How Young People Learn, Work, and Engage With Society
The Youth Speak Survey 2025 was conducted between October 2025 and January 2026 and collected 385 valid responses, achieving a 92% completion rate. Participants were primarily young people aged 14–25, representing a broad geographic spread across Greece, including urban centres and regional areas. The sample reflects a diversity of educational and employment backgrounds, including students, young workers, unemployed youth, freelancers, as well as both AIESEC members (32%) and non-members (68%).
In terms of demographics, responses show a gender distribution of approximately 69% (female) and 31% (male), indicating stronger participation from one gender group while still capturing a wide range of perspectives. Overall, the survey offers a meaningful snapshot of how young people in Greece experience education, employment, civic engagement, and their future prospects—revealing a generation navigating uncertainty with ambition, concern, and a strong sense of values.
Learning That Feels Relevant
and Real
Young people clearly reject rigid, one-dimensional learning models. While visual and verbal learning styles remain important, the strongest preference is for blended and experiential learning, combining seeing, hearing, doing, and collaborating. Many respondents explicitly selected “all of the above”, underscoring a strong demand for interactive, hands-on, and peer-based learning environments.
This highlights the importance of:
- practical
application of knowledge,
- teamwork
and collaboration,
- learning connected to real-life challenges.
Traditional lecture-based education alone is widely
perceived as insufficient preparation for today’s social and economic
realities.
Education Pathways and the
Skills Gap
Most respondents are currently studying (68%), mainly at undergraduate level, with representation from high schools, vocational education (EPAS/SAEK) (17%), and recent graduates. While institutions in Athens and Thessaloniki are prominent, the survey reflects diverse educational routes across the country.
Satisfaction with education is mixed (52% satisfied – 48% unsatisfied). Alongside appreciation for academic foundations, young people frequently highlight:
- outdated curricula,
- limited opportunities for practical experience,
- weak links between education and the labour market.
This gap contributes directly to anxiety around employability and career readiness.
Career Aspirations: Ambition
Meets Uncertainty
Young people demonstrate high ambition in their career
goals. Many aspire to:
- corporate
roles, often with leadership or executive ambitions (29%),
- entrepreneurship
and startup environments (16%),
- NGOs (12%) and public institutions (6%), particularly where social impact is visible.
Freelancing also appears frequently, reflecting both entrepreneurial
spirit and the precarity of the Greek labour market. These
aspirations coexist with doubts about whether Greece can realistically provide
stable and meaningful opportunities.
Transitioning to Work: What
Actually Helps
When asked what most helps in securing employment,
respondents consistently point to:
- internships
and work experience,
- informal
learning and skills development (online courses, workshops,
self-learning),
- formal education, though often viewed as insufficient on its own.
Volunteering and NGO involvement are valued, especially
among more civically engaged youth, while personal networks are
acknowledged—sometimes critically—as still playing a role.
The Broader Context: What
Young People Are Worried About
Across regions and backgrounds, young people identify a set
of deeply interconnected challenges facing Greece:
- economic
insecurity, unemployment, low wages, and high living costs,
- education
systems disconnected from real-life needs,
- mental
health strain, stress, and anxiety,
- corruption,
nepotism, and lack of meritocracy,
- weak trust in institutions and governance, environmental degradation and climate inaction, the ongoing threat of brain drain.
Many responses explicitly link economic pressure with
psychological exhaustion, describing a sense of instability, frustration,
and loss of hope about the future.
Civic Engagement: Caring
Without Feeling Powerful
When asked whether they are personally acting to address
these issues, responses reveal a clear tension. Many young people report
engagement through:
- volunteering (33%),
- awareness-raising (24%),
- participation
in collective or community actions (7%).
At the same time, a significant share expresses disengagement
or frustration (36%), often stating that they do not believe individual action
can lead to meaningful change.
This reveals a critical insight: Young people care deeply, but many feel powerless within existing systems.
Awareness of the SDGs: Values Without the Framework
Familiarity with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
is uneven. Some respondents are well informed (46%), while many have only heard of
the SDGs (22%) or are unfamiliar with them altogether (32%). Yet, the issues young people
prioritise—quality education, decent work, reduced inequalities, climate
action, justice, and strong institutions—align closely with SDG priorities.
This suggests that the challenge is not a lack of values,
but rather a lack of visibility, integration, and meaningful connection
between global frameworks and young people’s everyday realities.
What Young People Want Next
When asked how Greece should move forward on the SDGs, young
people show a strong preference for comprehensive and coordinated action:
- integrating
SDGs into education,
- expanding
youth-focused initiatives and events,
- embedding
SDGs into government policy and practice.
The frequent choice of “all of the above” signals a
clear message: isolated or symbolic actions are not enough.
Trust, Institutions, and the
Feeling of Being Heard
On whether Greece is actively trying to address the
challenges young people face, the prevailing perception is negative (85%).
Even among those who are personally engaged, there is a strong sense that:
- institutions
do not meaningfully listen to young people,
- policies
lack continuity and real implementation,
- youth
participation is often consultative rather than empowering.
This perceived disconnect contributes to cynicism and
disengagement.
A Generation Ready to Act —
If Given the Space
The Youth Speak Survey 2025 does not portray an apathetic
generation. It reveals a generation that is:
- ambitious
and motivated,
- socially
and politically aware,
- eager to learn through experience, driven by values and impact.
What young people are asking for is clear: practical skills, meaningful opportunities, mental health support, and genuine inclusion in decision-making. They need systems that respond, institutions that trust them, and spaces where participation leads to real change.
