European first-year university students accept evolution but lack substantial knowledge about it: a standardized European cross-country assessment
Authors: Kuschmierz Paul , Beniermann Anna , Bergmann Alexander , Pinxten Rianne , Aivelo Tuomas , Berniak-Woźny Justyna , Bohlin Gustav , Bugallo-Rodriguez Anxela , Cardia Pedro , Cavadas Bento Filipe Barreiras Pinto , Cebesoy Umran Betul , Cvetković Dragana D. , Demarsy Emilie , Đorđević Mirko S. , Drobniak Szymon M. , Dubchak Liudmyla , Dvořáková Radka M. , Fančovičová Jana , Fortin Corinne , Futo Momir , Geamănă Nicoleta Adriana , Gericke Niklas , Grasso Donato A. , Korfiatis Konstantinos , Lendvai Ádám Z. , Mavrikaki Evangelia , Meneganzin Andra , Mogias Athanasios , Möller Andrea , Mota Paulo G. , Naciri Yamama , Németh Zoltán , Ożańska-Ponikwia Katarzyna , Paolucci Silvia , Pap Péter László , Petersson Maria , Pietrzak Barbara , Pievani Telmo , Pobric Alma , Porozovs Juris , Realdon Giulia , Sá-Pinto Xana , Savković Uroš B. , Sicard Mathieu , Sofonea Mircea T. , Sorgo Andrej , Stermin Alexandru N. , Tăușan Ioan , Torkar Gregor , Türkmen Lütfullah , Tutnjević Slavica , Uitto Anna E. , Varga Máté , Varga Mirna , Vazquez-Ben Lucia , Viguera Enrique , Virtbauer Lisa Christine , Vutsova Albena , Yruela Inmaculada , Zandveld Jelle , Graf Dittmar 
Published: November 2021

Background

Investigations of evolution knowledge and acceptance and their relation are central to evolution education research. Ambiguous results in this field of study demonstrate a variety of measuring issues, for instance differently theorized constructs, or a lack of standardized methods, especially for cross-country comparisons. In particular, meaningful comparisons across European countries, with their varying cultural backgrounds and education systems, are rare, often include only few countries, and lack standardization. To address these deficits, we conducted a standardized European survey, on 9200 first-year university students in 26 European countries utilizing a validated, comprehensive questionnaire, the “Evolution Education Questionnaire”, to assess evolution acceptance and knowledge, as well as influencing factors on evolution acceptance.

Results

We found that, despite European countries’ different cultural backgrounds and education systems, European first-year university students generally accept evolution. At the same time, they lack substantial knowledge about it, even if they are enrolled in a biology-related study program. Additionally, we developed a multilevel-model that determines religious faith as the main influencing factor in accepting evolution. According to our model, knowledge about evolution and interest in biological topics also increase acceptance of evolution, but to a much lesser extent than religious faith. The effect of age and sex, as well as the country’s affiliation, students’ denomination, and whether or not a student is enrolled in a biology-related university program, is negligible.

Conclusions

Our findings indicate that, despite all their differences, most of the European education systems for upper secondary education lead to acceptance of evolution at least in university students. It appears that, at least in this sample, the differences in knowledge between countries reflect neither the extent to which school curricula cover evolutionary biology nor the percentage of biology-related students in the country samples. Future studies should investigate the role of different European school curricula, identify particularly problematic or underrepresented evolutionary concepts in biology education, and analyze the role of religious faith when teaching evolution.