Low factual understanding and high anxiety about climate warming impedes university students to become sustainability stewards : an Australian case study

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25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Purpose: This study, from Western Sydney University, aims to assess the disposition of students towards climate warming (CW)" a key component of sustainability. CW is a global reality. Any human born after February 1985 has never lived in a world that was not constantly warming, yet little is known about how higher education students perceive their future in a warming world. Design/methodology/approach: An online survey, split into three parts, was used to deliver benchmark data on (I) personal information, (II) factual knowledge and (III) sentiments related to CW. Findings: Gender and age of students significantly influenced their perception of CW. While self-rated understanding of CW was generally high, factual knowledge about CW was low. Few students recognized that CW was already under way, and that it was mainly caused by human activity. The most prominent emotions were fear, sadness and anger, foretelling widespread disempowerment and fear for the future. Research limitations/implications: The study was based on a single dataset and survey response was relatively low. However, respondents mirrored the composition of the student community very well. Originality/value: This is the first study revealing large psychological distance to the effects of CW in university students from Australia. Combined with the impression of despondence, the present study suggests that higher education in Australia, and possibly elsewhere, is not providing the prerequisite tools tomorrow's leaders require for meeting societal, environmental and economic challenges caused by CW. Practical ways to erase these blind spots in sustainability literacy are provided, drawing upon established and novel concepts in higher education.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1157-1175
Number of pages19
JournalInternational Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
Volume18
Issue number7
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, © Sebastian Pfautsch and Tonia Gray.

Open Access - Access Right Statement

© Sebastian Pfautsch and Tonia Gray. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and noncommercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

Keywords

  • Australia
  • climatic changes
  • education, higher
  • environmental education

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