Sustainability as a purpose in life among Dutch higher education students

Abstract

Given the prominence of sustainability in current global crises and the commitment of societies to the Sustainable Development Goals, this mixed methods study ascertains how Dutch higher education students (N = 549) integrate sustainability into their life purposes. From quantitative data, we identified four purpose profiles: purposeful (33%), dreamer (32%), self-oriented (18%), and disengaged (17%), signifying a potential commitment to sustainability among over half of the participating students. However, technology students differed from other respondents in that fewer of them were identified as having a purposeful profile and more of them were disengaged. The data reveal happiness (61%), work (22%), and sustainability (22%) as the most frequently mentioned contents of purposes, implying a more self-oriented picture than indicated in the profiles. The two case studies illustrate concrete ways of manifesting sustainability as a purpose in life. We discuss the educational implications of this, especially the need to enhance sustainability education in the domain of technology.

Keywords:

• Purpose in life
• sustainability
• sustainability as a life purpose
• higher education students
• The Netherlands

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethics declaration

The study followed ethical guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki. The research was assessed and approved by the Education chair group and the Executive Board of the University of Humanistic Studies, The Netherlands. Participants were asked to give their informed consent.

Notes on contributors

Dr Elina Kuusisto is a University Lecturer (diversity and inclusive education) at the Faculty of Education and Culture, Tampere University, Finland. She holds the title of Docent (Associate Professor) at the University of Helsinki, Finland. In 2018-2019, she worked as an Associate Professor at the University of Humanistic Studies, The Netherlands. Her academic writings deal with teachers’ professional ethics and school pedagogy, with a special interest in purpose in life, moral sensitivities, and a growth mindset.

Dr Ingrid Schutte is a Researcher and worked as an Educational Advisor until November 2021 at the Staff Office Education and Applied Research of the Hanze University of Applied Sciences. Her expertise includes diversity in education and personal and societal development of students. Her PhD research was about ethical sensitivity and developing global civic engagement in undergraduate honors students.