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C21 Student Voices Project
The Student Voices Project
In the fall of 2019, Boston College’s Church in the 21st Century Center set out to develop a method for ‘taking the pulse’ of Boston College students’ faith journeys. Between November 2020 and October 2021, the Center’s Student Voices Project surveyed nearly 550 Boston College undergraduate and graduate students about their faith journeys. Having learned that the Student Voices Project’s model of short, digitally accessible surveying was an effective strategy for understanding how students view their faith, the Center later adapted this model to support Pope Francis’s Synod on Synodality.
What We Learned
Through short online surveys and focus groups, the Center engaged with nearly 550 undergraduate and graduate students at Boston College and an additional 1,000+ high school-aged students from 26 high schools in 14 states.
Here is what we learned from the college-aged data:
Students desire a sense of community on campus and around their faith.
Students are willing to and interested in engaging with questions of faith outside of the Mass.
Boston College's coursework and distinctive academic programs are major sites of engagement with questions of faith.
Students believe that hospitality around the Mass and other Catholic programs is important.
Here is what we learned from the high school-aged data:
Students want to develop a greater understanding of their faith and a sense of meaning in practicing it.
Students desire a sense of community to enrich their faith.
Students desire greater engagement with school, parish, and Church leaders, especially around pressing social issues.
Interested in bringing the project to your school or parish?
Email church21@bc.edu
