Careers & Gen Y / "Millennial" Global Illiteracy

Globalization strikes me as being kind of like the weather: It can be good; it can be bad; and it can be downright ugly. But like the weather, it's here now - whether we like it or not. To quote some long-dead anonymous historian, however, "ignorance is not bliss." Neither is apathy.

A few posts ago I referred to a survey by the National Geographic Society in 2006 about the geographic literacy of American people - in particular, the 18-24 year old age group. What this statisticaly valid survey found was that:

* 88% couldn't find Afghanistan on a map... 63% couldn't locate Saudi Arabia and Iraq... England? 65% No...Israel? 75% No... New York City? 50% No... the United States!? 10% No...

Furthermore, over 60% thought the population of the U.S. exceeded 750 million - and 30% said 2 billion (in fact, it's 300 million - only four and a half percent of the world's population!). 75% thought English was the world's most spoken language - although nearly twice as many speak Mandarin Chinese, and nearly as many speak Spanish and Hindi. Oh, and nearly half (48%)thought that Muslims comprised the majority of Indians - although Hindus outnumber them 9 to 1.

I guess some folks might claim that in a world where cyberspace is the final frontier, that being able to read a map is Old School. My reticence in buying this might stem from the closet-cartographer in me; or maybe from all the latitude and longitude lines I've crossed in my world romps.

Still, it seems like a potential nasty outcome for the home team when the visitors - increasingly sophisticated (and motivated) vendors, customers, lenders, affiliates, employees, employers and competitors - know a hell of a lot more about us than we do about them.. especially when we can't find our own ballfield...

It might not be our young folks' fault, but their careers are in for a nasty shock if our school curriculum, social organziations and parents don't start thinking a whole lot more about how to push our curiosity out further than the smothering arms of Uncle Sam's borders.

Being "nice" has nothing to do with it - being aware, informed and connected has everything to do with it.