Research and Insights

YSI research centres on the impact that our work has on young people, guides (educators) and the wider embedding of social innovation into communities. We continue to use our up-to-date research to input into Government consultations and inform the Government for future policy development.

In 2023-24 YSI worked with researchers at UCD to explore outcomes for students participating in social innovation education programmes provided by Young Social Innovators. The research shows that young people who engaged more in the programme reported higher levels of wellbeing at the end of the programme than at the start and that students with higher wellbeing at the start of the programme, engaged more in the programme, and therefore had greater wellbeing-related outcomes at the end. This highlights how the more engaged participants are in the project the greater the wellbeing outcomes they experience. It also demonstrates the importance for teachers to recognise those students who might need more encouragement to engage if they want them to get the most out of the programme.

Examples of YSI Research:

Engaging in Social Innnovation Education: Reciprocal relations between student wellbeing and programme wellbeing outcomes (Maynard, Symonds, 2024) - Access here.
Adolescent social innovation education: A scoping review (Maynard, Symonds & Blue, 2003) - Access here.
The Impact of Social Innovation Education on Wellbeing: Qualitative Case Study Findings (Maynard & Symonds, 2022) - Access here.
SIE4P Research Overview: Impact of Social Innovation Education on Wellbeing (2023) - Access here.
PublicPolicy.ie Article: Promoting student voice and wellbeing through Social Innovation Education (Maynard & Symonds, 2022) - Access here.

The Gen Z Index

The Gen Z Index is a collaboration between Young Social Innovators and Amárach Research. The Index measures annually the sentiment of Generation Z - those born between 1995 – 2009. Young Social Innovators is happy to share the results of this research, which aims to gain deeper insight into the feelings, attitudes and concerns of this youth cohort and to understand the issues that are impacting them.