via News feed – The Higher Education Academy
A report by the HEA and National Union of Students (NUS) shows students expect universities to address sustainability issues and that they would be willing to take a pay deduction if their employers had a strong environmental performance.
The report investigated “student attitudes towards and skills for sustainable development” and is now available to view on the HEA website.
Two-thirds of first and second year students responding to the 2011 study said they would willingly get paid £1,000 less a year if the company they worked for had a good environmental and ethical record.
Students believe employers value sustainability skills, according to the research, with almost 80% (79.6) of second-year students viewing universities as a key provider of these environmental, social and economic skills.
Simon Kemp, Academic Lead for education for sustainable development (ESD) at the HEA, was invited to talk about the HEA’s Green Academy programme at the World Symposium on Sustainable Development at Universities (WSSD-U-2012). The event was held in Rio de Janeiro in June.
He said: “This research is very valuable to institutions as it reflects the importance of addressing sustainable development. Environmental and ethical credentials are held in high regard by students, both while studying and as graduates when choosing a career.”
However, university and course reputation are still ranked above performance on sustainability issues when students are choosing an institution, according to student responses.
The report highlighted the need for HEIs to understand what qualities affect university choice and to view students as clients following the increase in tuition fees in England. The next phase of this study (to be researched this coming academic year and published in 2013) will focus on whether there has been a shift in sustainability attitudes as a result of the increased student tuition fees.
The current report supports and reinforces findings from the HEA’s first phase of this study area. The 2011 report focused on first year students only with 80% of respondents believing sustainability skills are going to be important to their future employers. The majority of first-year students involved believed that it is the role of universities and courses to prepare them for graduate employment. Respondents had similar attitudes to employment with 63% willing to sacrifice £1,000 from their salary to work in a responsible company.
Authors: Rachel Drayson, Elizabeth Bone & Jamie Agombar
Report (PDF 48pp) Copy of survey questions a further 69 pages.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment