A shortage of critical thinking among students and practitioners is one of the big challenges facing PR education and the profession at large, say leaders in the field. Critical thinking can help individuals see underlying connections among disparate ideas or facts, assess information logically, and resolve complex issues. We all think, but critical thinking is difficult because our egos and other factors can lead to undisciplined, biased, self-centered, even prejudiced thinking.

It is also complex because it's more than a set ...