The Vives Network has presented the results of the report Via Universitària: Access, learning conditions, expectative and returns from the university studies (2023-2025), a study of reference in the superior educational field. With the participation of more than 45.000 students from the 20 universities and 1.700 titles from the País Valencià, Cataluña, las Islas Baleares and Andorra, the report offers a detailed radiography of the current university experience: from life conditions and the organisation of studies, to cultural habits, emotional well-being and professional expectative. This is the forth edition and it consolidates Vía Universitaria as one of the widest and rigorous surveys from the European university system, and puts data to the service of consideration and formulation of public policies for a more fair, inclusive and connected university with the reality of our students. The scientific leader of the study is formed by the Sociology full university professor from the Universitat de València, Antonio Ariño y Ramon Llopis; the Education Theory full university professor from the University of Barcelona, Miquel Martínez, and by the Economics proffessor of this same university Ernest Pons.

Social, equity and unequal access origin

The report reveals that the social origin continues being a determinant factor to access and choose university studies. High social class represents the 63% of the undergraduate students and the 61% of the master's degree, numbers that show a university system that is still far from equity. What’s more, students from families with less formative level are concentred in areas such as Social Sciences, Humanities and Health, and they usually suffer complex or interrupted academic trajectories for economical issues.

Economic pressure, a constant for university experience

The funding of university studies depends fundamentally in the families, that cover around the 50% of total costs. Grants only represent the 13,9% of deposits, and work during the year gains weight (22,2%). As for the access to housing, results show how access to university doesn’t entail an emancipation of the parental house. This way, 6 out of 10 students are still living in their parents or relatives’ house during their university period. It also has been identified an increase on the shared rents compared to earlier editions (26,4%). These data questions the redistributive capacity of the university system and reinforces the dependence on the socioeconomic comeback, as well as the current tensions in the real-estate market.

Inequality and gender breach in the personal use of time

Thought women are usually in the sample (63% of students), the choosing of studies continues being marked by stereotypes of gender. Women gather in areas such as Health and Education while men predominate in Engineeries and technological areas with better work exits and powerful positions. Furthermore, the analysis in terms of time breach draws a reality where women dedicate more time to studying and doing house chores, while men have more time for hobbies and social life. This inequality in the time distribution would be accentuated with age, extending the overloading of responsibilities for women.

The consolidation of remote education

The study confirms the consolidation of the remote university, with a 20% of the surveyed students who still continue with their studies entirely online. This model, that traditionally took students from non-conventional trajectories, now registers a considerable increase of people younger than 26. This way, online teaching becomes a real and increasing alternative, that incorporates their own dynamics, and linked to profiles with more familiar and working responsibilities.

Correlation and participation in university life

Another of the significant data of the study is the low participation in university life: an 80% of students assures to never having participated in any associative body or entity. In addition, a considerable 22,9% affirms feeling ignored by the institutions. Conversely, the students practice of sports is high (71%), but is mostly out of the university campuses.

Emotional well-being and mental health: a structural problem

Emotional well-being is another of the main challenges detected in the Via Universitaria report. A 26% of students declares to having suffered anxiety and medical diagnosis increase, data that first increased during the social and health episode of pandemics. The report recommends that universities incorporate mental health as their priority, with more resources and preventive strategies.

Dedication to study and teaching innovative methodology

Students have shown preferences for active and participative methodologies, like individual work and continuous evaluation. However, a reduction on time dedicated to autonomous study has been detected, which suggests new challenges in learning quality. Class assistance, however, continues being high (88,5%), it refutes the social rumour about an increase on absenteeism in class.

International mobility and masters: a global view

International mobility gets back and beats prepandemics levels: more than 10% of students have coursed training placement or research abroad. At the same time, master's degree studies gain weight as a way of work insertion, with an increasing presence of international students (26,3%). In this sense, the sensation of needing a postgraduate education title in order to have an adequate work insertion has been generalised.

Via Universitaria: the most important study about students on the Pyrenees Mediterranean region

The goal of the Via Universitaria programme is getting to know the university students profile, their study conditions, their satisfaction with teaching and their link to university. The Vives Network report examines data about student paths from a triple perspective: equity in acessing and living in higher education, the transformation of students’ reality due to an increasingly diverse social environment, and the quality of teaching and learning methdologies. This way, Via Universitaria alienates with the results from the international report Eurostudent, which collects the same information in the European field.

More information:

• Report