LinkedIn launched the Inspiration Index in July 2013 to measure professional inspiration by asking members how often they feel inspired by their work. Nearly 100,000 professionals have contributed to the Index by sharing their inspiration score on a scale from never feeling inspired to always feeling inspired. Analysis of these scores found that on average, inspiration increases with age, men rate themselves as more inspired than women, and creative industries have the highest inspiration while defense and plastics have the lowest. Company size also impacts inspiration, which tends to be lower in large companies and middle management roles.

1. Who are the most
inspired professionals
in the world?

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It’s a tool that measures professional
inspiration by asking one simple question…
In July 2013, we launched the
LinkedIn Inspiration Index.

3. How often do you feel
inspired by your work?
“
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4. We believe that feeling inspired by your work
is one of the most important aspects of having
a productive and successful career.
Why measure inspiration?
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5. leadership
creativity
help
We also want to help members like
you measure your own inspiration
and identify the most inspiring places,
careers, and industries.
opportunity
collaboration
team
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6. 100,000 professionals
around the world have contributed
to the Inspiration Index.
As of today, nearly

7. Each of them has shared their
inspiration score — a number from:
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to
Always
feel inspired
Never
feel inspired

8. To date, the average score is 70.
Male average Female averageOverall average
We also discovered some fascinating trends.
For example, men tend to rate themselves
higher than women.
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9. Age
On the whole,
people seem
to grow more
inspired with
age.
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18-29 30-44 45-64 65+
67
69
71
74

10. Diving into specific locations,
we saw that Ahmedabad is the most inspired
city, while Madison is the least inspired.
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Madison,
Wisconsin
63
Ahmedabad
Gujarat, India
77

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Highest in
Mexico
Lowest in
China
And members rate themselves:

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Russia
has the biggest gender gap where men
are much more inspired than women.
Inspiration gapFemale averageMale average

13. Male averageFemale average
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Israel
has the biggest gender gap where
women are more inspired than men.
Inspiration gap

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Company size also plays a role.
Professionals tend to feel less inspired
in large companies…
1-10 11-50 51-200 201-500
70
76
Number of employees
1,000+
68 68
66

15. Training Entry Manager Director Partner Owner
67
70 71
74
66
81
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…especially when they’re in
middle management.

16. Creative
Industries
are the most
inspired.
83 Fine Art
82 Arts & Crafts
81 Professional Training
& Coaching
80 Photography
80
Religious
Institutions
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17. Plastics &
Defense
are the least
inspired.
64 Public Safety
63 Tobacco
63 Law Practice
62 Defense & Space
61 Plastics
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18. And what about
departments within companies?
We found the highest scores among:
Design Research Business
Development
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6974 69

19. While general and administrative
departments had the lowest scores.
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Finance Legal Accounting
5864 63

20. we’re left with
one final question…
Now that we’ve looked at inspiration by
gender, age, location, industry, and department,
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21. How inspired are you?
linkedin.com/inspiration-index
blog.linkedin.com
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