Future Foresight Among University Students Raghad Abdulmohsin Hamed

Abstract

This research aims to explore the level of future-thinking among university students, as one of the important cognitive and behavioral foundations for interacting with the academic and social environment. Future-thinking is an organized mental process that enables individuals to envision future possibilities and plan to confront them with flexibility and awareness. This contributes to developing their ability to make wise decisions and adapt to the rapid changes in the university and living environment. The research also seeks to reveal the extent of students' awareness of the factors influencing their vision of the future and the role of university education in building their future-thinking skills.  The study adopted a descriptive approach, using a questionnaire specifically designed to measure the dimensions of future foresight (the first dimension: awareness of trends, the second dimension: future and proactive thinking, the third dimension: scenario building, and the fourth dimension: flexibility and adaptability) among a sample of (300) male and female students from the University of Kirkuk. The results showed that university students had an average level of future foresight ability, indicating no statistically significant difference between the average scores of males and females, and the presence of statistically significant differences according to specialization in favor of scientific specializations. It also showed that students with higher future awareness were characterized by better ability to plan, make decisions, deal with ambiguity, solve problems, analyze, and experiment.

The researcher recommended the necessity of integrating future foresight into university programs and curricula, and promoting a culture of foresight through academic and advisory activities, given its impact on developing students' abilities to predict and plan, and to build clear visions for their professional and personal futures.