The text is translated by UiO GPT.
Studiebarometeret is conducted annually with 2nd and 5th-year students from all Norwegian universities and colleges. This year's survey reveals that the students at the Faculty of Social Sciences (SV) are generally very satisfied with their study program. Particularly, the students are pleased with teaching and assessment methods at the faculty.
"We are pleased that our students are happy with the study program they are enrolled in. The score has indeed dropped a bit since last year, but we are in line with the national average and elsewhere in UiO," says the dean of studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Tora Skodvin.
The percentage of social science students who responded to the Studiebarometeret fell from 36 percent last year to 32 percent for this year's survey.
"The Study Barometer can be an important tool for measuring student satisfaction. Therefore, we wish that even more students would respond to the survey next year so that the results become more reliable."
In-demand competence
The 2024 Studiebarometeret involves a 0.3-point decline in perceived connections to the job market for social science students. This is in stark contrast to the 2024 Kandidatundersøkelsen, which shows that around 88 percent of social science students are employed within six months after graduation, and that nearly half of all graduates from social sciences had jobs before completing their education.
"We know that our studies are relevant to the job market. We have systematically worked with job-market relevance for many years at both the bachelor's and master's levels, in disciplinary and interdisciplinary groups, in individual and group work, both at the faculty and at the individual departments," says Skodvin.
Career-relevant initiatives within and around studies are a priority area at the Faculty of Social Sciences.
Skodvin has the impression that students nonetheless feel uncertain about their own competence.
"We must continue to strengthen students' competence awareness and give them tasks that allow them to experience, rather than just be told, that the skills from social sciences are in demand in the job market."
Good collaboration with external partners
Tora Skodvin has the impression that many instructors at the Faculty of Social Sciences are good at incorporating job-market relevance into regular teaching through assignments and reflective work. Additionally, the focus on job-market connections and competence awareness is more direct through specific practice subjects and project work—such as Career-Relevant Project Work, the Sustainability Lab, and the Project Sustainable Oslo.
"I find that we have a good collaboration with external partners from the public, private, and voluntary sectors. Students who participate in this type of teaching report experiencing a high level of mastery and gaining greater confidence in the relevance of their competence," says Skodvin.
"We are working to ensure that all students at the Faculty of Social Sciences have the opportunity to choose such subjects and that the offerings become better known to more people."
Further developing Discover your future
In recent years, the Faculty of Social Sciences has contributed to the development of a broad range of career support with Discover your future. This is a service that was established at the Faculty of Social Sciences in collaboration with the career services at UiO and is now available to all students at the university.
Discover your future consists of a course package that follows students from the start of bachelor's studies throughout the entire study path until they complete a master's degree.
"There are many students who enroll in these courses and receive help in taking career-relevant steps throughout their study path," says Skodvin.
"Unfortunately, there's a portion of those who sign up for the career courses who don't complete them. The career services are now working to simplify and upgrade the content of the course package so that it is even easier for students to prioritize developing their competence awareness in a busy day."
Establishing task force for AI
The 2024 Studiebarometeret indicates that more than half of the students at the Faculty of Social Sciences say they use artificial intelligence (AI) "often" (29 percent) or "occasionally" (32 percent), while 61 percent of students respond that they "to a small extent" receive adequate training in the use of AI tools through their study program or at their educational institution.
Skodvin believes the figures reflect a mismatch between the use of AI among students and instructors—many students use AI in their daily work, but few instructors do the same.
"At the same time, I find that both instructors and students demand clearer guidelines for the use of AI in teaching and assessment at the Faculty of Social Sciences," says the dean of studies.
Therefore, Skodvin has now established a working group to develop recommendations on how AI can be incorporated into course descriptions and learning outcomes.
With support from the learning network EILIN, the work will be followed up with arenas for experience sharing and support for instructors needing training, in addition to tips and tricks for how instructors at the Faculty of Social Sciences can better incorporate AI as a learning tool in their teaching.
"We hope instructors will take more responsibility for students' training in the proper use of AI, and that students, before too long, will feel they receive clear instructions from course leaders and instructors on how they can use AI in their studies," says Skodvin.
"Good use of AI as a learning tool must be learned by both students and instructors."