Measures to facilitate the scale-up of education for sustainable development in higher education

Abstract

This theoretical study reviews the literature on barriers faced by organisations in recruiting graduates educated to incorporate sustainability practices, followed by an assessment of institutional approaches by universities to address this deficit. Having found that sustainability is generally instigated by 'champions' rather than through whole-institution approaches, this study also reviews literature on attitudes and motivations of higher education faculty and on existing education for sustainable development (ESD) interventions and guidelines. The study identified specific areas of research focussing on the predictors of attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control, and proposes Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour or its updated iteration, the reasoned action approach as an ideal framework for such future research. Findings also point towards a need for future research into the drivers/predictors of faculty incorporating ESD into curricula. This paper addresses a growing area of concern among employers and university managers and identifies means to gain faculty support for the scale-up of ESD.