IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natsus/v4y2021i11d10.1038_s41893-021-00759-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Students of colour views on racial equity in environmental sustainability

Author

Listed:
  • Tania M. Schusler

    (Loyola University Chicago)

  • Charlie B. Espedido

    (Loyola University Chicago)

  • Brittany K. Rivera

    (Loyola University Chicago)

  • Melissa Hernández

    (Loyola University Chicago)

  • Amelia M. Howerton

    (Loyola University Chicago)

  • Kailin Sepp

    (Loyola University Chicago)

  • Malcolm D. Engel

    (DePaul University)

  • Jazlyn Marcos

    (DePaul University)

  • V. Bala Chaudhary

    (Dartmouth College)

Abstract

Racial and ethnic diversity in environmental sustainability advances social equity and innovation, solving social-ecological crises. Yet, Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) remain underrepresented in sustainability fields despite high environmental concern. Universities provide pathways to sustainability careers and help diversify the field by making programmes more equitable and inclusive for racially minoritized students. Toward this end, we interviewed undergraduate BIPOC students in interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability degree programmes about their experiences. Their observations reflect a legacy of systemic racism that persists today within environmentalism. Many described motivations connecting ecological and social well-being but lamented limited interdisciplinary and global perspectives in the curriculum. Experiences of discrimination, lack of relatability and limited discussions of race led to feeling isolated and excluded. Support networks, extracurricular participation and BIPOC-specific opportunities improved student inclusion and belonging. BIPOC students hold knowledge unapparent to non-marginalized groups that illuminates pathways to racial equity in environmental sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Tania M. Schusler & Charlie B. Espedido & Brittany K. Rivera & Melissa Hernández & Amelia M. Howerton & Kailin Sepp & Malcolm D. Engel & Jazlyn Marcos & V. Bala Chaudhary, 2021. "Students of colour views on racial equity in environmental sustainability," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 4(11), pages 975-982, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:4:y:2021:i:11:d:10.1038_s41893-021-00759-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-021-00759-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-021-00759-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41893-021-00759-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. E. Britt Moore, 2024. "Utilization of a novel pedagogical framework to create and implement an environmental justice strategies undergraduate course: a case study," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 14(3), pages 452-457, September.
    2. Brooke Ann Zanetell & Tania Marie Schusler, 2022. "Building STEM pathways for students of color to natural resources careers: the Northern New Mexico Climate Change Corps," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 12(2), pages 204-215, June.
    3. Abigail Sullivan & Anne Short Gianotti & Alice Scollins & Lisa Tornatore & Beverly Ge & Mya Briones, 2024. "Undergraduate experiences with sustainability courses: insights for diversifying sustainability education," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 14(3), pages 548-567, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:nat:natsus:v:4:y:2021:i:11:d:10.1038_s41893-021-00759-7. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.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.