According to the Values and Attitudes survey commissioned by the National Union of Students in Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences – SAMOK, four out of five respondents think it likely that they will vote in the next elections. The choice of a candidate is based on values and one fifth of respondents give weight to the recommendations of voting machines. According to the survey, the parties closest to the university of applied sciences students are the Greens, the SDP, the Left Alliance and the Coalition Party.

“It is great to see that the interest among UAS students towards elections and voting has increased compared to the previous values and attitudes survey results. This also reflects the desire of students to influence who will make important decisions for them in the future,” says SAMOK Vice President Rico Martikainen.

SAMOK carried out the Values and Attitudes of UAS Students 2022 survey as part of the Student Barometer 2022 data collection by the Foundation for Research in Learning and Education Otus. The survey paints a picture of the prevailing opinions among students, but also reveals the diversity of the group. It provides information on the group’s voting behaviour and party affiliations, as well as what values they represent.

“What was surprising in the survey was that many respondents did not easily place themselves on a left-right or liberal-conservative scale. Many respondents chose not to answer this question, which suggests that the traditional divisions do not work as well as they used to,” says Virve Murto, a researcher at the Otus Foundation for Research on Learning and Education, which carried out the survey.

The Values and Attitudes of Polytechnic Students 2022 survey will be published on Thursday 1 December 2022 and can be found here.

For further information
Johanna Fonsell
Education Policy Advisor
[email protected]
tel. 050 389 1014

Rico Martikainen
Vice-President
[email protected]
tel. 050 389 1002