Students aren’t ‘woke’ on many controversial issues, poll finds

Students’ views on controversial topics often mirror those of the general public, despite concerns from some quarters that universities are creating a “woke snowflake” generation, according to new polling. 

The data also suggests that the Green Party is the most popular political party among students – with 8 per cent backing Reform.

The Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) polled 1,018 undergraduates aged 18 to 21 for their views on a range of topics, including abortion, a wealth tax and reparations for the slave trade. 

On several issues, including the impact of artificial intelligence on jobs, capital punishment and the Israel-Gaza war, it found that students’ views were broadly in line with those of the general public. 

For example, although 50 per cent of students thought Israel’s response to the 7 October attacks was “indefensible”, a comparable 45 per cent of the public said it was “not justified”.

Similarly, while 47 per cent of students thought capital punishment should be reintroduced for some serious crimes, other polling suggests 50 per cent of the population believe the same.

But the results also show that students feel more strongly about certain issues than the general public. 

For example, three-quarters of students (75 per cent) said man-made climate change has not been exaggerated by the scientific community, whereas among all adults, under two-thirds (62 per cent) thought the same. 

Roughly half of students (47 per cent) also favoured reparations for the slave trade, while just a quarter (24 per cent) of the public backed the idea.

Students were also less supportive of certain policies than the wider public, including the prospect of a wealth tax (backed by 60 per cent of students versus 78 per cent of the public) and allowing assisted dying (60 per cent versus 79 per cent).

The poll also asked students whether they supported the right of transgender people to use the changing facilities of their gender identity, rather than those of their sex at birth. 

Universities are currently grappling with new guidelines that state single-sex facilities must be used on the basis of biological sex.

Hepi found that, compared with the wider public, a higher proportion of students supported transgender people using the toilet facilities of their gender identity but that this view only had minority support, with half of students opposing it.

“Taken together, these results puncture the idea that students are ‘woke snowflakes’,” Hepi’s report says. “As a group, they are much more like the rest of the population than intentionally-overblown caricatures.”

It added that understanding students’ opinions is “more important than ever” given the perception that a “culture war” is taking place on campuses, and as universities seek to comply with new free speech requirements.

The poll also looked at students’ voting intentions, finding the Green Party the most popular, with 35 per cent of respondents saying they would vote for them. 

Behind the Greens was Labour at 12 per cent, Reform UK at 8 per cent and the Liberal Democrats at 7 per cent. The Conservatives were the least popular party, at 6 per cent, while one in four students (24 per cent) said they would not vote at all. 

“Comparing the views of students with those of all adults is revealing because today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders,” said Nick Hillman, chief executive of Hepi and author of the report.

“However, it is an inexact science based on different polls from different polling companies undertaken at different times. So these conclusions come with methodological health warnings. We urge others to undertake similar work to see if their results corroborate ours.”

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com