Junior Achievement recently surveyed 1,000 U.S. youngsters, ages 12 to 17, and asked them to pick an entrepreneur they most admired from a list that included Oprah Winfrey, Tony Hawk, Mark Zuckerberg, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
Many on the list were celebrities who started a business enterprise. Jobs, the guy who brought them the iPhone and iPod, took top honors with 35 percent of the vote.
Nearly two-thirds of the respondents chose Jobs because he “made a difference in/improved people’s lives or made the world a better place.” One-third cited his “success in multiple fields,” likely due to his work with Pixar.
To the youngsters credit, only a few picked Jobs because of his wealth and fame.
The fact that a tech captain of industry was chosen bodes well for the future of technology. It’s a bright spot amid declining numbers of high school students interested in math and science and those graduating with degrees in tech-related fields.