Millennials are actively entering the labour market and are believed to have different values and attitudes than previous generations, including their views on leadership. The latest up to date survey on millennials’ attitude to leadership – Hartford’s 2015 Millennial Leadership Survey indicated that almost 70% of the US millennial respondents report aspirations of occupying a leadership position within the next 5 years, and 77% of the respondents believe they already now possess the abilities necessary to lead. Meanwhile, the latest data from Statistics Denmark shows that the number of millennial leaders in Denmark has fallen significantly within the last decade.
These obvious differences in attitude towards leadership between Danish and US millennials inspired this comparative research that intends to critically evaluate the level of leadership motivation in Danish and American millennials. The research question of the study is: How is the average level of leadership motivation different among Danish and American student millennials?
The research uses a survey to collect standardized, quantifiable data from a large number of respondents, i.e. the data collection technique used is a self-completed questionnaire, based on already existing scales that have been tested and validated.
The target population of this study are Danish and US college-aged millennials, specifically late millennials aged 18-24, studying at IBA and UNA. The study is based on probability (representative) sampling where the students from business and non-business majors serve as representatives of the target population.
