IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i19p5155-d269048.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Does Sustainability Become Professionally Relevant? Exploring the Role of Sustainability Conceptions in First Year Students

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Sundermann

    (Institute for Environmental and Sustainability Communication, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, 21335 Lüneburg, Germany)

  • Daniel Fischer

    (Institute for Environmental and Sustainability Communication, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, 21335 Lüneburg, Germany
    School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA)

Abstract

One of the main objectives of higher education for sustainable development is to nurture holistic conceptions of sustainability in students, so that they can use sustainability as an approach to analyze and solve complex problems in their future professional fields. Existing studies have shown that students differ substantially in how relevant they consider the concept of sustainable development to their future careers. Previous studies have identified socio-demographic characteristics, disciplinary background and past experiences with sustainability education as potential influencing factors. To date, the relationships between one’s own “understanding” of sustainability (sustainability conception) and the importance students attach to sustainability has hardly been investigated. This case study offers a first systematic examination of how the perceived professional relevance of sustainability is influenced by different individual characteristics and sustainability conceptions. Based on data from a recent survey of n = 1364 first year undergraduate students from 14 different major subjects, our findings indicate that in addition to the previously reported individual characteristics like sex and academic affiliation, sociocultural sustainability conceptions are an important influential factor for the perceived importance of sustainability for their professional contexts. However, the regression analysis shows that the model based on predictors found in the literature lacks incremental power. This paper unveils that further research is needed on the underlying factors that explain the strength of perceived relevance of sustainability in students and that these influences need to be taken more into account in curriculum development.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Sundermann & Daniel Fischer, 2019. "How Does Sustainability Become Professionally Relevant? Exploring the Role of Sustainability Conceptions in First Year Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:19:p:5155-:d:269048
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/19/5155/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/19/5155/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel Fischer & Franziska Haucke & Anna Sundermann, 2017. "What Does the Media Mean by ‘Sustainability’ or ‘Sustainable Development’? an Empirical Analysis of Sustainability Terminology in German Newspapers Over Two Decades," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(6), pages 610-624, November.
    2. Robinson, John, 2004. "Squaring the circle? Some thoughts on the idea of sustainable development," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 369-384, April.
    3. Anna Reid & Peter Petocz & Paul Taylor, 2009. "Business Students’ Conceptions of Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 1(3), pages 1-12, September.
    4. Bill Hopwood & Mary Mellor & Geoff O'Brien, 2005. "Sustainable development: mapping different approaches," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(1), pages 38-52.
    5. Rodrigo Lozano & Michelle Y. Merrill & Kaisu Sammalisto & Kim Ceulemans & Francisco J. Lozano, 2017. "Connecting Competences and Pedagogical Approaches for Sustainable Development in Higher Education: A Literature Review and Framework Proposal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-15, October.
    6. Beate Littig & Erich Griessler, 2005. "Social sustainability: a catchword between political pragmatism and social theory," International Journal of Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 8(1/2), pages 65-79.
    7. Heather Elliott & Tarah Wright, 2018. "Canadian Student Leaders’ Conceptualizations of Sustainability and Sustainable Universities," Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, , vol. 12(2), pages 103-119, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jordi Martínez-Ventura & Eduardo de-Miguel-Arbonés & Carla Sentieri-Omarrementería & Juanjo Galan & María Calero-Llinares, 2021. "A Tool to Assess Architectural Education from the Sustainable Development Perspective and the Students’ Viewpoint," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-40, August.
    2. Yuan Ma & Jingzhi Men & Wei Cui, 2020. "Does Environmental Education Matter? Evidence from Provincial Higher Education Institutions in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-13, August.
    3. Rocío Valderrama-Hernández & Fermín Sánchez-Carracedo & Lucía Alcántara Rubio & Dolores Limón-Domínguez, 2019. "Methodology to Analyze the Effectiveness of ESD in a Higher Degree in Education. A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-27, December.
    4. Anna Oberrauch & Helga Mayr & Ivan Nikitin & Tanja Bügler & Thorsten Kosler & Christian Vollmer, 2021. "“I Wanted a Profession That Makes a Difference”—An Online Survey of First-Year Students’ Study Choice Motives and Sustainability-Related Attributes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-28, July.
    5. María Consuelo Sáiz-Manzanares & Sara Gutiérrez-González & Ángel Rodríguez & Lourdes Alameda Cuenca-Romero & Verónica Calderón & Miguel Ángel Queiruga-Dios, 2020. "Systematic Review on Inclusive Education, Sustainability in Engineering: An Analysis with Mixed Methods and Data Mining Techniques," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-18, August.
    6. Sadia Akhtar & Kashif Ullah Khan & Fouzia Atlas & Muhammad Irfan, 2022. "Stimulating student’s pro-environmental behavior in higher education institutions: an ability–motivation–opportunity perspective," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 4128-4149, March.
    7. Maura A. E. Pilotti & Runna Al Ghazo, 2020. "Sustainable Education Starts in the Classroom," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-13, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John Holmberg & Johan Larsson, 2018. "A Sustainability Lighthouse—Supporting Transition Leadership and Conversations on Desirable Futures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-25, October.
    2. Endl, Andreas & Tost, Michael & Hitch, Michael & Moser, Peter & Feiel, Susanne, 2021. "Europe's mining innovation trends and their contribution to the sustainable development goals: Blind spots and strong points," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    3. Hametner, Markus, 2022. "Economics without ecology: How the SDGs fail to align socioeconomic development with environmental sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    4. Walter J.V. Vermeulen, 2015. "Self‐Governance for Sustainable Global Supply Chains: Can it Deliver the Impacts Needed?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 73-85, February.
    5. Jinliu Chen & Paola Pellegrini & Haoqi Wang, 2022. "Comparative Residents’ Satisfaction Evaluation for Socially Sustainable Regeneration—The Case of Two High-Density Communities in Suzhou," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-16, September.
    6. Qi Zhang & Esther Hiu-Kwan Yung & Edwin Hon-Wan Chan, 2021. "Meshing Sustainability with Satisfaction: An Investigation of Residents’ Perceptions in Three Different Neighbourhoods in Chengdu, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-32, November.
    7. Vinnari, Markus & Tapio, Petri, 2012. "Sustainability of diets: From concepts to governance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 46-54.
    8. Eckehard Rosenbaum & Biagio Ciuffo, 2017. "Sustainability via Intergenerational Transfers in a Stock-Flow-Consistent Model," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(1), pages 147-184, February.
    9. Robert H. W. Boyer & Nicole D. Peterson & Poonam Arora & Kevin Caldwell, 2016. "Five Approaches to Social Sustainability and an Integrated Way Forward," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-18, September.
    10. Gemma Burford & Elona Hoover & Lee Stapleton & Marie K. Harder, 2016. "An Unexpected Means of Embedding Ethics in Organizations: Preliminary Findings from Values-Based Evaluations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-22, June.
    11. Tafuro, Alessandra & De Matteis, Fabio & Preite, Daniela & Costa, Antonio & Mariella, Leonardo & Treviso, Giuliana, 2019. "Social sustainability and local authorities: What is the relationship between spending commitments and social issues?," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 120-132.
    12. Hossein Farhadikhah & Keramatollah Ziari, 2021. "Social sustainability between old and new neighborhoods (case study: Tehran neighborhoods)," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 2596-2613, February.
    13. Klara Helene Stumpf & Stefan Baumgärtner & Christian U. Becker & Stefanie Sievers-Glotzbach, 2015. "The Justice Dimension of Sustainability: A Systematic and General Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-35, June.
    14. Leonardo Salvatore Alaimo & Andrea Ciacci & Enrico Ivaldi, 2021. "Measuring Sustainable Development by Non-aggregative Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 101-122, August.
    15. Gengyuan Liu & Mark T. Brown & Marco Casazza, 2017. "Enhancing the Sustainability Narrative through a Deeper Understanding of Sustainable Development Indicators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-19, June.
    16. Wenmei Fei & Alex Opoku & Kofi Agyekum & James Anthony Oppon & Vian Ahmed & Charles Chen & Ka Leung Lok, 2021. "The Critical Role of the Construction Industry in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Delivering Projects for the Common Good," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-21, August.
    17. Joana Costa & Diana Cancela & João Reis, 2021. "Neverland or Tomorrowland? Addressing (In)compatibility among the SDG Pillars in Europe," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-18, November.
    18. Brennan Lowery & John Dagevos & Ratana Chuenpagdee & Kelly Vodden, 2020. "Storytelling for sustainable development in rural communities: An alternative approach," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(6), pages 1813-1826, November.
    19. Gemma Burford & Peter Tamás & Marie K. Harder, 2016. "Can We Improve Indicator Design for Complex Sustainable Development Goals? A Comparison of a Values-Based and Conventional Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-38, August.
    20. Samuel Howard Quartey, 2019. "Geographies of Knowledge and Sustainable Development: Towards a Conceptual Model with Research Propositions," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(2), pages 878-897, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:19:p:5155-:d:269048. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.