Global Characterizations of Learning Styles among Students and Professionals

In this paper, we compare the learning styles of college students and professionals in design, engineering and business at various universities and organizations around the world. We focus on learning styles as defined by David Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory, and also consider factors such as gender, ethnicity, and discipline. We collected data from undergraduate-level and graduate-level students and also present data gathered from industry professionals in various design, engineering, and consulting firms in the United States and Australia. In our analyses, we draw comparisons among the international populations, as well as across fields of expertise and other demographics. The results allow us to characterize the learning styles of “engineers and managers” and discuss the implications for their education.