57% Of University Students in Switzerland Report Difficulties in Education, 10% Consider Dropping Out

57 percent of students in Switzerland have reported difficulties in their education, related mainly to content of courses, according to the 2020 report on the social and economic situation of students carried out by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

The survey findings indicate that 33 percent of students were not satisfied with the content of their courses, while some 24 percent mentioned that they experienced lack of motivation, Erudera.com reports.

Furthermore, students at the age of 30 or above have reported fewer difficulties with the content of studies compared to younger ones. However, data have shown that older students have often experienced financial and personal issues.

Seven percent of all students whose parents do not have a post-compulsory education have reported more difficulties during their education.

Among students at universities (UH), those who have most often reported difficulties related to the content of their courses are involved in the following fields:

• exact and natural sciences (42 percent)
• medicine and pharmacy (39 percent)
• humanities and social sciences (30 percent)
• interdisciplinary and other subjects (26 percent)

Meanwhile, at the universities of applied sciences (FH) and teacher training colleges (PH), 37 percent of students involved in the field of technology and IT, 36 percent in design, 35 percent in chemistry and life sciences have mentioned more difficulties regarding the content of their courses. Data further show that other students who reported difficulties in the content of studies are:

• 19 percent involved in sport
• 21 percent in music, theater, and other arts
• 23 percent in applied psychology

At the University of Applied Sciences, students in medicine and pharmacy, technical sciences and economics, said that they have good communication with teachers, while 61 percent describe friendly relations with their teachers.

“Conversely, students in the humanities and social sciences explain just as often as the average that they get on well with the teachers, but much less often that they have friends among their fellow students. By contrast, law students report less often that they get on well with teachers and that they have friends among their fellow students,” FSO notes.

Ten percent of students have considered dropping out of education; most of them claim that their health is poor or very poor (17 percent of students).

Moreover, students whose parents do not have a post-compulsory education, those experiencing financial problems, level of employment of over 80 percent, as well as students over 35 years, are also more likely to leave education.