Student interest in non-traditional courses has seen a 61% increase: 2023 IC3 Institute Student Quest Survey Report.

India, 26 August 2023
The 2023 IC3 Institute Student Quest Survey Report has shed further light on the interplay between students, parents, and counselors in shaping the course of higher education and career aspirations. Conducted annually by the IC3 Institute, the survey ensures career and college counseling is data-driven and rooted in rigorous scientific research. Spanning across 98 countries, the survey’s comprehensive analysis includes responses from 8,377 students, 3,177 parents, and 793 high school counselors, revealing an evolving landscape of education choices and priorities. Vijaybhoomi University and University of Waterloo were the partners for this year’s survey report.

 For the first time since its inception, this year’s survey also included parents, attempting to quantify their impact in students’ educational journey. The survey revealed only 35% parents had interacted with their child’s counselor. This highlights a critical missing link in the decision-making journey. Some areas of increasing parent awareness were also identified — financial planning for higher education, understanding of new program offerings by universities, new-age and non-traditional careers, and the changing world of work.

Students surveyed revealed significant freedom in choosing their career and course, although parents tend to have more control over college and country decisions potentially due to safety and security concerns and financial implications of educational choices. However, parentawareness about emerging career opportunities and courses offered by universities, especially outside their region, remains relatively low, as per the report.

 “While students may exercise freedom in choosing their career path, parents’ role in shaping the college and country choices remains pivotal. These findings underscore the importance of ongoing conversations between parents and students, clearly indicating the need to include parents in the fold of school-based career and college counseling,” said Amrita Ghulati, Director — Academics, IC3 Institute.

 A marginal improvement was found in terms of students’ exposure to counseling with 51% students stating they have not met a career or college counselor, as compared to 55% last year. A majority of student respondents agreed counseling conversations are useful, with 65% rating them equal to or higher than 7 on a scale of 1-10. However, there still seems to be a lot of work to be done to make counseling widespread and accessible.

 The 2023 Student Quest Survey Report was released at the 2023 Annual IC3 Conference & Expo held at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC), Novotel, Hyderabad on 23 & 24 August, 2023. The conference is an initiative by the IC3 Movement, a global effort to establish career and college counseling in every school. The aim of the conference is to bring together higher education representatives for a collaborative dialogue on
 practices that drive sustainable and inclusive counseling practices focused on student success. This year’s theme “Finding Purpose ThroughCounseling”, is intended to inspire educators to unleash the full potential inside each and every student, through school-based counseling. The conference hosted close to 1,500 participants (in-person and virtually) worldwide, including senior leadership and counselors from high schools, universities, and organizations in the education space.
 
For more findings of the report, please visit: https://ic3institute.org/research-and-publications/