As students return to classrooms this fall, a new survey is showing a disconnect between students’ career expectations and their classroom experiences particularly when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI).
According to Junior Achievement (JA), a Youth CARAVAN survey found 64% of teens say their schools or teachers do not teach about or encourage use of AI as a learning tool. That’s even though 60% believe the primary purpose of school is to prepare students for future jobs and careers.
“AI is expected to transform the world of work in the coming years,” Dougal Nelson, JA of the Heartland’s president and CEO, said in a news release.
“At Junior Achievement, we’re evolving our programs to reflect that reality – by working with our education partners and volunteers to promote critical, transferable skills like creative thinking, communication, and self-direction that will help students succeed no matter how technology changes,” said Mr. Nelson. He is retiring next month after more than 20-years with JA. JA recently announced Lysa Hegland as the next president and CEO for the Moline-based nonprofit.
Under JA’s new strategic direction, its focus is on expanding real-world learning experiences that develop career readiness, economic understanding and student confidence.
Other key findings include:
- 68% of teens believe schools are doing a good job preparing them for jobs of the future.
- 42% say they’ve used AI to complete school assignments, up from 30% in 2024.
- 55% believe using AI to do homework is cheating, statistically unchanged from last year’s survey.
The Youth CARAVAN survey was conducted from July 1-6 by Big Village from a sample of 1,008 U.S. teens (ages 13–17). This nationally representative sample includes quotas based on U.S. census data. The margin of error is 3.1%.
Locally, JA of the Heartland serves 24 counties in eastern Iowa and western Illinois.
