Abstract
It is very important to know the "needs of society" for mathematics, and to incorporate them into mathematics curricula. A survey on "The degree of requirement and expectation for mathematics" was conducted for 2060 companies by mail from January to February 2002, and 399 companies replied. From an analysis of the results, it is revealed that the general image of a person as expected by companies is "Being able to know numbers, to do calculation, to make predictions based on data, to consider things logically, to make judgments, to know statistics, and to express things briefly" as a result of mathematics education. From an analysis of opinions about mathematics education, it is revealed that "Improvements of mathematics teaching" such as applications to everyday life, lessons which emphasize interest, etc are expected. In addition, "Logical thinking" and "Creativity" are also expected. Making predictions based on data has not attracted attention up to now and should be emphasized more. Although companies' expectation for statistics is very high, statistics has been shifted to the upper secondary mathematics from the lower secondary in the new courses of study. Moreover, companies pay attention to not only the contents of mathematics but also the ways of teaching.
