IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i6p2158-d331076.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable Development at Higher Education in China: A Comparative Study of Students’ Perception in Public and Private Universities

Author

Listed:
  • Jiawen Wang

    (International Business School, Guangzhou College of South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510800, China)

  • Minghui Yang

    (International Business School, Guangzhou College of South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510800, China
    Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Kralove, 50002 Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic)

  • Petra Maresova

    (Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Kralove, 50002 Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic)

Abstract

This research is implemented in the backdrop of the increasing number of private universities established in China over the last decade, and a growing public concern of sustainable development. The private university has a different reputation and source of funding compared with the public one, leading to different perception and practices toward sustainable development. Yet, none of past studies have investigated into public and private universities in the Chinese context, making this study fill this gap through comparing students’ perception in Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering (a public university) and Guangzhou College of South China University of Technology (a private university). By using the five-point Likert scale questionnaire, 393 students from the public university and 347 students from the private university participated in the survey. The results reveal that students have greatest concern with sustainability commitment and their university’s role for promoting sustainable development, and have least concern with sustainability curricula and research. Compared with students from the public university, students in the private one more often agree on the importance of sustainable development, and have a higher level of perception about commitment, knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward sustainability. The study findings assert that the higher level of perception from private university’s students is due to active campus sustainability engagement and positive stakeholder relationship managed by university management. The study implies that higher education needs to decentralize sustainable plans and decision-making to students, staff, and faculty, and public universities need to incorporate more sustainability-related context into curriculum and academic project.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiawen Wang & Minghui Yang & Petra Maresova, 2020. "Sustainable Development at Higher Education in China: A Comparative Study of Students’ Perception in Public and Private Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-19, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:6:p:2158-:d:331076
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/6/2158/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/6/2158/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    2. Minghui Yang & Paulo Bento & Ahsan Akbar, 2019. "Does CSR Influence Firm Performance Indicators? Evidence from Chinese Pharmaceutical Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-18, October.
    3. Stephen Brammer & Andrew Millington, 2008. "Does it pay to be different? An analysis of the relationship between corporate social and financial performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(12), pages 1325-1343, December.
    4. Güler Aras & David Crowther, 2009. "Corporate Sustainability Reporting: A Study in Disingenuity?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(1), pages 279-288, April.
    5. Ismaila R. Abubakar & Faez S. Al-Shihri & Sayed M. Ahmed, 2016. "Students’ Assessment of Campus Sustainability at the University of Dammam, Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-14, January.
    6. Maobin Wang & Chun Qiu & Dongmin Kong, 2011. "Corporate Social Responsibility, Investor Behaviors, and Stock Market Returns: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(1), pages 127-141, June.
    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. Abedalqader Rababah & Natalya I. Nikitina & Veronica M. Grebennikova & Zhanna R. Gardanova & Angelina O. Zekiy & Vadim V. Ponkratov & Nadezhda N. Bashkirova & Nikolay V. Kuznetsov & Tatyana I. Volkova, 2021. "University Social Responsibility during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Universities’ Case in the BRICS Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-29, June.
    2. Sharifah Nurlaili Farhana Syed Azhar & Noor Adelyna Mohammed Akib & Suzyrman Sibly & Saidatulakmal Mohd, 2022. "Students’ Attitude and Perception towards Sustainability: The Case of Universiti Sains Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-17, March.
    3. Zhicheng Zeng & Wenjun Zhong & Shumaila Naz, 2023. "Can Environmental Knowledge and Risk Perception Make a Difference? The Role of Environmental Concern and Pro-Environmental Behavior in Fostering Sustainable Consumption Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-23, March.
    4. Man Wang & Cheng Zhou, 2023. "How Does Graduate Training Promote Sustainable Development of Higher Education: Evidence from China’s “Double First-Class” Universities’ Programs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-20, January.
    5. Siyu Duan & Wenxiu Chu & Honggang Liu, 2023. "“Seeking Resilience, Sustaining Development”: A Self-Narrative Study of Early Career English Teacher Resilience from an Ecological Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-19, August.
    6. Elena Gori & Alberto Romolini & Silvia Fissi & Marco Contri, 2020. "Toward the Dissemination of Sustainability Issues through Social Media in the Higher Education Sector: Evidence from an Italian Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-14, June.
    7. Md. Abdur Rahman Forhad & Gazi Mahabubul Alam & Mamunur Rashid & Afruza Haque & Md. Sawgat Khan, 2022. "Sustainable Development in Higher Engineering Education: A Comparative Study between Private and Public Polytechnics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-17, July.
    8. Ali Mugahed Al-Rahmi & Waleed Mugahed Al-Rahmi & Uthman Alturki & Ahmed Aldraiweesh & Sultan Almutairy & Ahmad Samed Al-Adwan, 2021. "Exploring the Factors Affecting Mobile Learning for Sustainability in Higher Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-22, July.
    9. Hasnain Raza & Anwar Ali & Nazia Rafiq & Liu Xing & Tahseen Asif & Chengjie Jing, 2023. "Comparison of Higher Education in Pakistan and China: A Sustainable Development in Student’s Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-21, February.
    10. Francisco A. Pujol & David Tomás, 2020. "Introducing Sustainability in a Robotic Engineering Degree: A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-24, July.
    11. Amr Abdullatif Yassin & Norizan Abdul Razak & Yousef A. M. Qasem & Murad Abdu Saeed Mohammed, 2020. "Intercultural Learning Challenges Affecting International Students’ Sustainable Learning in Malaysian Higher Education Institutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-19, September.
    12. Aldo Alvarez-Risco & Shyla Del-Aguila-Arcentales & Marc A. Rosen & Verónica García-Ibarra & Sandra Maycotte-Felkel & Gabriel Mauricio Martínez-Toro, 2021. "Expectations and Interests of University Students in COVID-19 Times about Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence from Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-19, March.

    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. Yousif Munadhil Ibrahim & Norsiah Hami & Susan Sabah Abdulameer, 2020. "Assessing Sustainable Manufacturing Practices and Sustainability Performance Among Oil and Gas Industry in Iraq," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(4), pages 60-67.
    2. Mihai Carp & Leontina Păvăloaia & Mihai-Bogdan Afrăsinei & Iuliana Eugenia Georgescu, 2019. "Is Sustainability Reporting a Business Strategy for Firm’s Growth? Empirical Study on the Romanian Capital Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-21, January.
    3. Guler Aras & Paul F. Williams, 2022. "Integrated Reporting and Integrated Thinking: Proposing a Reporting Model That Induces More Responsible Use of Corporate Power," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-19, March.
    4. Minghui Yang & Yan Wang & Lu Bai & Petra Maresova, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility, family involvement, and stock price crash risk," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1204-1225, May.
    5. Fariha Jahan & Jungmu Kim, 2023. "Does the Shield Effect of CSR Work in Crises? Evidence in Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-18, June.
    6. Muhammad Azeem Qureshi & Minhas Akbar & Ahsan Akbar & Petra Poulova, 2021. "Do ESG Endeavors Assist Firms in Achieving Superior Financial Performance? A Case of 100 Best Corporate Citizens," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, June.
    7. Kao, Erin H. & Yeh, Chih-Chuan & Wang, Li-Hsun & Fung, Hung-Gay, 2018. "The relationship between CSR and performance: Evidence in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 155-170.
    8. David Hillier & Daphne Comfort & Peter Jones, 2017. "The Packaging Industry and Sustainability," Athens Journal of Business & Economics, Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER), vol. 3(4), pages 405-426, October.
    9. Lee, Ki-Hoon & Min, Byung & Yook, Keun-Hyo, 2015. "The impacts of carbon (CO2) emissions and environmental research and development (R&D) investment on firm performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 1-11.
    10. Thomas A. Tsalis & Kyveli E. Malamateniou & Dimitrios Koulouriotis & Ioannis E. Nikolaou, 2020. "New challenges for corporate sustainability reporting: United Nations' 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and the sustainable development goals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1617-1629, July.
    11. Annachiara Longoni & Raffaella Cagliano, 2018. "Sustainable Innovativeness and the Triple Bottom Line: The Role of Organizational Time Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(4), pages 1097-1120, September.
    12. Olivier Boiral & Yves Gendron, 2011. "Sustainable Development and Certification Practices: Lessons Learned and Prospects," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(5), pages 331-347, July.
    13. Thaís Vieira Nunhes & Merce Bernardo & Otávio José de Oliveira, 2020. "Rethinking the Way of Doing Business: A Reframe of Management Structures for Developing Corporate Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-32, February.
    14. Roger L. Burritt & Stefan Schaltegger, 2010. "Sustainability accounting and reporting: fad or trend?," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(7), pages 829-846, September.
    15. Timo Busch & Bryan T. Stinchfield & Matthew S. Wood, 2011. "A Triptych Inquiry: Rethinking Sustainability, Innovation, and Financial Performance," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 11-026/2/DSF 9, Tinbergen Institute.
    16. Olivier Boiral, 2010. "Peut-on mesurer les performances de développement durable?," CIRANO Working Papers 2010s-11, CIRANO.
    17. Burcu Demirel & Ibrahim Erol, 2016. "Corporate Sustainability Reporting in the BIST Sustainability Index," International Journal of Business and Social Research, LAR Center Press, vol. 6(10), pages 21-31, October.
    18. Habib M. Alshuwaikhat & Ismaila R. Abubakar & Yusuf A. Aina & Yusuf A. Adenle & Muhammad Umair, 2017. "The Development of a GIS-Based Model for Campus Environmental Sustainability Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-23, March.
    19. Oana Branzei & Jeff Frooman & Brent Mcknight & Charlene Zietsma, 2018. "What Good Does Doing Good do? The Effect of Bond Rating Analysts’ Corporate Bias on Investor Reactions to Changes in Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 183-203, March.
    20. Arménio Rego & Miguel Pina e Cunha & Daniel Polónia, 2017. "Corporate Sustainability: A View From the Top," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 133-157, 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:12:y:2020:i:6:p:2158-:d:331076. 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.