Providing a Gender Perspective on Sustainability Competences and Pedagogical Approaches: Experiences of Students From 17 International Case Studies

Abstract

[Abstract]: During the last three decades, higher education institutions (HEIs) have integrated sustainability into their curricula. Recent research has focused on sustainability competences and pedagogical approaches, and how the latter foster the development of the former. Previous studies have examined the connections between pedagogical approaches and sustainability competences from an educators’ perspective. However, there has been limited research addressing a students’ perspective, particularly in relation to gender. This paper aims to provide insights into developing students’ sustainability competences through pedagogical approaches from a gender perspective. A survey was applied to students at 17 universities from 13 countries. The responses were analyzed using: (1) Descriptive statistics and Friedman tests; (2) t-tests comparing perceptions of male and female students; and (3) correlations between competences and pedagogical approaches comparing both perspectives. The results showed differences in how male and female students’ competences ranked, with female students having a more concentrated range of competences. The pedagogical approaches results showed little to no differences and concurred with the published literature. The results also indicated differences between genders regarding how the pedagogical approaches develop the competences, where female students tend to develop more sustainability competences than males. HEIs must recognise gender-based perceptual differences and develop strategies that build upon the strength of both perspectives and, thus, better implement sustainability competence education.