Survey: 70 percent of JKU students work part-time

The expansion of digital teaching methods, an improvement in public connections and the compatibility of studies and work: Philipp Bergsmann, chairman of the Austrian Student Union (ÖH), derives these three priorities from the annual survey by IMAS International at the Johannes Kepler University (JKU) in Linz .

2,618 of the 27,750 JKU students took part in the survey in January 2024. “The response rate has been around ten percent for ten years,” says a satisfied Bergsmann in the OÖN interview.

Night lines to Mensafest

The topic of work and study was asked for the first time. 70 percent of JKU students work part-time and work an average of 21.2 hours per week. The main reasons given are “improving the budget” and “financial necessity”. “In order to be able to combine work and study even better, it is also important that digital elements are expanded and learning materials are increasingly made available online,” says Bergsmann. Half of the students stated that lessons should be supported by digital elements in the future.

ÖH chairman Bergsmann, who studies physics and business administration (business administration), welcomes the construction of the Linz regional light rail: public connections play an important role for the majority of students. In the survey, 54 percent said they would travel by train, tram or bus. In order not to have to rely on a taxi or walk from the Mensafefest on Thursday, the 21-year-old from Linz is calling for an “expansion of the night lines”. There have already been discussions with Linz AG and the deputy mayor Martin Hajart (VP), who is responsible for transport. “Based on the results of the survey, we will now intensify the discussions,” says Bergsmann.