Global Student Survey: a survey of the lives, hopes and fears of undergraduate students across 21 countries in the age of COVID and beyond

At the outset of 2021, the world's students are under greater pressure than at any time in living memory and face unique challenges that leave their path to success less certain than for previous generations. The reasons are complex. The [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic, and the vast shifts that the education system has undergone to adapt to it, have had a destabilizing effect on learning. Many students have struggled to adjust from a system of mainly face-to-face learning to one that is almost entirely online. But, even before the pandemic, life for students was tough - with...  [+] Show more

At the outset of 2021, the world's students are under greater pressure than at any time in living memory and face unique challenges that leave their path to success less certain than for previous generations. The reasons are complex. The [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic, and the vast shifts that the education system has undergone to adapt to it, have had a destabilizing effect on learning. Many students have struggled to adjust from a system of mainly face-to-face learning to one that is almost entirely online. But, even before the pandemic, life for students was tough - with student debt soaring beyond any realistic level, and an uncertain economy resulting in an ultra-competitive jobs market. Students also faced an increasing disconnect between college curricula and the real-world requirements of the modern workplace. In other words, this report argues, the education sector as a whole has not been listening to what students and graduates need from higher education. This has to change. But how? This survey aims to provide national and global data on how undergraduates experience their education - and how they see it empowering them in their lives, their career plans, and in their responses to the complex challenges of today's world. Also, how the pandemic has changed students' attitudes to their studies or their future direction.

Chegg.org commissioned polling company Yonder (formerly Populus) to conduct the survey. Yonder interviewed 16,839 undergraduate students aged 18-21 in 21 countries between 20th of October and 10th of November 2020. Sample sizes ranged from 500 to 1,007 in each country. Global results represent the combined findings of the 21 countries studied. In the 'Global findings' section of this report, the text on the left hand side of the pages refers to the global averages across all 21 countries, while the graphs on the right hand side of the pages break these results down by country. The countries included in the research are: Argentina; Australia; Brazil; Canada; China; France; Germany; India; Indonesia; Italy; Japan; Kenya; Malaysia; Mexico; Russia; Saudi Arabia; South Korea; Spain; Turkey; UK; US.

Edited excerpts from publication.