Should I stay or should I go? A study of risk-taking propensity, creativity, and exit intent of North Dakota college seniors in business

North Dakota is losing its young, college-educated workers at a rate higher than any other state in the nation. The intent of this research was to add new knowledge to the topic of the outmigration of this important demographic. This study examined the relationship between two independent variables, risk orientation and level of creativity, on a dependent variable, strength of intent to exit the state of North Dakota within three years of college graduation.; The population for this study included 51 college seniors who were majoring in business and native North Dakotans. Student research participants were given an online inventory known as the Creatrix Inventory that measured each student's risk-taking propensity as well as their creativity index. Student research participants also completed a descriptive instrument that asked them to state the strength of their intent to exit or remain in the state after graduation. Using logistic regression and correlational analysis, no statistically significant relationship was found between the independent variables and the dependent variable.; The descriptive instrument also queried the research participants regarding five variables of interest: gender, university attended, size of community of origin, grade point average, and plans of close high school friends. Chi-squared tests for significance using crosstabulations were used to test whether there were any significant or predictable relationships between the selected variables and intent. The two variables that were determined to be statistically significant were grade point average and university attended.; A projective instrument was also included in the study. Student research participants were shown a picture of a recent college graduate exiting the state in a moving truck and asked to express the feelings that the driver of the truck may be having. This instrument was used in an attempt to bring the respondents' own words and thoughts consciously forward, and also as a means of verifying results obtained through previously mentioned measures of interest to this research.