From students’ views on starting a business to e-commerce giant Amazon, here are this week’s top college student insights.
Entrepreneurship
Becoming an entrepreneur looks appealing to young Americans, but a new College Pulse survey of 470 undergraduates finds that female students and students on financial aid are less likely than their classmates to express interest in starting a business one day.
Overall, half (51%) of college students are somewhat or very interested in starting a business later in their career, compared to almost 4 in 10 (39%) who say they are at least somewhat interested in starting their own business after graduation. But while female and male students are almost equally interested in starting a business after graduation (37% vs. 41%), the gender gap widens when it comes to starting a business later on (48% vs. 59%).
Financial resources also play a role in who can see themselves opening a business one day. Students on financial aid and their classmates not on financial aid are equally likely to say they would be interested in starting a business after graduation (39% vs. 38%), but students on financial aid are less likely to say so about opening a business down the road (48% vs. 61%).
Percentage of students who are interested in starting their own business…
Amazon
Amazon has been accused of concealing COVID-19 cases from warehouse workers, not providing adequate breaks, and mishandling employees’ paid and unpaid leaves of absence. A new College Pulse survey of 580 undergraduates finds that almost half (46%) of students say they have an unfavorable view of Amazon, while about one-quarter have a favorable view (27%) or a neutral view (26%) of the e-commerce company.
“I use some of their products,” an Oklahoma State University student says, “but [I’m] not exactly a fan of how the company treats their labor force.” A North Carolina State University student goes further, calling Amazon executives “predatory vultures who treat workers like crap.”
Students who identify as Democrats are more likely than those who identify as Republicans to dislike Amazon, though. A majority (53%) of college Democrats say they have an unfavorable view of the company, compared to 3 in 10 (31%) college Republicans. Just 23% of Democrats and 37% of Republicans have a favorable view of Amazon, with 23% and 32% respectively saying they have a neutral view.
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Methodology: All surveys were designed and conducted by College Pulse. Interviews were conducted among a sample of full-time and part-time students attending colleges or universities in the U.S. who are part of College Pulse’s American College Student Panel.
