Public consultation on the futures of higher education marked by global participation

As part of our project on the Futures of Higher Education, we invited the public to participate and tell us their views about the futures of higher education.

To obtain the views of people around the world, a short survey was widely disseminated and available to all between May and August 2021. Participants were asked for some basic information about themselves and then gave their responses to the two key questions we’re tackling in this project: How would you like higher education to be in 2050? How could higher education contribute to better futures for all in 2050?

In total, over 1,200 responses were received from almost 100 countries in all world regions. Just over half of the respondents completed the survey in Spanish; others wrote in English, Chinese, French, and Portuguese. Participants ranged in age from under 15 to over 60. Of those that identified as female/male, almost 60% are female and 40% are male.

The results of this high public consultation will feed into a major new report to be published by UNESCO IESALC later in 2021. These valuable contributions will help shape the way that we think about and plan for higher education into the next thirty years.

We take the opportunity to thank all the individuals and organizations that not only completed the survey but shared it around the world.

Photo by Ryoji Iwata on Unsplash