Undergrads and the 3am Email
June 18, 2021
From his teaching experience at the National University of Singapore, Senior Lecturer Georgios Georgiou (NUS Economics) explains that it is not uncommon for students to send him emails in the wee hours of the morning. He wonders whether these habits are associated with the students’ many responsibilities and investigates their happiness levels. In The Straits Times’ Ask NUS Economists Series, Dr. Georgios Georgiou answers the question, “Are undergraduates happier than the average Singaporeans?”
The United Nations publishes an annual report ranking countries according to their happiness. According to the report, Singapore experienced a decrease in average happiness from 2015 to 2018. This also caused Singapore to fall behind in global happiness rankings — from 22nd in 2015 to 34th in 2017. While Singapore’s happiness level is not consistent with the fact that it is one of the richest countries in the world, Dr. Georgiou notes that this is in line with the experiences of affluent East Asian countries such as Japan and Korea.
From his surveys gauging the happiness levels of Singapore’s university students, Dr. Georgiou discovered that undergraduates were consistently registering happiness levels that were lower than Singapore’s average, suggesting that the average student was indeed unhappier than the average Singaporean. An even more surprising finding is when adjusting happiness levels for international students on their exchange programs in Singapore, he discovered that the average happiness levels of local students would be even lower than the national average. This is attributed to the fact that international exchange students participating in the survey were pulling up the average happiness level.
Dr. Georgiou asserts that the survey results of Singaporean students’ happiness levels are a concern that needs to be tackled. He argues that we can take advantage of institutional tools to strengthen the social foundations of happiness — a strong support network, the autonomy to make choices, and generosity — to improve happiness levels among our students here.
Read the article here!