How do teachers influence the way students see their future?
Findings from a 2025 Springtide Research Institute survey of teens and young adults suggest that teachers influence how young people think about their futures, from how emotionally supportive it feels to think about the future, to the kind of impact they hope to have on the world.
Over half (53%) of the survey’s respondents say that teachers moderately or significantly influenced their thinking about what they want to do with their lives. An additional quarter of respondents (25%) report that teachers have slightly influenced their thoughts about the future.
Teacher Influence and a Sense of Purpose
Students who say teachers have significantly influenced their thoughts about the future are more likely to say they know their life’s purpose (31%) and are more likely to say they are certain of it (31%). Students who report no teacher influence are less likely to know their life’s purpose (14%) and are less certain of it (21%).
Young people who report greater teacher influence are also more likely to say that thinking about their future helps rather than hurts their mental health. Three-quarters of young people (76%) who report significant teacher influence feel that thinking about the future helps their mental health, compared to 60% of those with no teacher influence. A quarter of those with significant teacher influence feel that thinking about the future hurts their mental health, compared to 40% with no teacher influence who say the same.
Inspiring Students to Make a Difference
Nearly all teens and young adults surveyed (96%) say that making a positive impact on society is at least slightly important to them. However, this sentiment is stronger among young people who report significant teacher influence as compared to no teacher influence. Young people with no teacher influence are more likely to say that making a positive impact on society is extremely important to them (53% vs. 34%). They are also more likely to say that it is extremely important to them to advocate for a fairer and more inclusive world (53% vs. 31%).
Note: See methodology, question wording, and survey responses in the study codebook here.
Click here to download our report, Making Sense of Vocation: How Young People Today Define and Discern their Life’s Purpose.
