns
A new Gallup-Walton Family Foundation survey released Wednesday shows that nearly half of rural Generation Z Americans feel they can't find fulfilling work in their communities and are considering moving. Rural Gen-Zers are also nearly 20 percentage points more likely to feel that way than their urban brethren. Urban young people also have a higher confidence in their ability to land crucial internships out of school, and parents of rural youths are similarly concerned about quality-of-life issues for their grown children and in their ability to accomplish their goals. Forty-nine percent of Gen Zers believe they can find a worthy job at home. Thirty-eight percent say they're confident in their internship searches. Lgbt Americans Reach Record Number, More Likely To Be Democrat: Poll The pressures of the contemporary occupational landscape are also leading 77% of Gen Z adults to seek to move away from their hometowns, if they are able. Read On The Fox News App But that feeling is met with countervailing sentiment against leaving home. More than half of urban Gen Zers say they are comfortable relocating out of state or even outside the U.S., while about half in rural areas prefer to entertain moving to another place within their state, at most. About two-fifths would consider moving out of state and only a few percent would think to leave the U.S. for a job. "The desire to stay closer to home contrasts with those in urban areas who are more likely to say they would like to leave their state (54%), or even the country (15%)," the poll found. "Career and education opportunities strongly influence young people's decisions to relocate, but rural Gen Zers often face limited access compared to their urban peers," said Stephanie Marken, senior partner for U.S. research at Gallup. "Expanding access to job training, career opportunities and higher education in rural areas could help more young people stay connected to their communities while pursuing their goals." Trump's Surprising New Poll Numbers Only one-fifth of adult Gen Z Americans who have moved away from their home areas mentioned the ability to live financially comfortably. Many, however, still love their hometowns despite a changing job landscape in recent years and decades. The panel was conducted in November, the week of the presidential election. Pollsters sampled 3,963 people ranging in age from 12 to 27 in all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. They were randomly selected using an address-based methodology, but the polling firm also said it uses random-digit telephone dialing to cover both landlines and cellphones. The margin of error was +/- 2.3 percentage points overall. A total of 382 respondents were in rural areas with a 7.3 percentage point margin, and 2,969 were from urban areas with a 2.7 percentage point margin of error. Despite facing fewer job and education opportunities, rural Gen Zers remain deeply connected to their communities, with their desire to move only slightly numerically higher than their urban peers (82% vs. 78%). The co-leader of the poll, the Walton Family Foundation, was launched by late Walmart founder Samuel Walton and his wife, Helen. The foundation seeks to improve the U.S. education system, communities and waterways, particularly in northwest Arkansas, where the family and mega-store chain are both article source: New poll finds about half of rural young people feel job market pressures in their hometowns
