Rolleston, Caine;
Bashir, Sara;
Ambrizzi, Tercio;
Atumane, Ali;
Brandli, Luciana;
Dawai, Sailosi;
Dutra, Livia;
... McCowan, Tristan; + view all
(2023)
Stepping Up or Falling Behind? Students’ Views on Universities and the Climate Crisis.
(Transforming Universities for a Changing Climate, Working Paper Series
10).
Climate-U, UCL Institute of Education: London, UK.
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Abstract
This report presents the findings from a large-scale survey conducted among undergraduate students in twelve universities in Brazil, Fiji, Mozambique and Kenya. Carried out as part of the Transforming Universities for a Changing Climate (Climate-U) project, the survey centres on students’ attitudes and experiences in relation to climate change and perceptions of climate action in their universities. It responds to the overall aim of the project, which is to generate insights into how to maximise the contribution of universities to the mitigation and adaptation challenges of climate change, and to understand how universities might contribute to climate justice. The aim of this report is primarily descriptive; it serves to document the results of the survey comprehensively, providing basic analysis of the data including in comparative perspective across the four countries as well as serving as a reference for intended data users. To facilitate comparisons, a student home assets index is constructed using principal components analysis (PCA) and environmental attitudes are assessed using the Milfont and Duckitt (2010) reduced-form inventory and estimated using a latent-trait model based on Item Response Theory (IRT). Findings are reported mostly as descriptive statistics with a limited number of linear regression models being employed to estimate predictors of environmental attitudes. Findings focus on, inter alia, students’ backgrounds and areas of study, their experience, environmental attitudes, understandings and beliefs about climate change, feelings of personal responsibility and engagement with and willingness to participate in climate action as well as students’ assessments of what universities are doing and what they should be doing with regard to climate change. Overall, in all countries, students reported that they were most likely to learn about climate change from internet and social media sources. There is strong consensus that students should be learning more about climate change at their universities and that they are not satisfied with current learning. ‘Environmental concern’ was found to be higher among students studying science, agriculture, and health/ welfare related subjects, by women, by more economically advantaged students, and among students in Brazil. While students in Brazil were most likely to believe human actions are the major cause of climate change and provided the most pessimistic estimations of the impact of climate change, they were also the least likely to be confident that government action could make an impact. Conversely, students in Kenya had the greatest confidence in government action, were the most willing to participate in climate-change activities and were most optimistic about the impacts of climate change. The report provides indicative evidence for participating universities and others who may be intending to improve their engagement with students on issues relating to climate change and climate justice.
| Type: | Working / discussion paper |
|---|---|
| Title: | Stepping Up or Falling Behind? Students’ Views on Universities and the Climate Crisis |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Publisher version: | https://www.climate-uni.com/resources |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Education, Practice and Society |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10166766 |
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