Integrating sustainability into the curriculum by different levels of HE management based on structural empowerment, psychological empowerment and practical implementation reported by interviewees
| Structural empowerment | Psychological empowerment | Practical implementation |
|---|---|---|
| Macro level | ||
| Industry and social landscape | ||
| Large-sized industry partners: interested in students with sustainability skills and knowledge | No industry partners are required to provide sustainability education to universities/schools | |
| Small-scale companies are not necessarily paying attention; they are more concerned with business performance pressure | Some industry partners and NGOs provided partnership opportunities directly related to sustainability topics through student work-integrated projects | |
| Governance (ministry of education and training) | ||
| No direct policy or formal guidance was delivered | General yet unofficial encouragement to teach students sustainability knowledge | No governance system required sustainability elements when designing the curriculum |
| Universities | ||
| No policy or requirement to integrate sustainability into the curriculum. No scheme to facilitate resources and support for academic staff | Some had general yet informal encouragement. The remaining did not provide any statement regarding the practices | Very little training or guidance is provided to academic staff to get a proper and systematic approach |
| Meso level | ||
| Faculty, school, departments | ||
| No faculties, schools, or departments made sustainability a mandatory pillar in curriculum design. All meso-level managers did not make mandatory requests for their staff to conduct | Positive perception of the need for sustainability education for students to benefit multiple stakeholders | Some started to update the curriculum with more sustainability knowledge under the encouragement of the team leader |
| Programs, courses | ||
| Courses and programs with the nature of the industry strongly attached to sustainability issues have more systematic management of curriculum design following industry updates | Academic staff teaching social sciences or art programs were hesitant because they did not see an explicit connection to their course syllabus | Courses highly relevant to sustainability: integration in lecturers and assessments (mandatory requirements). Courses with implicit connection: integration in case studies, assessments (optional requirements), activities and guest sessions |
| Micro level | ||
| Individual lecturers | ||
| Not receive any mandatory requirements from the upper-level management | The majority of staff perceived sustainability education as important for students, industry and society | While some proactively updated the curriculum, not all lecturers did so. It was up to personal decisions completely to implement or not |
| Some interviewees were keen on updating the curriculum with sustainability knowledge, assessments and projects and willing to spend their own time, effort and resources to do so without formal request | Some wanted to start updating the curriculum, but they did not know where to start, especially in courses with limited connection to the environment | |
| Structural empowerment | Psychological empowerment | Practical implementation |
|---|---|---|
| Industry and social landscape | ||
| Large-sized industry partners: interested in students with sustainability skills and knowledge | No industry partners are required to provide sustainability education to universities/schools | |
| Small-scale companies are not necessarily paying attention; they are more concerned with business performance pressure | Some industry partners and NGOs provided partnership opportunities directly related to sustainability topics through student work-integrated projects | |
| No direct policy or formal guidance was delivered | General yet unofficial encouragement to teach students sustainability knowledge | No governance system required sustainability elements when designing the curriculum |
| No policy or requirement to integrate sustainability into the curriculum. No scheme to facilitate resources and support for academic staff | Some had general yet informal encouragement. The remaining did not provide any statement regarding the practices | Very little training or guidance is provided to academic staff to get a proper and systematic approach |
| Faculty, school, departments | ||
| No faculties, schools, or departments made sustainability a mandatory pillar in curriculum design. All meso-level managers did not make mandatory requests for their staff to conduct | Positive perception of the need for sustainability education for students to benefit multiple stakeholders | Some started to update the curriculum with more sustainability knowledge under the encouragement of the team leader |
| Courses and programs with the nature of the industry strongly attached to sustainability issues have more systematic management of curriculum design following industry updates | Academic staff teaching social sciences or art programs were hesitant because they did not see an explicit connection to their course syllabus | Courses highly relevant to sustainability: integration in lecturers and assessments (mandatory requirements). Courses with implicit connection: integration in case studies, assessments (optional requirements), activities and guest sessions |
| Individual lecturers | ||
| Not receive any mandatory requirements from the upper-level management | The majority of staff perceived sustainability education as important for students, industry and society | While some proactively updated the curriculum, not all lecturers did so. It was up to personal decisions completely to implement or not |
| Some interviewees were keen on updating the curriculum with sustainability knowledge, assessments and projects and willing to spend their own time, effort and resources to do so without formal request | Some wanted to start updating the curriculum, but they did not know where to start, especially in courses with limited connection to the environment | |
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