The Social Representations of Sustainability: A Study on University Students

Year 2024, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 165 - 174, 30.09.2024

Ergül Söylemezoğlu , Gamze Özdemir Planalı

Abstract

In theoretical terms, sustainability encompasses many different phenomena such as finance, ecology, and social sustainability. However, there is no such research on how this term is perceived by the internal stakeholders of universities in Turkey. In the present study, for the first time in Turkey, social representations of sustainability in higher education were investigated with the participation of 165 undergraduate students at a state university with institutional accreditation. The ages of the participants ranged between 18 and 43 (X ̅=20.50, SD=3.32). The diversity (d =.70) and rarity (d =.75) indices showed that students did not have a common understanding of sustainability. Additionally, it was revealed that the words "quality", "hygiene", "efficiency", "food", "education", "technology", "recycling","energy", and "transport" had an important place in the social representation structure of sustainability. In general, it was observed that students constructed the concept of sustainability through other institutional concepts, their own needs and environmental issues. It is concluded that the social and economic aspects of sustainability were relatively ignored. The social and economic aspects of sustainability were relatively ignored. The findings of the research were discussed in terms of higher education policies to be developed to create a more comprehensive and common organizational understanding of the concept of sustainability at Turkish universities.

Keywords

Sustainability, Higher education, Social representations, Hierarchical association test

Sürdürülebı̇lı̇rliğı̇n Sosyal Temsilleri̇: Ünı̇versı̇te Öğrencileri̇ Üzerine Bir Araştırma

Abstract

Teorik anlamda sürdürülebilirlik; ekonomi, ekoloji ve sosyal sürdürülebilirlik gibi birçok farklı olguyu kapsamaktadır. Ancak bu kavramın Türkiye'deki üniversitelerin iç paydaşları tarafından nasıl algılandığına dair bir araştırma bulunmamaktadır. Bu çalışmada, Türkiye'de ilk kez, kurumsal akreditasyona sahip bir devlet üniversitesindeki 165 lisans öğrencisinin katılımıyla yükseköğretimde sürdürülebilirliğin sosyal temsilleri araştırılmıştır. Katılımcıların yaşları 18 ile 43 arasında değişmektedir (X ̅ = 20.50, SS = 3.32). Çeşitlilik (d = .70) ve nadirlik indeksleri (h = .75), öğrencilerin sürdürülebilirlik ile ilgili ortak bir anlayışa sahip olmadığını göstermiştir. Ek olarak, sürdürülebilirliğin sosyal temsil yapısında "kalite", "hijyen", "verimlilik", “gıda”, “eğitim”, "teknoloji", "geri dönüşüm", “enerji” ve “ulaşım” kelimelerinin önemli bir yere sahip olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır. Genel olarak, öğrencilerin sürdürülebilirlik kavramını diğer kurumsal kavramlar, kendi ihtiyaçları ve çevre ile ilgili meseleler üzerinden inşa ettiği görülmüştür. Sürdürülebilirliğin sosyal ve ekonomik yönlerinin ise görece göz ardı edildiği çıkarımına ulaşılmıştır. Araştırmanın bulguları, Türkiye’deki üniversitelerde sürdürülebilirlik kavramına ilişkin daha kapsamlı ve yaygın bir kurumsal anlayışın oluşturulması için geliştirilecek yükseköğretim politikaları açısından tartışılmıştır.

Keywords

Sürdürülebilirlik, Yükseköğretim, Sosyal Temsiller, Hiyerarşik Çağrışım Testi

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