Survey uncovers generation gap in attitudes to industry

When they think of the word ëindustryí young people see ëmoney and computersí whereas older people see ëdirt and declineí

Younger peopleís attitudes towards ëindustryí have almost nothing in common with those of older people, a new national survey of 1000 people has found.

Where people over 45 years old tend to think of smokestacks and coal mines, noise and grime, those under 30 ñ and particularly those under 24 ñ tend to be future-oriented in their word-associations, summoning images of computers, success, money and technology.

The mass word-association survey was commissioned to test perceptions of industry at a time when it is frequently assumed that Britain has become a ëpost-industrialí nation. The study asked people for their mental pictures of industry and found that attitudes to industry may be in transition, with young and old coming up with markedly different images. The study found:

The top word associations among people aged under 24 for ëindustryí were: ëmoneyí, ëbusynessí, boomingí, ëcomputersí, ësuccessí and ëtechnologyí. The top word associations among people over 45 were ëfactoryí, ëdeclineí, ëdirtí, ëstrikeí, ëChinaí, and ëmasculinity/malenessí.

Overall, the most popular word associations were ëfactoryí (26.6%), followed by ëmoneyí (19.8%), ëdeclineí (11.7%), ëbusynessí (6.2%) and ëcomputersí (6.2%). The older the respondent the less ëmoneyí tended to be associated with industry

Belief in the decline of industry is not as widespread as is sometimes assumed. Asked whether they thought British industry was doing better or worse than 30 years ago, a total of 54% said it was doing worse, 33% better and 10% about the same (the remainder said they didnít know).

But among younger people, the perception is again considerably more positive. Among the16-24 age group, 79.3% say they believe that British industry is doing better than 30 years ago.

A total of 42 per cent think that jobs in industry are either very or quite high quality, compared with 25% who rated them either very or quite poor quality. Among 16-24 year olds, 67.2% say they think the quality of jobs in industry is very good.

There are also marked regional differences. People in Wales were more likely to associate ëcoal minesí with industry than in other regions. Londoners were more likely to think of ëmoneyí.

The survey was commissioned by AMEC, The Sunday Times and The Work Foundation, who together are organizing the Best of British Industry Awards, a major new initiative to celebrate leadership by UK industrial companies.

ëThe meaning of the word ëindustryí is changing faster than most of us imagined,í said Will Hutton, chief executive of The Work Foundation. ëLetís face it - industry has long had an image problem. But what is striking from these results is that the attitudes of older people towards industry ñ all those mental pictures of production lines and strikes ñ mean absolutely nothing to younger people who did not live through the 1970s and early 80s. They see industry in markedly more positive terms. For them itís about IT, not factories ñ which is probably much closer to the truth, too.í

Sir Peter Mason, chief executive of AMEC, added: ëYounger people are clearly recognising that industry is more about computer screens today than hard hats, and thatís good news ñ because we are still very short of new graduates in engineering science and technology. Moreover, as these graduates enter the workplace, they will reshape industrial relations, as their expectations of their careers will be quite different.í

John Waples, business editor of The Sunday Times, said: ëIndustry is clearly evolving. While it may no longer employ the number of people it did in the 1970s, its importance to the economy and peopleís lives should not be underestimated. Around the world, Britain is known for the quality and creativity of its industry and thatís something we should be proud of.í