University Students' Views on the Extent of Optimism about the Future of Rising Bangladesh

Bangladesh achieved tremendous socio-economic progress in the last three decades. This development has generated optimism about the country notably among the youths. The study aims to assess the extent of optimism among the university students about the future status of Bangladesh and to investigate whether there are significant differences in their level of optimism. The study followed quantitative approach and used social survey method. Self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data. The result shows that nearly 90% respondents were optimistic about the future of the country while only one-tenth of the students were pessimistic. Chi-Square tests revealed no significant differences in their extent of optimism irrespective of variations in their socio-economic backgrounds- educational status, nature of university, family income, residential address, fathers' profession, and the nature of family. To realize this level of optimism towards a developed nation, government needs to take a number of robust initiatives- youth friendly policy framework, adequate investment in education and health sector, creating decent employment opportunities, prudent macro-economic management and genuine measures for ensuring good governance. The findings of the study will give useful insight for policy makers, academia, practitioners, policy advocates, development thinkers and inquisitive learners of governance studies to understand the youths' attitudes towards their country.