MINT Sentiment Barometer 2025
On behalf of ETH Zurich and financed by the Hirschmann Foundation, gfs.bern collected data for the first time in summer 2025 for the MINT sentiment barometer, a representative long-term study on the perception of MINT in Switzerland. In the coming years, the MINT Sentiment Barometer will highlight the status quo and trends in the perception of MINT in order to derive appropriate measures for promoting MINT in Switzerland.
MINT
The MINT Sentiment Barometer 2025 offers the first empirically based overview of how the subject area of MINT (mathematics, information technology, natural sciences and technology) is perceived by the Swiss population and decision-makers. The study is based on a representative population survey and a supplementary survey of decision-makers.
2025 is the baseline measurement of the monitoring, which is designed as a long-term study. This has created a reliable basis for observing STEM perception in Switzerland over the next ten years.
The aim of the study is to provide evidence-based foundations for decision-making processes in order to increase the effectiveness of STEM promotion. By providing empirically based data and analyses, the aim is to contribute to the targeted alignment of promotion strategies and measures and to optimise their impact at both the individual and structural levels
Key findings of the STEM sentiment barometer 2025:
- Only around a third of the population is familiar with the term ‘STEM’. Awareness varies significantly according to level of education, language and family background. The term is almost universally known among decision-makers.
- STEM skills are widely recognised as key factors for innovation, prosperity and Switzerland’s future viability. However, personal relevance remains limited – STEM skills are primarily considered important at a collective level, not an individual level.
People’s self-assessment of their own STEM skills is moderate. There are striking gender differences in both self-perception and the assessment of children: men and sons are consistently rated as more competent than women and daughters. - STEM teaching in schools is viewed with ambivalence – somewhere between enthusiasm and frustration. In particular, there is a desire for more practical relevance, everyday relevance and playful elements.
Parents with higher education promote their children’s STEM skills more frequently and in a more targeted manner. - STEM professions enjoy a high social status overall, but are also associated with high demands, male-dominated structures and unattractive, stereotypical ideas about everyday life in STEM professions (little teamwork, male-dominated, etc.).Decision-makers evaluate STEM skills and STEM professions much more positively and strategically than the general population.
The final report in german with further details and analyses can be downloaded here. The summary report on the STEM sentiment barometer can be accessed here.
