Estimating scale, diversity, and professional training of environmental educators in the U.S.

Abstract

After decades of growth in environmental education (EE) in the US, the number of practitioners in the field remains unknown. A national study was conducted to estimate the field’s size through an online consumer survey panel stratified by race, ethnicity, and geographic region representing the US adult population. In addition to demographic data, three categorical questions assessed self-perceptions as environmental educators, the paid/unpaid nature of their work, and educational background in EE. Near one-fifth of the sample identified as environmental educators. Sample estimates of the overlap of environmental educators in formal education, non-formal, and unpaid (volunteer) work and their population numbers were used to calculate a conservative estimate of approximately 3.9 million environmental educators in the US Racial minority groups comprised 47% of the total number of environmental educators, indicating they were over-represented among those who consider themselves environmental educators compared to the general population. These results counter traditional assumptions that EE itself is not diverse, suggesting that inclusive practices may require more attention to who is currently excluded in organizations with low representation of minority communities.

Keywords:

• Diversity
• environmental educators
• population

Acknowledgements

This study reports on research conducted by New Knowledge Organization Ltd. supported by a cooperative agreement between the US Environmental Protection Agency and Cornell University (EPA Assistant Agreement #NT-83497401) through the North American Association for Environmental Education, for the Expanding Capacity in Environmental Education Project, EECapacity with Marianne Krasny, PhD, as the Principal Investigator, and under the auspices of the Institutional Review Board of Cornell University. The authors wish to thank Marianne Krasny, Judy Braus, Anne Umali Ferguson and Lori Mann, for their support for this study. We also wish to thank Su-Jen Roberts, PhD, Shelley J. Rank, and James Danoff-Burg, PhD for their help with statistical analyses and estimations; Kate Flinner, Molly Reese-Lerner, Nicole LaMarca, Alex Baer, and Jennifer Dixon for their help with editing and formatting the manuscript; Shirley Vincent at the National Council of Education Statistics for access and secondary analysis of their data to support triangulation with our results; and Dan Parcon and Soapbox Sample for their support in data collection.

Notes

1. We relied on the NCSE data since American colleges do not track graduation rates or the proportions that would represent an EE practitioner track in their programs.