Net Impact recently released a report titled Undergraduate Perspectives: The usiness of changing the world. Some findings:
88% of the students believe that for profit organizations should take into consideration the societal and environmental issues.
37% believe corporations are working towards that (this number doubled from 2007) and only 24% feel business leaders are responsible.
73% feel that responsible actions lead to business profits
84% want to seek employment opportunities that are socially relevant.
82% think their schools are doing a fair job of preparing them for their post-graduate interests. 75% of students are also confident their colleges are preparing them to specifically do good in the world, a signifi cant increase from only46% in 2007.
Do check out the report for other interesting stats.
However one important thing to keep in mind is that the majority of these responses are from Net Impacts’ undergraduates’ nearly all of which belong to US. It would be interesting to see how people from other emerging economies respond to this, especially China, which practices nationalistic capitalism.
In my university I notice a handful of people who want to get into this sector. Not a lot, but a decent number. A lot of them have the interest but either can’t find the resources to further their interest about the sector or don’t know how to look for opportunities in this sector. While there are a lot of opportunities within the campus to look for opportunities too (such as the Rural Entrep Division at CEL, Nirmaan, NSS etc), there aren’t enough linkages between the social enterprises in the region and the college (with the exception of maybe Source Pilani).
I would love to see some social enterprises come to Pilani for recruitment, or involve some students through the TIC projects. As with regard to the TIC projects, currently the college demands some money from the enterprises, perhaps in case of social enterprises, the money demanded can be waived off, or decreased (again depending on their revenue stream).
End note: Would 3/4th of the students from my university agree that the college is doing a good job to help them find their interests for their post graduate degree?
Grassroutes
Hope Phones
Mutiny.in
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