Students’ Perception about Sustainability in the Engineering School of Bilbao (University of the Basque Country): Insertion Level and Importance

Abstract

Almost three decades have passed since the Rio declaration, and after numerous initiatives developed to include sustainability in higher education, with the support of Education for Sustainable Development, it is worth wondering at what point is the process of inserting sustainability in university degrees. To clarify this question, engineering students were inquired, at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), about their perception of the insertion-level of sustainability and the importance they give to it (in environmental, social, and economic dimensions). The novelty of this study lies in the use of a new questionnaire, based on the students’ activity. The instrument was designed ad hoc and was previously validated for this study. The results indicate a low insertion level of sustainability in its three dimensions in three engineering degrees analysed. Nevertheless, the research also shows that the students give great importance to Sustainable Development (SD), either in academic, personal, or professional spheres. The low insertion level of SD and the high interest of students should be considered by the academic institution as an opportunity to deep in its holistic approach to promote the integration of SD in university curricula, not only in engineering degrees.

Spanish University Students’ Awareness and Perception of Sustainable Development Goals and Sustainability Literacy

“…The results showed a surprising gap in their previously expressed expectations (questions 4 to 7), with values exceeding the results obtained from other studies and their admitted degree of involvement. This finding follows the same path as that observed in Japan [77], although improvements were observed in latter surveys [120]. No significant differences were found in this item, regardless of gender, subject, level of studies, or year.…”

“…Students were asked about their previous knowledge of the SDGs, the source where they obtained this knowledge, the relationship between the SDGs and the profession for which they are being trained and their personal lives, and the development of the theme of each SDG in university studies. Aginako et al [77,78] developed a questionnaire with two scales: one to know how engineering students perceive the level of SD insertion into their academic programs from a frequency perspective; the other, to measure the importance of students in their training process to the three sustainability dimensions (economic, environmental, and social), both personally and professionally. Yamane and Kaneko [79,80] conducted two online surveys in Japan.…”

“…and the learning level (subjective knowledge and objective knowledge) [106]. We can also see how this knowledge changes over time [76] by achieving learning outcomes regarding sustainability across disciplines and courses [61], through students' perceptions of the sustainability competencies acquired in degrees [70,77], the relationship between SD and/or SDGs and the profession for which they train, alongside their personal lives and the academic sphere [29,77]. From the sustainability assessment tools, we can also understand the development of the theme of each SDG in university studies [29] and the sources of information used to acquire SD-and SDG-related competencies [59], the level of importance that students attach to SDGs [76], and how students perceive the relationship between SDGs and the professional career that they pursue [101].…”

“…Many of the questionnaires herein presented were completed online by students. The employed online tools were the Google Form ® tool [76,77,107], SurveyMonkey [40,108], the EUSurvey platform [59], and learning platforms such as Sakai or Moodle, etc. However, paper-pencil questionnaires have also been utilized [86].…”

“…A global survey conducted at the beginning of 2020 places the percentage of awareness at nearly 50% [90]. A Spanish university sample also found little awareness of the SDGs, with no differences in engineering, education or health students [76], or in several engineering degrees [77]. Similarly, being less aware of the SDGs was found in a Chinese high school population [75], pre-service teacher degrees in Spain [123], in a Nigerian university population [74,99,100] and in a young Vietnam population [103].…”