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Creativity among business and tourism management university students: determining sociodemographic factors

    Mercedes Mareque Affiliation
    ; Elena De Prada Affiliation
    ; Margarita Pino-Juste Affiliation

Abstract

There is a clear link between creativity levels, entrepreneurship and employability that implies the need for higher education students to acquire creative skills and abilities. For this reason, this study aims to analyse creativity levels among university students and verify whether certain sociodemographic factors have an impact on creativity. Two approaches were applied to measure creativity; on one hand, divergent thinking measured through three tasks, originality, fluency and flexibility, and creative potential (ideation – Runco Ideational Behavior Scale) on the other. A survey was administered to 303 Business and Tourism Management degree students during the academic year 2016–2017. The results reveal that our students’ creative potential (Runco Ideational Behavior Scale) is relatively high, while the divergent thinking measurements (originality, fluency and flexibility) obtained lower scores. There are gender-based differences in the three divergent thinking constructs, with men gaining higher scores; likewise, differences also appeared in the constructs of fluency and originality depending on the degree being studied, with Business degree students displaying a higher average score. In addition, students living with their families scored higher on flexibility than those that did not. Moreover, students’ creative potential (Runco Ideational Behavior Scale) is greater among those who both study and work. These results emphasize the need to encourage the development of creativity among Spanish university students.

Article in English.


Verslo ir turizmo vadybos universiteto studentų kūrybiškumas: apibrėžiant sociodemografinius veiksnius

Santrauka

Vyrauja aiški sąsaja tarp kūrybiškumo lygių, antreprenerystės ir įsidarbinimo galimybių, o tai reiškia, kad studentams, siekiantiems aukštojo išsilavinimo, reikia įgyti kūrybinių įgūdžių ir gebėjimų. Dėl šios priežasties šiame tyrime siekiama išanalizuoti kūrybiškumo lygius tarp universiteto studentų ir patikrinti, ar tam tikri sociodemografiniai veiksniai turi įtakos kūrybiškumui. Vertinant kūrybiškumą buvo taikomi du būdai: viena vertus, divergentinis mąstymas buvo matuojamas pasitelkiant tris užduotis, o originalumas, sklandumas ir lankstumas bei kūrybinis potencialas (idėjizavimas – Runco idėjizuojančio elgesio skalė) – pasinaudojant kitais metodais. 2016–2017 mokslo metais buvo apklausti 303 verslo ir turizmo vadybos specializacijos studentai. Rezultatai parodė, kad mūsų studentų kūrybinis potencialas (Runco idėjizuojančio elgesio skalė) yra gana aukštas, tuo tarpu divergentinio mąstymo galimybės (originalumas, sklandumas ir lankstumas) buvo kur kas prastesnės. Tris divergentinio mąstymo konstruktų skirtumus lemia lytimi grindžiami skirtumai – vyriškos lyties asmenys gavo aukštesnius įvertinimus; panaši situacija susiklostė sklandumo ir originalumo konstruktų atvejais – išryškėjo priklausomybė nuo studijuojamos specializacijos: verslo specializacijos studentai pademonstravo aukštesnius vidutinius rezultatus. Be to, tie studentai, kurie gyvena savo šeimose, gavo aukštesnius įvertinimus lankstumo atžvilgiu nei tie, kurie gyvena atskirai nuo jų. Taipogi studentų kūrybinis potencialas (Runco idėjizuojančio elgesio skalė) yra kur kas didesnis tarp tų, kurie ir studijuoja, ir dirba. Šiais rezultatais pabrėžiama būtinybė skatinti Ispanijos studentų kūrybiškumą.

Reikšminiai žodžiai: kūrybiškumas, kūrybinis potencialas, divergentinis mąstymas, sociodemografiniai veiksniai, verslo administravimo ir vadybos studentai, turizmo vadybos studentai.

Keyword : creativity, creative potential, divergent thinking, sociodemographic factors, Business Administration and Management students, Tourism Management students

How to Cite
Mareque, M., De Prada, E., & Pino-Juste, M. (2019). Creativity among business and tourism management university students: determining sociodemographic factors. Creativity Studies, 12(2), 258-279. https://doi.org/10.3846/cs.2019.6925
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Sep 30, 2019
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