Uni Bremen’s DNA: Open-minded

It could hardly be more succinct. The image that alumni, staff and students have of the University of Bremen can be summed up in one descriptor: open-minded. This is the result of a survey on the “DNA” of the university, which the alumni association, Faculty 8 (Social Sciences) and the Social Science Methods Centre sent out in 2020 to our more than 8,000 alumni newsletter subscribers. The survey has now been evaluated as part of a research project by master's student Lena Wollenberg — with exciting results.

The extensive questionnaire took almost 20 minutes to fill out. 425 participants answered, providing a variety of assessments that far exceeds other evaluations of the university. Nearly 70 percent of the respondents were former students, and over 60 percent had graduated in the past 20 years. It is clear that satisfaction with studying at the University of Bremen is high. Overall (former and current students), 48 percent of respondents said they were "rather satisfied" and 42 percent said they were or are "very satisfied" with their studies.

The university scored particularly well in terms of study content, teaching and support provided by lecturers. "This is not a representative survey," said Professor Uwe Engel, Director of the Social Science Methods Centre until his recent retirement. "Nevertheless, the results are reliable because they give a clear picture of how people judge their university, to which they obviously feel attached." In this context, the particularly valuable answers were the ones where respondents prioritised five out of 20 given statements about the University of Bremen. Here, 55.8 percent of respondents ranked "an institution where it is good to study" in their top 5, closely followed by “open-minded” (54.8 percent). These assessments correspond to evaluations of the university's location. "Bremen is a city where it's good to study" was most frequently selected in the top 5 out of a total of 15 choices, with 72.9 percent. In second place, with 60.7 percent, was "Bremen is a cosmopolitan city".