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Sustainability in Higher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

Author

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  • Joseph Crawford

    (Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Education), University of Tasmania, Launceston 7250, Australia)

  • Javier Cifuentes-Faura

    (Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has created cause for rapid innovation in, reimagining of, and pivoting of higher education institutions. Prior to 2020, the global higher education sector began to radically focus their efforts on creating sustainable institutions, and incorporated the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The novel coronavirus pandemic may have changed that. This systematic review examines eight manuscripts, identified through a systematic search strategy on sustainability during the COVID-19 pandemic across 2020–2021. Interestingly, the low volume of manuscripts identified highlights potential learning and teaching risks, as priorities may have shifted during rapid digitalization and emergency remote teaching practices. These manuscripts focused on Goal 4, inclusive and equitable quality education (50%); Goal 8, decent work and economic growth; Goal 9, industry, innovation, and infrastructure (37.5%); and goal enabling through integrating and embedding sustainability into the curriculum (12.5%). The implications of this systematic review highlight a need to rebuild efforts to focus on the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly considering the evolving higher education landscape during COVID-19. While there were still considerable volumes of manuscripts on higher education and sustainability during 2020–2021, the lack of contextualization to current higher education conditions should be of concern for sustainability scholars. This systematic review creates a critical foundation for accelerating our understanding of achieving SDGs in higher education during and beyond the pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph Crawford & Javier Cifuentes-Faura, 2022. "Sustainability in Higher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-11, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:1879-:d:743557
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Maria-Anca Maican & Elena Cocoradă, 2021. "Online Foreign Language Learning in Higher Education and Its Correlates during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-21, January.
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    8. Javier Cifuentes-Faura & Ursula Faura-Martínez & Matilde Lafuente-Lechuga, 2020. "Assessment of Sustainable Development in Secondary School Economics Students According to Gender," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-16, July.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Maura A. E. Pilotti & Omar J. El-Moussa & Hanadi M. Abdelsalam, 2022. "Measuring the Impact of the Pandemic on Female and Male Students’ Learning in a Society in Transition: A Must for Sustainable Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-13, March.
    3. Idiano D’Adamo & Giuseppe Ioppolo & Yichen Shen & Marc A. Rosen, 2022. "Sustainability Survey: Promoting Solutions to Real-World Problems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-9, September.
    4. Larisa Gorina & Marina Gordova & Irina Khristoforova & Lyudmila Sundeeva & Wadim Strielkowski, 2023. "Sustainable Education and Digitalization through the Prism of the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-18, April.
    5. Yu-Hsin Lo & Dian-Fu Chang & Angel Chang, 2022. "Exploring Concurrent Relationships between Economic Factors and Student Mobility in Expanding Higher Education Achieving 2030," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-22, November.
    6. Cecilia Smaniotto & Anna Saramin & Laura Brunelli & Maria Parpinel, 2022. "Insights and Next Challenges for the Italian Educational System to Teach Sustainability in a Global Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    7. Chia-Chi Chen & Dian-Fu Chang, 2022. "Exploring International Faculty’s Perspectives on Their Campus Life by PLS-SEM," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-15, July.
    8. Zoe Kanetaki & Constantinos Stergiou & Georgios Bekas & Sébastien Jacques & Christos Troussas & Cleo Sgouropoulou & Abdeldjalil Ouahabi, 2022. "Grade Prediction Modeling in Hybrid Learning Environments for Sustainable Engineering Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-24, April.
    9. Balan Rathakrishnan & Soon Singh Bikar Singh & Azizi Yahaya, 2022. "Perceived Social Support, Coping Strategies and Psychological Distress among University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Exploration Study for Social Sustainability in Sabah, Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-13, March.
    10. Hengli Wang & Qiuyun Lu, 2022. "Understanding Philosophies of Higher Education between Countries in China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Analysis of University Mottos Based on Natural Language Processing Technology," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(4), pages 21582440221, December.
    11. Mohammad Taufiqul Arif & GM Shafiullah, 2022. "Exploring Teaching and Learning Experience during COVID-19 Pandemic in Engineering Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-16, June.
    12. Xu Zhang & Fangyi Zhou & Jinlei Xu, 2022. "Technical College Students’ Practical Performance Anxiety during Online Learning: Difference in Gender and Average Time of Online Learning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-12, July.
    13. Mohammed Abdullatif Almulla & Waleed Mugahed Al-Rahmi, 2023. "Integrated Social Cognitive Theory with Learning Input Factors: The Effects of Problem-Solving Skills and Critical Thinking Skills on Learning Performance Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-26, February.
    14. Idiano D’Adamo & Massimo Gastaldi, 2023. "Perspectives and Challenges on Sustainability: Drivers, Opportunities and Policy Implications in Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-6, February.
    15. Bachir El Murr & Genane Youness & Rola Assaf, 2024. "Determinant Factors of Teaching Performance in COVID-19 Context," Post-Print hal-04395911, HAL.
    16. Qing Xie, 2023. "Using Simulation in Business English Courses for China’s English Majors," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    17. Abdullah Almurayh & Saqib Saeed & Nahier Aldhafferi & Abdullah Alqahtani & Madeeha Saqib, 2022. "Sustainable Education Quality Improvement Using Academic Accreditation: Findings from a University in Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-17, December.
    18. Aurel Mihail Țîțu & Vasile Gusan & Mihai Dragomir & Alina Bianca Pop & Ștefan Țîțu, 2024. "Cost Calculation and Deployment Strategies for Collaborative Robots in Production Lines: An Innovative and Sustainable Perspective in Knowledge-Based Organizations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-25, June.

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