The Survey ran between 1 November and 23 December 2024 with a total of 674 young people from all over Greece participating. 77% of the participants were 18-30 years old, while the remaining 23% were below 18. Girls participated more actively, representing more than half (67%) of respondents. The region with the highest participation was Attica (63%), followed by Central Macedonia (17%).
The Survey was conducted in English and Greek, and included three sections:
- 1. Education
- 2. Career
- 3. Sustainable Development Goals
Education section
The section examined extracurricular activities and informal education of young people. 67% of the participants in the Education section of the Survey stated that they are currently studying without working, followed by 21% who are students and work at the same time. Specifically, 39% are in the first year of their studies, whereas 41% are occupied with a full-time job or internship.
When asked for the type of extracurricular activities the participants are engaged in, half of them were split between learning foreign languages (26%) and not engaged in any extracurricular activities (24%). Asked why they chose the latter, 44% identified that lack of time as the main reason, adding that ‘stress and lack of energy and motivation’ were also additional reasons.
Most of the students that took part in the survey came from the National Kapodistrian University of Athens, followed by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and University of Piraeus; 54% stated that the optimal time they would spend participating in a project on a one-day basis, was less than 4 hours, 36% chose from 4 to 6 hours and 8% more than 6 hours.
Furthermore, 42% said that they use YouTube as a platform for educational purposes, followed by 22% who chose podcasts, Webinars (11%), TikTok (10%), Instagram (6%), Blogs/Articles (5%) and Books (4%).
Career section
When asked about the most influential element for getting a job, Formal University Education came first at the participants’ choices with 70% underlying its importance. The rest of the participants chose Internship within a local company (7%), Membership in an NGO (7%), Internship with a foreign company (6%), Family connections (3%), Informal Education (3%), Political Activism (2%) and Volunteering (2%).
Regarding the length of an internship, the 58% said that 6 months is the ideal period, 17% chose 12 months and 16% 3 months, while a 5% mentioned other alternatives ‘depending on the subject or the field of the study along with the requirements of the local economy’ (Male, 18 years old).
With regards to the type of organization most participants would choose to build their career in, the main replies were as follows: 36% chose a corporation (as an executive), 23% a startup, 10% in a government organization or NGO (9%). The top three organizations listed in participants’ preferences in terms of work were Action Aid Hellas, Deloitte, and Coca Cola. Other organizations included: Doctors without Borders, Google, PwC, Pfizer, Apple, Deloitte, WWF, while 7% of the participants stated they are not aware of any organizations. The three main sectors in which participants would like to build their career were Human Resources (18%), Business Administration (12%) and Information Technology (11%) as well as Project Management (11%).
As the main source of gathering information about employers and the opportunities they offer, 19% rated Conferences and Competitions, followed by 15% who chose the Internet portals, 12% recommendations from friends and LinkedIn (12%), and other social media channels (Instagram 9%, TikTok 4%, Facebook 4%, Twitter 2%).
Regarding the familiarity of the participants with AIESEC and its role, 69% stated that they were aware of the youth organization and 31% that they did not know AIESEC. 54% said they are not member/alumni, 26% said they are a member, 15% although they are not, they would like to become, while only 5% of those that took part in the survey were alumnis.
Sustainable Development Goals Section
Τhe section examined the knowledge and involvement of young people in contributing to the SDGs. 37% of those that participated in the survey said that they were familiar with the SDGs, 33% said that although they have heard about the SDGs, they are not familiar with the details and 29% said that they have not heard about the SDGs.
Replying to the question “which problems you recognize as the most important in Greece”, the top three were Poverty (39%), Unemployment (14%) and Poor Health (13%). Additionally, naming the problems the country and the society perceive as the most important and are focused on, the participants identified the following as the top three: Poverty (23%), Gender Inequality (23%) and Unemployment (14%).
Moreover, 44% of respondents would like to contribute to addressing these issues but they seemed unsure as to how they could do so, 28% said they’re already working towards finding a way to solve the problems (‘donating money to organizations’, ‘raising awareness’, ‘volunteering at NGOs’, and ‘supporting sustainable practices’ were some of the ways mentioned), 20% said they’re planning to contribute to addressing these issues, and 6% said they were not interested in resolving the problems.
Additionally, 72% of the participants said that the country and the society are not focused on solving the problems, 20% stated they were unsure and only 6% said that the country/society are working towards a solution. In terms of what would motivate the participants to act, suggestions included ‘the development of a reliable environment,’ ‘the existence of a good leader and a society willing to change things for better,’ as well as ‘the feeling that you’re making positive impact to other people’s lives.’
The survey will be presented at the Youth Voice event organized by AIESEC, on 21st February 2025.
