UmU-Barometer: A longitudinal cohort study of university students

The UmU-Barometer is a longitudinal study was launched in 2020 by researchers at the Department of Sociology at Umeå University. The purpose of the UmU-Barometer is to increase knowledge about what students at Umeå University think about important issues during their time here. The survey focuses on attitudes about society, but it also contains questions about politics, the environment, the university as well as students’ academic experiences. 

In the study, participants were asked to answer a shorter survey once each semester. The eighth and final round of the study was carried out during spring 2024 and 7753 students from Umeå University participated in total. You can read more about preliminary results from the study in the reports below. Data from the UmU-barometer has also been used in the following scientific publications and will be the basis for additional scolarly articles in the future. 

Bohman, A., Eger, M. A., Hjerm, M., & Mitchell, J. (2023). COVID-19-induced academic stress and its impact on life satisfaction and optimism. A panel study of Swedish university students between 2020 and 2022. European Journal of Higher Education, 14(3), 429–450. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2023.2209707 

Mitchell, J., Bohman, A., Eger, M. A., & Hjerm, M. (2024). Rally around the flag? Explaining changes in Swedish public opinion toward NATO membership after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Acta Sociologica, 0(0).https://doi.org/10.1177/00016993241268185

Maureen Eger

Associate Professor and Docent at the Department of Sociology

Umeå University

maureen.eger@umu.se

Jeffrey Mitchell

Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology

Umeå University

jeffrey.mitchell@umu.se