The effect of gender on students' sustainability consciousness: A nationwide Swedish study

ABSTRACT

This study extends previous environmental education research on gender differences by investigating the gender gap between boys' and girls' sustainability consciousness. The issue of whether the gender gap in environmental education can be identified also in sustainability education is addressed. It has been suggested that Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a teaching approach that could play a key role in diminishing the gender gap. However, the possible gender-specific effect of an ESD-oriented teaching approach is empirically untested. A survey instrument was used to detect the hypothesized gender gap in students' sustainability consciousness on a sample of 2,413 Swedish students aged 12–19. Findings reveal a gender gap in students' sustainability consciousness. The gender gap increases throughout the age span and is amplified in ESD-oriented schools.

KEYWORDS:

• education for sustainable development
• effect studies
• gender gap
• socialization processes
• sustainability consciousness

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank all the young people who participated in this study and their schools for letting us visit them. We are particularly grateful to Jari Appelgren, Karlstad University, for statistical advice and to Jelle Bouve-de Pauw at the University of Antwerp and John Piccolo at Karlstad University for fruitful discussions and input.

Funding

This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council, project (B0589701).

Notes

1. U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools. http://www2.ed.gov/programs/green-ribbon-schools/index.html

2. Eco-schools certification program. http://www.ecoschools.global/

3. SALSA, Skolverkets Analysverktyg för Lokala SambandsAnalyser [The National Agency for Education's analysis tool for context analysis]. http://salsa.artisan.se/

4. SIRIS, Skolverkets Internetbaserade Resultat- och kvalitetsInformationsSystem [The National Agency for Education's online information system on results and quality]. http://siris.skolverket.se/siris/f?p=Siris:1:0

5. Web-addresses for the questionnaires and categorization of items: Grade six: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-48133; Grade nine: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-48134; Grade twelve: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-48135; Categorization of items: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-48136