Gen Zers Envision a Bright Future Ahead but Feel Ill-Prepared for it, New Gallup
Survey Finds
Voices of Gen Z study shows engagement in the classroom is key indicator of optimism andpreparedness, yet nearly every measure of engagement declined YoY

Washington, D.C., August 21, 2024-- Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation today released theVoices of Gen Z study, an annual survey designed to better understand Gen Z’s uniqueperspectives, which reveal ambitions and challenges that are unique among this generation. Thisnationally representative, multiyear study of thousands of members of Gen Z between the ages of 12
and 27 gives policymakers and researchers an invaluable resource for not only understanding thisgeneration’s needs, but for making data-driven decisions to address them.
The findings show that Gen Zers are filled with optimism about what lies ahead, as nearly 8 in 10
Gen Zers agree they have a great future ahead of them. However, only about half (51%) feel
prepared for that future.
For Gen Zers in middle and high school, the most important predictor of whether they feel excitedabout and prepared for their future is the extent to which they feel engaged at school. Nearly every
measure of engagement, based on eight different criteria, declined from 2023 to 2024.
The largest drops were in students’ being interested in and challenged by what they are learning.
More than 4 in 10 Gen Z students do not agree they have learned anything interesting in the past
week and over half don’t have the opportunity to do schoolwork that aligns with their interests ortalents.
The students who are most engaged in school are more than four times as likely as the leastengaged students to strongly agree they have a great future ahead of them and are 10 times more
likely to strongly agree they feel prepared for the future. Students who are engaged report feeling likewhat they are learning in the classroom is interesting, challenging and allows them to leverage theirnatural talents. Importantly, 60% of Gen Z K-12 students say that when they feel most engaged withwhat they are learning, it is because their teacher made the topic interesting or exciting.
The Voices of Gen Z study also found that mental health continues to pose a challenge to many GenZers and is strongly correlated with overall life evaluation and the outlook on their future. Those withexcellent mental health are more than three times as likely to feel prepared for their futures thanthose with only fair mental health, and about seven times as likely to feel prepared as those who havepoor mental health.
“Gen Zers are giving us the roadmap for success: stronger student-teacher bonds, more relevant
learning experiences and greater exposure to career opportunities. The more we can do to realize
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their vision for K-12 education, the better our system will be,” said Walton Family Foundation
Education Program Director Romy Drucker.
Regardless of whether Gen Zers’ goals are to pursue a college education or a non-college pathway
after graduation, most do not feel very prepared for their future endeavors. About one-quarter of Gen
Z high school students feel they are very prepared to apply to (26%) or succeed (24%) in college.
Career prospects are only marginally higher: 29% of Gen Z high school students believe they will bevery prepared in the future to succeed in their careers.
The exception to this is when middle and high school students have opportunities to learn job-relatedskills in school. This leads them to be more confident in their ability to succeed in the future. However,about one-third or less of students say their schools offer opportunities to learn job-related skills,
practice applying or interviewing for jobs, or work on projects related to a career they may want.
Similarly, while more than 4 in 10 (43%) Gen Z K-12 students hope to pursue something other thancollege after high school, fewer than 1 in 4 have had a lot of conversations about non-college
pathways such as apprenticeships and internships (23%), careers that don’t require a degree (19%),or entrepreneurism (13%).
“Gen Z K-12 students are feeling unprepared for their future and given only about a quarter are
having meaningful conversations about non-college pathways, it’s clear as to why,” said StephanieMarken, Gallup senior partner for U.S. survey research. “While a postsecondary path makes sensefor many, it’s not the right path for all immediately upon high school graduation, and what we’relearning from this research is that students are lacking a complete picture of the options available tothem upon high school completion.”
METHODOLOGY
Results are based on a Gallup Panel™ web survey conducted April 26-May 9, 2024, with a sample of4,157 12- to 27-year-olds living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The Gallup Panel is a
probability-based panel of U.S. adults who are randomly selected using address-based sampling
methodology. Gallup also recruits using random‑digit-dial phone interviews that cover landline andcellphones.
Within the overall sample, 2,364 12- to 19-year-old children were reached through adult members ofthe Gallup Panel who indicated they had at least one child 18 or younger living in their household;
Panel members whose child completed the survey in 2023 were asked to have the same childcomplete the survey again, even if they were 19 years old. The remaining 1,793 18- to 27-year-old
respondents are members of the Gallup Panel.
For the total sample of 4,157 Gen Z respondents, the margin of sampling error is ±2.1 percentage
points at the 95% confidence level. For the sample of 2,317 children still enrolled in K-12 school, themargin of sampling error is ±2.7 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. For the sample of
1,840 Gen Z youth who are no longer enrolled in K-12 school, the margin of sampling error is ±3.1
percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Margins of error for subgroups are higher.
All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting. In addition tosampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error orbias into the findings of public opinion polls.
Copyright © 2024 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.

2About the Walton Family Foundation
The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. Three generations of thedescendants of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, and their spouses work together to lead thefoundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas:
improving education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support, and investing in
our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. To learn more, visit
waltonfamilyfoundation.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About Gallup
Gallup delivers analytics and advice to help leaders and organizations solve their most pressing
problems. Combining more than 80 years of experience with its global reach, Gallup knows more
about the attitudes and behaviors of employees, customers, students and citizens than any otherorganization in the world.

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