HOW CAN WE ENGAGE

MILLENNIALS TO TAKE

ACTION?

YouthSpeak Insights report for Finland

AIESEC is the world’s largest youth-led non-profit organization developing the

leadership potential in young people. AIESEC envisions peace and fulfillment of

humankind's potential. We believe that this vision can be achieved if there are more

responsible, self-aware, solution-oriented leaders in the world. The young leaders who

are aware of the global issues believe in their ability to change the world to a better

place and have skills to empower others for achieving a greater common goal. We

place our confidence in youth - the generations that are our future - and provide them

opportunities to develop their leadership skills through practical cross-cultural

experiences.

Launched in October 2015, embraced the learnings from the previous survey

(YouthSpeak Survey Millennial Insight Report: Improving the Journey from Education

to Employment), and included the research topics on leadership, future vision, ways of

engagement, drivers in life, and awareness and commitment towards achieving the

Sustainable Development Goals. There are currently over 1.8 billion young people in

the world, whose decisions and actions in next 15 years will determine how the world

will be shaped. AIESEC, as the largest youth-run organization, aims at engaging and

developing these 1.8 billion young people to become the better leaders who can build a

better world.

YouthSpeak allows young people to engage and take action over issues that matter to

them. We have gathered 173 421 responses from over 125 countries and territories by

May 2016, aiming at finding the insights on the question: “How can we engage

Millennials to take action?”

Powered byAIESEC

YouthSpeakSurvey 2.0

www.aiesec.fi

www.youthspeak.aiesec.org

PAGE 2

FOREWORD: WHY SHALL WE CARE ABOUT THE GLOBAL GOALS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?

On September 25th, The 193-Member United Nations General Assembly

has formally adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,

along with a set of bold, new Global Goals. Just three months after,

AIESEC became the first NGO to organize a 3-days event at the UN

Headquarters -The Youth Action Summit, uniting young people with the

private, public and civil society sector to define the role of youth in

achieving the SDGs and AIESEC’s commitment towards to make it

happen.

The world where the Global Goals are achieved is the environment where

the vision of AIESEC can become real - achieving peace and fulfillment of

humankind's potential. Therefore, AIESEC committed itself through own

operations and expertise to contribute to the achievement of the Global

Goals.

AIESEC globally has done an incredible work launching YouthSpeak

initiative, raising awareness about the Global Goals, at the same time

seeking to understand what factors would support young people to take

an action on issues that truly matter to them. AIESEC in Finland had only

0.2 percent of contribution to the global youth voice. However, it is just

the first step. With the plan to reach out to 1 million youth voices globally,

we take our learnings forward for improving our approach of outreaching

to young people in Finland during this year. The Global YouthSpeak

Insights report will represent more detailed insights with a comprehensive

big data analysis for the global and regional levels. The YouthSpeak Insight

report for Finland might reflect some similarities, yet it seeks the

understanding the Millennials in the context of Finnish society.

The findings of this YouthSpeak Insights report shall support AIESEC in

Finland to engage other stakeholders for purposeful collaboration, to be

the first knock on the door for opening up the conversations between

youth, educational, governmental or corporate institutions. Taking into

account the research findings about Millennials and their challenges from

Universum (Millennials: the six part series report), Deloitte (The 2016

Deloitte Millennial Survey: Winning over the next generation of leaders)

and others, with YouthSpeak Survey we aimed not on replicating the

information, but rather focusing on more in-depth understanding of what

actions shall be taken.

With that being said, this report is a great start of even more significant

findings on how we [youth] can take the actions towards a better future,

and how these findings will support the stakeholders in the decision-

making process. AIESEC in Finland invites you to continue the

conversation and take the questions raised in this report as a topic for the

further research and in-depth discussion during YouthSpeak Forum.

By Maria StrelkovaDirector of Business Development term 2015 – 2016AIESEC in Finland

PAGE 3

YOUTHSPEAK INITIATIVE

The YouthSpeak Survey collects youth opinion from around the world for a

better understand what young people care about. The survey also has a role

to make young people reflect – do they really care about the future of the

world, education and leadership?

The YouthSpeak Insights reflect the data gathered from the YouthSpeak

Survey. Applying the insight from the survey to local context and reality, it

will allow decision makers to take actions that influence strategies and

operations of the organizations.

The YouthSpeak Forum is an event that brings the leaders and the experts

in the field of chosen topic together with young people. The forum aims to

create a platform for bringing different perspectives on the topic and more

in-depth discussions. The topic and the theme of the event connect with

the insights gathered from the YouthSpeak Survey.

The YouthSpeak Projects are the actionable ideas that were generated

during YouthSpeak Forum. Involving partner organizations, AIESEC takes

responsibility that created ideas are being implemented.

PAGE 4

YouthSpeak is an

initiative powered

by AIESEC across

the globe.

1. DRIVERS IN LIFE | PAGE 7

3. YOUTH FOR GLOBAL GOALS | PAGE 20

THE CONCEPT

The YouthSpeak

Survey and the

YouthSpeak Insights

are designed in 6

blocks

What is the decision making process for

the millennials? What do they consider

first? What drives them in life?

Global Goals Agenda is the plan for

humanity to build the better world in the

future. Do young people know about this

plan? What’s their attitude towards

the SDGs?

6. EDUCATION | PAGE 35

Education is the most important issue for

young people (based on YouthSpeak 1.0).

Yet what kind of education young people

need? What does experiential

learning mean for them?

2. WORLD IN 2030 | PAGE 12

How do young people envision their

future? What’s the state of the world in

2030? What is important for young

people in next 15 years?

4. LEADERSHIP | PAGE 27

To mobilize young people to take action

certain type of leadership is needed.

What are the characteristics young

people want to see in leaders of today?

5. ENGAGEMENT | PAGE 30

Whom millennials trust the most? What’s

their attitude towards the technology and

increasing amount of information?

PAGE 5

1. READ THE INSIGHTS THROUGH THE ANCHOR QUESTIONS

How to use this

YouthSpeak Insights

report

Each of six blocks of the questions contains one anchor question (marked by *). The anchor

questions are the primary set of the data. Usually, an anchor question is a very simple statement.

You could take all the anchor questions across the blocks to see the “general sensing” of youth

opinion on each of these six fields. It is quite a broad framework, and it is suitable the best for

creating general themes for the discussions.

2. READ THE DATA WITHIN EACH OF THE BLOCKS

Take each of the blocks of the questions separately – this is the secondary set of the data. Use the

anchor question as leverage to build some specific discussion around the topic. This approach is

suitable the best for forming a problem question and involving experts on the field for further

conversation.

3. SEEK FOR CONNECTIONS ACROSS THE BLOCKS

The tertiary set of the data allows looking for the connection in between the blocks. There might

be one or more anchor questions used as a base for an assumption, which is being proved right or

wrong by insights from other blocks. This approach is the best for forming a discussion about a

specific field and particular phenomena. It is important to remember that majority of the opinions

in one set of the questions might not be represented in the majority of the views in another set of

the questions.

3. CONSIDER DEMOGRAPHICS AND METHODOLOGY

The YouthSpeak Insights is not a scientific report. There are some limitations for outreach,

demographics, and sample representation. Therefore, it is important to use the YouthSpeak

Insights report as a tool for activating young people to hear their opinion, and engaging various

stakeholders for the conversations.

PAGE 6

DRIVERS IN LIFE

WHICH 3 MOTIVES (BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL) DRIVE YOU THE MOST IN LIFE?*

Comparing to the tendencies

globally and in WENA region,

young people in Finland have a

relatively balanced opinion on

what drives them in life. Drivers

related to the feeling of

belonging (love, family, friends)

and purpose in life and

achievements are on top of

their list. In quite many research

papers about millennials, it was

discussed that young people

value work-life balance at the

most. Yet from the results of

our study we see that they

pursuit not necessarily “free

hours from work” but the

feeling of love and purpose in

life.

Youth in Finland is driven less

by family and friends than their

fellow in other parts of the

world. We explain it partly by

the cultural aspects, and partly

by the influence of other drivers

– such as the sense of

adventure and curiosity.

Interestingly, the youth is more

driven by the purpose and

achievement, rather by the

financial success. Social status

became less desirable than

personal accomplishments.

For further discussion:

In the culture where privacy of

personal life is valued, how can

an employer, educational

institution or society fulfill the

need of love and discovering /

supporting young people’s

purpose in life?

What kind of environment the

future employers need to build,

if young people are driven by

financial remuneration and

social status less?

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18%

Love

Purpose in life

Family

Achievement

Friends

Curiosity

Sense of adventure

Freedom

Sense of contribution

Work-life balance

Satisfaction

Financial success

Responsibility

Recognition

Spiritual and Transcendental values

Social status

Power and Authority

Other

Finland

WENA

Global

* Block’s primary questionPAGE 8

IF YOU COULD BE PAID FOR ANYTHING, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

CONTRIBUTE

TRAVEL CREATETEACH

EXPLORE & LEARN

PAGE 9

The analysis was done based on the

keyword search.

Category “contribute” includes all

the statements that meant

committing to something bigger

than personal interest; helping to

other people or developing

communities; establishing a business

that would solve some social issue,

or running a social enterprise. It was

by far the biggest block of keywords.

The second biggest block in Finland

is “travel”. It contains the

understanding of travel to see the

world and new cultures and

experience new places.

The second biggest in Finland is

“travel”. It contains the

understanding of travel to see the

world, understand new cultures,

and experience new places.

The third popular opinion was

“create” – create apiece of art;

produce or build something new

that hasn’t existed before.

“Explore and learn” includes

researches, discoveries, practical or

theoretical constant learning and

personal development.

“Teach” keyword in this context

meant educating other people on

something that a young person is

good at, or desire to eradicate

illiteracy in some parts of the world.

We shall admit that they key words

cannot identify the reasons of the

behaviors. However, the number of

respondents that answered that

they wouldn’t do anything or they

don’t know what they would do, was

extremely insignificant.

For further discussion:

It is not motivating enough any more

to young people to just follow

routine. Either in educational

institution or at the work place –

driven by purpose in life, the seek

for bigger contribution. Thus, the

Why of every activity shall be very

clear to the young people in order to

keep them interested and motivated.

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FOR YOUR CAREER IN THE FIRST 5 YEARS AFTER GRADUATION?

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Meaningful work

Constant learning

Work-life balance

Global opportunities

Training opportunities

Challenging work

Alignment with area of study

Salary / Compensation

Employer with a strong brand

Finland

WENA

Global

Supported by the drivers in life, young

people in Finland seek for meaningful

work and opportunities for constant

learning more often than their fellows

from other parts of the world. Work-

life balance is the third priority in their

list. However we did make earlier an

assumption that it shall not mean the

avoidance of work overload, but the

opportunity for purposeful work and

ability to contribute.

One of the Universum’s six-part report

about millennials, “Understanding a

misunderstood generation” discusses

whether the millennials tend to resist

hard work and demand more support

and opportunities from the employers.

We agree that there might be such a

perception. However, we see that

young people in Finland do

demonstrate curiosity and need of

contribution at the work that they see

a clear purpose for. Thus, the attitude

shall be adjusted accordingly. Our

observation is that the success of

achieving the results is not in the hard-

work routine, but purpose-driven

attitude for completing the hard work.

For further discussion:

Only some minority of young people

mentioned alignment with their studies

as one of the most important criteria in

the first 5 years after graduation. Does

it mean that they do not see their

future career in the field that they

study? Young people don’t tend to see

the straight path of “education – work

experience in the field of education –

permanent job in the field of

education” as the only one truth.

However, what needs to be done by

government and educational

institutions to ensure that young

people acquire relevant skills for the

meaningful work and contribution that

they are seeking for.

How significant role the employer

branding plays in its traditional

understanding?

PAGE 10

Young people are still driven by more “human”

factors rather by financial or social status gain.

They see a high significance in meaningful work

that would support their purpose in life, a need

for contribution and constant learning.

Taking into account the context of youth

unemployment and phenomena of “lost youth” in

Finland, could employers and educational

institutions appeal better to young people’s

drivers in life?

THE WORLD IN 2030

DO YOU THINK THAT YOUR SOCIETY WILL BE IN A BETTER OR IN A WORSE STATE BY 2030?

58%

42%

51%

49%

68%

32%

Better

Worse

Finland WENA Global

Such a simple question

definitely cannot embrace all

the individual factors that

influenced on such opinion.

However, we found it rather

alarming that young people are

split almost equally between

the optimistic and pessimistic

view of their society.

Comparing to more developing

countries and the rest of the

world, youth in Finland tend

not to see significant

improvements.

Despite all the real factors

influenced on forming such an

opinion, young people also

mentioned that they see the

need for more positive and

solution-oriented approach for

their personal in professional

behavior.

For further discussion:

Does such an attitude cause

other issues, or the issues in the

society cause the attitude?

What shall be done and factors

could lead to more positive and

solution-oriented attitude of

youth in Finland?

* Block’s primary questionPAGE 13

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF WORKING IN 10 YEARS?

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Small or Medium Enterprise

Multinational Corporation

Business Start up

NGO's / Foundations

Academia / Educational institutions

National Corporation

Government

Social Start up

Culture / Art

Sports

Finland

WENA

Global

There is an insignificant

difference in the preference of

the future workplace size –

either in a SME or multinational

corporation. Referring to the

block of the questions about

drivers in life and the most

important condition within 5

year after graduation, we draw

the conclusion that young

people do not necessarily look

for the standard “social

benefits” corporate package,

but rather for an employer who

would fulfill their criteria of

providing meaningful work and

opportunities for constant

learning.

Interestingly, youth in Finland

relatively seeks less for global

opportunities in the

multinational corporations

comparing to the young people

the global level.

Start-up opportunities are also

in the top-3 most desirable

workplaces in next ten years.

Proving our observation on

drivers in life that young people

do not prioritize authority and

power, the government did not

become as one of the most

attractive workplaces.

For further discussion:

Most of the young people think

that education could solve

world’s issues, as well as they

are willing to learn and educate

others. Yet educational

institutions are not the most

attractive workplace. At the

same time educational

institutions are the ones that

provide the space for higher

contribution, which was such

valued by young people. Or is it

so?

PAGE 14

WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD, WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?

LACK OF

HUMANITYECONOMICAL

ECOLOGICAL

NOT BEING

SUCCESSFUL

The analysis is done based on

the keyword search.

“Lack of humanity” included all

the fears related to intolerance,

greed, inequalities and

ignorance, cultural

misunderstanding and war

threatening. “Not being

successful” meant not fulfilling

the life purpose, not living up to

one’s potential and feeling of

disappointment. Economical

and ecological fears included

the factors that influence on

young people’s living conditions

and the state of the world.

Currently we cannot compare

the biggest fears of young

people in Finland to the global

data. Yet, taking the preliminary

global findings from Global

YouthSpeak Insights report, we

could see the similarities in

expressed fears. Despite of

diverse cultural backgrounds,

economical and political

situations in different parts of

the world – increasing lack of

humanity is still one of the

biggest fears.

For further discussion:

Lack of humanity was by far the

biggest fear that young people

have. With the world’s refugee

crisis, intolerance and war

danger – what societies need to

do in order to decrease this

fear? Empathy was named one

of the greatest qualities of a

leader. What young people

need to do in order to nurture

empathy?

PAGE 15

BIGGEST ISSUES IN FINLAND

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16%

Racism and intolerance

Stress and depression

Youth unemployment

Unemployment

Alcoholism

Lack of awareness about global issues

Refugees and asylum seekers

Lack of awareness about global opportunities

Bullying at studying and working places

Inequality

Lost youth

Demographic change

Health and well-being

Immigration for work and studies

Transition between education and employment

Financial illiteracy among youth

Social gap

Work-life balance

Nationalization as political focus

Domestic violence

Infrastructure

Other

Followed by the question about

specific issues that Finnish

society faces, we discovered

that intolerance still ranked by

young people in Finland as the

highest, followed by health

(stress and depression) and

economical (youth

unemployment). For more in-

depth understanding of how

young people perceive their

own society, more data shall be

collected. Taking into account

the demographics, almost half

of the respondents did not have

Finnish origins.

For further discussion:

Understanding the fears of

young people of decreasing

humanity, their will to

contribute to a bigger purpose

and seeing empathy as a

greatest quality of a leader,

what shall be done in order to

decrease intolerance in Finnish

society?

Cynicism and

hopelessness, social

isolation and alienation,

and loneliness. These are

the biggest issues

Finland is facing.

- Female, Finland

Attitude. We think we are great.

- Male, Finland

PAGE 16

SOLUTIONS: WHAT COULD HELP TO SOLVE THESE ISSUES?

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Education

International experience

Social project

Entrepreneurship

Informal education

Volunteering

Extra curriculum

Other

Donations

The respondents expressed that

their education could solve the

issues of intolerance, racism, stress

and youth unemployment.

However, education is quite a

broad topic, and by this specific

question solely we cannot provide

the answer what kind of education

can tackle these issues.

International experience was

named as the second solution that

most likely in young people

opinion can help.

Asking this question, we didn’t aim

at finding one golden “cure pill” to

all of the issues, but rather we

tried to challenge young people to

think about possible solutions.

For further discussion:

Taking into account that almost

half of youth in Finland within this

survey expressed a pessimistic

view on the future within next 15

years, yet demonstrated will to

contribute and develop their

communities, what needs to be

done in order to engage youth in

Finland to take an action?

How can entrepreneurship and

start-up scene support society in

solving these issues?

Government supports now the

wrong persons with money. That should be more

strict.

Community-based, community-

run development/empowerment

projects in the neighborhood

level, especially through 12-15

year olds (junior youth) because

they are a generation that's

ready to act!

PAGE 17

WHO DO YOU THINK HAS THE STRONGEST ABILITY TO INFLUENCE SOCIETY?

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

Government

Individuals

Private sector (Business)

Youth led organisations

Other

NGO's

No one

Finland

WENA

Global

Young people in Finland see

government as the one with the

highest ability to influence

society. Yet this question did

not ask about an ideal sector of

influence, but rather indicated

the current state. Young people

in Finland do not see as much

influence of a private sector on

the society in comparison to

the opinion of youth in WENA

region. The influential role of

the youth-led organization in

Finland is not seen high,

especially comparing to the

global data.

For further discussion:

The government is seen as an

institution with the strongest

ability to influence on society.

Pursuing a will to contribute to

some bigger purpose and

develop their communities, do

young people in Finland

actually take actions for

improving their society? Do

they feel the responsibility of

doing it or relying on the

government to solve all the

social issues?

PAGE 18

Young people in Finland tend to see their society

more pessimistically than young people globally.

Is it caused by a belief that more developed

country cannot keep the same pace of

improvement?

Do young people able to take an action towards

the improvement of their society themselves, or

do they rely on other institutions to solve the

issues for them?

YOUTH FOR GLOBAL GOALS

ARE YOU A VOLUNTEER?

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Yes

No

Finland

WENA

Global

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Yes

I've already volunteeredabroad

No

Finland

WENA

Global

WOULD YOU VOLUNTEER ABROAD?

Volunteering is one of the ways

to contribute to society.

Volunteering also was named

as one of the ways to solve the

social issues in Finland, even

though it did not have a high

priority in the list.

At the same time volunteering

is seen by young people as a

way to develop themselves

personally and professionally

(Education – block), as well as a

way to feel contributions

(Drivers in life – block).

Not specifying the scope of

volunteering, we wanted to

identify how many of young

people actually see themselves

as volunteers?

In order to decrease

intolerance, young people see

that international experience

can help them to develop

empathy and cultural

understanding. How many

young people though a ready to

combine the volunteering and

international experience by

going for a volunteering project

abroad?

For further discussion:

Solely by a fact that a young

person is a volunteer or not, we

cannot draw any conclusions.

However, do young people see

volunteering as a way of

developing their personal and

professional skills, or as a

contribution to the society?

Why is volunteering important

to Finnish society?

PAGE 21

WHICH ISSUES WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN TACKLING THROUGH VOLUNTEERING ABROAD?

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Education

Peace and Justice

Health

Gender Equality

Jobs and economic growth

Inequality

Protect the planet

Clean Energy

Sustainable cities and communities

Poverty

Infrastructure

Hunger

Clean Water and Sanitation

Responsible consumption

Life on land

Partnerships for the SDGs

Life below water

Other

Finland

WENA

Global

Volunteering for a short period

of time abroad can serve many

purposes. Travelling and

contribution were named as

one of the top things that

young people would do if they

were paid for anything. At the

same time it is a way to develop

cultural understanding,

empathy (qualities of a leader

that were named as one of the

most important), and view on

the world. So, what issues

young people feel the most

committed to solving globally?

For further discussion:

Education was named as one of

the ways to eradicate world’s

issues. Most of the respondents

also expressed willingness to

work on education while

volunteering abroad. What

tools and opportunities the

society or educational

institutions need to create in

order foster this cause?

PAGE 22

WHAT SKILLS AND EXPERIENCES WOULD HELP YOU TO GROW PERSONALLY AND PROFESSIONALLY?

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16%

Awareness about global issues

Positive and solution-oriented attitude

Belief in ability to make a difference in the world

Effective communication in diverse environment

Exploration of personal passions

Engaging with others for achieving a bigger purpose

Empowering others

Responsibility for improving the world

Understanding of personal values

Taking risks

Demonstrate resilience in a face of challenges

Focus on strength over weaknesses

Most of the young people in Finland

expressed as one of the most important

condition for their work after graduation

is an opportunity for constant learning. At

the same time understanding their fears

and hopes, acquiring what skills and

experience would help them to develop

themselves personally and professionally?

For further discussion:

What are the ways of gaining these skills

and experiences by young people?

How can educational institutions, non-

governmental organizations, and

employers support young people in

gaining these opportunities?

PAGE 23

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS ARE (SDGs)?

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Yes

No

Finland

WENA

Global

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Yes, I am familiar

No, I do not know it

I do not care

Finland

WENA

Global

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE SUSTAINABILITY POLICY OF YOUR COUNTRY?

On September 25 2015 the

193-Member United Nations

General Assembly formally

adopted the 2030 Agenda for

Sustainable Development.

These 17 Goals are focusing

over next 15 years on areas of

critical importance for humanity

and the planet.

Awareness about the Global

Goals solely doesn’t ensure any

commitment towards achieving

them. However, knowing the

goal, it is easier to build a

roadmap towards achieving it.

But do young people in Finland

know about the Sustainable

Development Goals?

Finland accepted the 2030

Agenda for sustainable

development as a guideline for

developing a national policy for

sustainable development. If

only less than a half of young

people are aware with the

SDGs, and even less are aware

of the national sustainability

policy, what would guide them

to take an action for

contributing to development?

PAGE 24

WHAT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS YOU WOULD ACT UPON? *

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18% 20%

SDG 1 No Powerty

SDG 2 Zero Hunger

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

SDG 4 Quality Education

SDG 5 Gender Equality

SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation

SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy

SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and infrustructure

SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities

SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and…

SDG 13 Climate Action

SDG 14 Life Below Water

SDG 15 Life on Land

SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals

Finland

WENA

Global

* Block’s primary question

This is the primary question of the

block of “Youth For Global Goals”.

The aim was also to raise

awareness about the SDGs, as a

very first step to defining how

young people personally could

contribute to achieving them, as

well as why it is highly important

as for their own future as for

society.

For further discussion:

There are some differences in

priorities of what of the Global

Goals young people in Finland

would act upon comparing to

other countries. Yet SDG 4 –

Quality Education is by far a

number one preference of young

people across the globe. What

needs to be done to take this

engagement from a preference

towards an action for achieving it?

PAGE 25

The majority of young people are not aware with

the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The

Global Goals is a guideline for nations, societies and

individuals to make the world a better place. Young

people are the once who will drive this positive

change in next 15 years. But are they aware what

direction they are going to?

Just being aware of the concept of SDGs doesn’t

ensure that the actions towards achieving them will

be taken. However, it is a starting point – to know

the goals to start building the roadmap for

achieving them

LEADERSHIP

WHAT IS ONE CHARACTERISTICS THAT MAKES A PERSON A GREAT LEADER? *

We asked young people to

name a person who they think

is a great leader. Then we asked

them to explain what qualities

make this person a great leader.

Surprisingly, not many names of

Finnish leaders were mentioned

by respondents in Finland.

The analysis was done by the

key word search. Empathy,

being action-oriented and

integrity are the top qualities

named by young people in

Finland.

For further discussion:

What experiences young

people shall have in order to

gain these qualities themselves?

Do these named qualities

reflect named skills and

experiences that young people

want to acquire in order to

grow personally and

professionally?

Do young people strive for

developing leadership qualities

within themselves?

* Block’s primary question. Global data will be available for comparison in the Global YouthSpeak report

12%

7%

30%

5%

14%3%

11%

17%

Charisma

Determination

Empathy

Inspiration

Integrity

Trust

Vision

Action-oriented

PAGE 28

WHAT DOES TERM “LEADERSHIP” MEAN TO YOU?

According to Universum’s report on Millennials –

“Understanding a misunderstood generation”, defines that

nearly 61 % of young people in WENA region want to

achieve leadership or managerial roles in their work. Yet do

young people see a difference between being a manager

and being a leader? This we asked in the country-specific

questions, trying to identify what term “leadership” mean

to young people.

Generally we observed that young people tend to explain

leadership based on their understanding of a great leader.

There might be some survey errors due to the fact that the

survey was conducted in English, and the term “johtaja”

might not mean exactly the same as “leadership”.

The topic needs more in-depth discussion and research,

the current data provides a few diverse opinions, but

doesn't allow to form a strong conclusion.

For further discussion:

Do young people in Finland see acquiring leadership

qualities as a way to improve themselves and their society?

Not prioritizing power and authority in the list of drivers in

life, how do they perceive leadership as a positive term?

Do young people in Finland even want to become a

leader?

It means charisma. But alone it's just an empty word, we do not need leaders, we need conscious citizens

Being an example, empowering and

enabling people to grow, understanding the

bigger picture, ability to coach and mentor

people.

Living according to your values and not being

afraid to work towards what you believe in.

It means ownership in all situations, acting with others

as well as taking responsibility by yourself. It means being open-minded and solution-oriented and being able to

work in groups and coaching them.

Willingness to make an impact to the world and

making real actions within your

team/followers

Responsible entrepreneurship

Having an impact

It's something that's really needed in this

world, but I'd rather not take part in leading.

Means nothing

The ability to set overarching goals;

convincing people of uniting under them; and

organizing the actual work toward these

goals.

PAGE 29

ENGAGEMENT

WHICH CHANNELS DO YOU USE IN ORDER TO KEEP YOURSELF INFORMED ON DAY-TO-DAY BASIS?

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Facebook

E-newspapers and E-magazines

Friends / Word of mouth

Google

Magazines / Newspaper

Instagram

TV

Other social media

Whatsapp

Twitter

Blogs

LinkedIn

I don't like to look for information"

Snapchat

WeChat

Finland

WENA

Global

Generation of young people,

grown up with technologies

and social media. It is not a

secret that the channels of

engagement are shifting. There

is more and more information

available through multiple

channels. What channels young

people choose to keep

themselves updated? What

piece of information do they

trust?

For further discussion:

There is an interesting shift

comparing young people’s

opinion in Finland with their

fellows globally. Thus, e-

sources of traditional

magazines and newspapers are

in use more than on a global or

regional levels generally.

Whereas TV is not the most

common channel for Finnish

youth.

How could we engage young

people better using the

channels of information that

they trust for receiving a day-

on-day information?

PAGE 31

WHO ARE THE 3 MOST TRUSTED SOURCES YOU LOOK UP TO GET INFORMATION? *

In quite a few types of research

on millennials, it was claimed

that young people tend to rely

the most on their families and

friends. Yet academic

institutions are the ones scoring

the top of the preferences. We

did not specify what kind of

information – either on the

everyday basis or more

academic, therefore more

research on the topic is needed.

For further discussion:

The survey shows that looking

up information from families

and friends definitely takes

place. Yet is it for the reason to

consume the information, or

this behavior can be explained

by the factors that drive young

people in their lives?

Being the most trusted sources

of information, could we

involve educational institutions

to support young people in

finding solutions to social issues

by developing leadership

qualities needed for that?

* Block’s primary question. PAGE 32

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Academic Institutions

Friends

Parents / Relatives

Professors

Government

Colleagues

Thought leaders

Coach / Mentor

Bloggers

Senior managers

Public figures

Finland

WENA

Global

WHICH OF THE STATEMENTS RELATES TO YOU THE MOST?

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

I live on my smartphone and I find it convenient

I'm not dependent on my smartphone

I live on my smartphone and I find it harmful

I don't have a smartphone

I don't have a mobile

Finland

WENA

Global

Finland is one of the top

countries in the rank of number

phones and smartphones per

capita. Young people use

smartphones in every aspect of

their life. Some sources argue

that we disconnect socially

connecting more through

technologies. Yet what do

young people think? Do they

find it harmful or convenient?

For further discussion:

The survey shows that young

people in Finland find using

their smartphones rather

convenient. How for example

this fact can help in engaging

young people to take an action?

PAGE 33

It is not a secret that young people grew up with

the technologies and social media, thus tend to

see it as an integral part of their lives.

In the world with more and more increasing

amount of information, how to make sure the

most relevant information reaches out young

people?

EDUCATION

DO YOU CONSIDER THAT YOUR UNIVERSITY / COLLEGE EXPERIENCE IS GIVING YOU KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS YOU WOULD NEED IN THE FUTURE?

0,00%

5,00%

10,00%

15,00%

20,00%

25,00%

30,00%

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

NOT CONTRIBUTING

AT ALLCONTRIBUTING IN EVERY

POSSIBLE ASPECT

Simply by shifting a scale in the

YouthSpeak Survey we tried to

identify the general perception

of higher education of young

people – how the knowledge

and the skills would support

them in the future?

This question did not specify

whether the young people are

already aware what kind of

skills they will need in the

future for sure, or rather still try

to figure it out during their

studies.

For further discussion:

The alignment with the studies

is not on the priority list of

young people in Finland for

their future career. Is this

flexibility caused by admitting

that the educational institutions

are not equipping young people

with all the skills they would

need?

What ways and approaches can

engage young people for

acquiring these skills? The are

curious and are willing to learn.

What would be the right

approach through?

PAGE 36

WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE BIGGEST BENEFIT OF STUDYING IN UNIVERSITY / COLLEGE?

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Acquiring skills to prepare for career

Acquiring useful knowledge

Building a network of friends and contacts

Becoming self aware on what I want to do next

Getting a diploma for a higher status in the society

I don't see any benefits

Finland

WENA

Global

For further discussion:

Education was named as one of

the ways of solving world’s

issues. At the same time SDG 4

– Quality Education attracts the

most of the commitment of

young people. Young people

trust the information received

from academic institutions, yet

they are not entirely satisfied

with the set of the skills and

knowledge they get from their

higher studies.

We agree that quality

education can have a different

meaning in the different parts

of the world. While in more

developing countries young

people crave for equal access

to education, in (still) tuition-

free Finland with one of the

best reputation for education

system it can mean something

different.

So, what is the reason why

young people continue their

higher education? What do

they need to do personally to

be more satisfied with their

studies and what educational

institutions still could focus on?

PAGE 37

WHICH METHODS OF LEARNING DO YOU THINK ARE THE MOST USEFUL?

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Practical experience

Working groups

Workshops

Mentoring / coaching

Lectures

Volunteering

Text books

Online courses

Finland

WENA

Global

For further discussion:

Young people know the best

how they can learn and develop

themselves. Yet are we utilizing

all the methods that work for

young people?

Practical experiences were

assessed by far as the most

useful way of learning, also in

the global analysis. What do

practical experiences mean and

how to utilize these learnings at

the best?

PAGE 38

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Exchange

Volunteering

Case studies

Workshops

Conferences

Study tours

Finland

WENA

Global

WHICH ONE OF THESE PRACTICAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE IN

ORDER TO GROW PERSONALLY AND PROFESSIONALLY? *

* Block’s primary question

For further discussion:

Taking into consideration that

education and international

experience were named as the

tools for solving the world’s

issues, and practical

experiences through an

exchange are one of the best

learning methods for young

people – could society,

educational institutions and

individuals themselves create

more opportunities that

would fulfill all of them?

PAGE 39

Young people see the need of constant learning

and development. Embracing technologies,

drivers in life, understanding of the set of skills

and knowledge need in life, and young people’s

vision for the future – how do we make sure that

we get the best out of education?

Young people are the ones who will drive a

positive change in next 15 years. Are we sure

that education serves this purpose with the

methods we currently use?

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”.

- Nelson Mandela

METHODOLOGY

Data collection:

The data for the YouthSpeak Survey in this report was collected by

AIESEC through own network (AIESEC national and local offices) in

125 countries and territories, as well as with the help of promotion

and distribution the survey by the partner organizations. This

YouthSpeak Insights report is based on the data collected from

November 2015 until May 2016.

The YouthSpeak Survey is still currently open for the responses, yet

the structure might be slightly modified and simplified in the future,

as well as translated into more languages (including Finnish). This

would ensure even higher outreach and collect more data for

providing valuable insights. DATA COLLECTION SAMPLE SIZE

Global 160 227

WENA 14 556

Finland 299

Data analysis:

Data analysis was done on the global level by AIESEC International

with the support of partner organizations. The YouthSpeak Insights

report for Finland was done by AIESEC in Finland. The survey error

estimates cannot be calculated.

The Global YouthSpeak Insights report will be published only after

this national report is completed. Therefore, all the data presented

here for global level and WENA region is taken from the preliminary

data analysis.

We have included WENA region (Western Europe and North

America) to the chart analytics to compare to the national insights to

the region that has similarities in economic, political and social

aspects.

PAGE 41

DEMOGRAPHICS: BACKGROUND

42% 12% 8% 7% 6% 6% 18%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Business Administration

Engineering

Humanities or Social Sciences

Economics

Computer science

Education

Other

84% 11%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Student

Employed

Self-employed

Unemployed

PAGE 42

DEMOGRAPHICS: AGE AND GENDER

12% 33% 22% 19% 9% 5%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Under 16 16-19 20-22 23-24 25-27 28-30 Over 30

42% 57%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Male Female Other

PAGE 43

58% 9% 24%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Finland Russian Federation Germany India Vietnam Other

DEMOGRAPHICS: NATIONALITY OF ORIGIN

PAGE 44

AIESEC in FinlandPictures and graphic used created by AIESECJune 2016

To learn more how we can help you to understand, engage

and connect with millennials:

AIESEC in Finland:

aiesec.fi

finland@aiesec.net

Learn more about YouthSpeak and download the Global

YouthSpeak reports:

youthspeak.aiesec.org