Graduate Perspective on Sustainability Engagement & Practices in Future Employment

On global scale we are all too familiar with the dreaded fear of finding employment as a newfound graduate student. This has only been heightened with the recent COVID-19 pandemic such that global working hours have fallen by 14% equating to 400 million full time job losses in the second quarter of 2020 (Organization, 2020). More recently, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has equated the current plague to the job market to that of the Great Depression with potential to metastasise into a new found social crisis (Development, 2020). The prospect of beginning a career can be daunting but comes with a personal sense of direction and autonomy. During our formative years as undergraduate students, there are opportunities for personal growth and development and discovering what is important in your future; one such topic is that of sustainability in the workplace. Current and future graduates can be considered a crisis cohort in the wake of the pandemic who can become scarred for years to come in their future employment status. For example, those who entered the working world during the financial collapse of 2008 were reported to experience higher rates of unemployment, reduced pay, and less opportunities for career growth decades later (Clarke, 2019). Embracing and tackling the global issue of sustainability through professional working environments potentially influence job choice as one’s job search broadly speaking is classified as a goal-directed, motivational, and self-regulatory process (van Hooft et al., 2021).

Ultimately what we must decipher is expectations of future outcomes through socially or personally driven constructs of sustainable practices in the workplace aligned with the beliefs and outcomes that will make a difference to climate change and employment.

Sustainability Importance among Formal Education

Now a core pillar since the inception of the Anthropocene era where human activity has affected not only land and water quality and availability rivalling that of nonanthropogenic forces, sustainability practices of today aim to hone profound changes across ecosystems in hopes of planet safety. Sustainability is considered a holistic approach that encompasses political, social, economic and natural dimensions (Davis and Elliott, 2014).With the current rate of energy consumption, waste, and depletion of resources, almost 2.3 planet earths would be required to sustain an ageing and growing population (Bell, 2016). Individual and collective decisions can help mend the bridge between humanity and our ecosystems shifting an already conscious movement of beliefs and attitudes towards daily practice and optimism across all working sectors that our survival and that of the planet will not be in doubt. To combat this educational awareness and sustainability practices in places of employment are essential.

However, there is currently an inequality in sustainable education across the globe making knowledge transfer difficult (Nagendra et al., 2018). At the turn of the 21st century the United Nations made it quite clear that the overall objective for global education on sustainable development was "to integrate the principles, values and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning" and create "a more sustainable future in terms of environmental integrity, economic viability and just society for present and future generations“ (Wals, 2014). The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) established in 2015 are seen as a global call to arms to achieve unity, prosperity, and peace by 2030 (UNDP, 2022). It is widely recognized that the achievement or action on one goal will affect the outcome of the remaining sixteen to achieve social, economic, and environmental sustainability. In lieu of this, SDG 4 on quality education is central to achieving all 17 SDG’s with sustainable development from school and college into the workforce and therefore must make “informed decisions and responsible actions for environmental integrity, economic viability and a just society, for present and future generations, while respecting cultural diversity” (Leicht et al., 2018).

The promotion of SDG’s throughout education and students is key in overcoming several barriers including but not limited to: ambiguity and misconception of sustainability, lack of support from management/senior staff, lack of awareness and knowledge of sustainability issues, resistance to change where some see sustainability as theoretical and without practical initiatives, and lack of resources, funding, personnel and time, and ultimately a lack of training and specialization in the area?(Verhulst and Lambrechts, 2015). Higher education institutions can mediate a pivotal crux in shaping perspectives having an impact on adult life for up to 60-years after graduation (Bowen, 2018), such that both planned pedagogy and holistic learning environments can drive social change and sustainable metamorphosis. This societal impact has the potential to affect the opinions and choice of new and future graduates.

?"With the current rate of energy consumption, waste, and depletion of resources, almost 2.3 planet earths would be required to sustain an ageing and growing population"

Higher Education leading Sustainability

Higher education institutions have a core responsibility in the personal and professional development of future leaders utilizing the knowledge and skills they have been entrusted with. There has been a considerable rise in the development and recognition of sustainable issues as proposed by the WHO with the SDG’s among higher education institutes (Sammalisto and Lindhqvist, 2008). Higher education institutes can have a catalytic role with societal engagement in sustainable culture and problems (Lehmann et al., 2009). Students have a large stake in the early initiatives towards sustainable practices in academic research to impact climate change. Students and early career professionals can play a pivotal role in sustainability strategy development and implementation towards future objectives. A recent survey of 3,700 prospective international students reported that up to 88% found the university’s action plan to reduce their environmental impact was a critical factor in making their decision in accepting an offer (QS 2019). A recent systematic review found the efficacy of teaching sustainability was sustained if considered among mandatory and core disciplines of study (Figueiró and Raufflet, 2015). What’s not to say that this cannot also apply when seeking a new job? The involvement of sustainability principles among the not only the core university principles but also the academics can ultimately enhance views, knowledge, and awareness about sustainability (Sidiropoulos, 2014). There are several misconceptions surrounding what constitutes sustainability to the point that both the definition, application and understanding can become misconstrued by perspectives, beliefs, and values among professionals (Owens and Legere, 2015). Any lack of initiative that may be subsequently evidenced among institutions could simply be the result of this misconception making inaugural steps and greener-driven change difficult to cultivate.

Creating a workable knowledge and understanding surrounding sustainable practices derives from effective communication. It is believed that there are 3 main reasons proposed by Lertpratchya and colleagues as to why higher education institutions are core places of learning and development influencing future career choices and pathways (Lertpratchya et al., 2017). The first is that there is a very large and growing number of students enrolled globally in higher education. With around 216 million students worldwide in 2016 this is expected to increase to almost 380 million by 2030 (Monitor, 2018). Secondly, many that attend higher education are of a young and impressionable age honing their identity and developing their beliefs and values. This critical age can become a place of influence surrounding topics such as sustainability which can lead to pillar development becoming a deciding factor in future employment. Thirdly, higher education institutions can be often the destination for many before entering the world of working professional such that influences, and beliefs can become solidified and attributed among many such as greener workplaces.

Lertpratchya and colleagues have highlighted how it is in fact the age of the student at which they begin to learn and acquire knowledge about sustainability which will have a long-lasting impact (Lertpratchya et al., 2017). First year students entering higher education can be less aware of current and practical sustainable solutions. Therefore, establishing effective communication and targeted outreach campaigns campus-wide can establish new social norms and behaviours surrounding sustainability that will impact not only their future career but more importantly generations to come in line with social identity theory that each person will create their own perspective based on learned experiences and each new environment and social encounter.

The provision of information on the climate crisis and potential mitigation strategies should be provided to all with the ability to act. The role of academic and research institutions is pivotal to a successful conversion to national and global climate sustainability. Historically, the involvement and efforts of academic and research institutions in sustainability has been expanding most evidently in 1990. The involvement of more than 500 university reps across more than 50 countries signed the international Talloires Declaration. More than 30 years later, the results of this milestone can be seen across the globe with educational resources, research, and campus initiatives about sustainability are an evident and dominant characteristic in higher education. To successfully integrate a systemic change, grassroot support from student-led bottom-up initiatives will lead to essential green behavioural change. This green mindset may become a lifelong characteristic for many influencing their choice in future job opportunities. Academic institutions therefore act as liaisons between various stakeholders fostering the development of devoted students to SDG’s and future global challenges. This level of student engagement can therefore transfer into career choice selecting employers who value sustainable principles and practices.

"Establishing effective communication and targeted outreach campaigns campus-wide can establish new social norms and behaviours surrounding sustainability"

Career Concerns

Several socioeconomic factors ranging from complex labour markets to cagy business environments has led to the importance of career-decision making to reach an attainable level of employment that meets the living needs and personal desires of an individual throughout their life (Hall et al., 2018). We have moved on considerably from the seminal work on human capital investments where concerns about one’s career was solely focused on future income (Becker, 1962). Today, career development encompasses personal goals, aspirations and career preferences suits to competency and satisfaction return moreover among recent college graduates (Fabio et al., 2013, Walker and Tracey, 2012, Park and Jung, 2015, Maden et al., 2016). The motivation for human capital has since diversified leading to certain occupations, roles, and companies have a pillar of sustainability embedded into its ethos and culture. The big question is: Do young adults and recent graduate students consider sustainability as a core factor in their career and job selection, and is there a trade-off in their perception of perceived returns from green investment? Although we must be aware that sustainable culture and educational high ranking institutions are ill-distributed across the world generally centered in western countries (Salvioni et al., 2017). This can lead to an unequal adoption of a global vision of sustainability affecting choice and vision of future careers. Building up a “sustainability mindset” involves a triad of environmental, social, and economic perspectives to lead a culture shift across all aspects of life. "People and the nature of the society in which they live are shaped by and, in turn, shape the economies that support their livelihoods and enhance their overall quality of life. Environments provide life-giving and economically important services to economies and to people” (UNESCAP, 2015). Higher education can increase a student's skillset, their sense of entrepreneurship and their overall capacity to obtain a job with high levels of satisfaction (Wiers-Jenssen, 2008). But it may also be driven by their personal motivations for their future and the future of the planet or even peer/societal pressure from an institutional level where drivers such as competitors and funding may foster sustainable practices at an institutional level that transcends into the working world (Sammalisto and Arvidsson, 2005). The creation of a social and professional framework will create the infrastructure to support sustainable practices for the future where actions and behaviours among employees is vital creating a wider platform for career choice among new graduates (Davis et al., 2009). Recent systematic evidence has found that there is an inherent mismatch between university graduates’ competences and employers’ needs (Abelha et al., 2020), however this concept is simply a reflection of perspective. If this idea is looked at in reverse in our current labour market, the graduates’ needs should be of utmost importance to future employers where the competencies of the latter in areas of sustainability may hypothetically determine their future success if skilled young workers are in favour of companies that align better with their beliefs and ideals.

?"The creation of a social and professional framework will create the infrastructure to support sustainable practices for the future where actions and behaviours among employees is vital creating a wider platform for career choice among new graduates"

Theoretical Rationale of Choice towards Sustainability in the Workplace

Choice is woven in optimism and hope, and when intertwined with a drive for change, sustainability could be at the fore. One could place this choice towards a greener working world on the premise of “self-determination theory” (Deci and Ryan, 2000, Deci and Ryan, 2012). The idea that one’s willingness and personal volition to engage and pursue a career with a future employer based on their commitment to a greener world may indicate a dual contribution of internal motivation or an internalization of external factors surrounding sustainability. The concept of career decision-making self-efficacy (CDSE) proposed by Taylor and Betz highlights that confidence about self-efficacy expectations are the core driver in career indecision (Taylor and Betz, 1983). If these do not align with one’s personal motivations such as intrinsic motivation and career exploration then a perceived successful choice in career and employer may not come to fruition (Jin et al., 2009, Yizhong et al., 2017, Bubic, 2014). Those who choose an employer based on their green merits and values can facilitate a personal sense of satisfaction leading to overall job satisfaction based on 3 common human-centric elements: competence, relatedness, and autonomy. Having a precise and strong motivation on both individual and contextual elements can be a powerful influence on career development and perspective. To contribute to a common goal and larger societal issue brings a sense of unity and formation in a young graduate which can shape their professional decision-making in pursuit of integrity and growth. This may also align with the theoretical model of “social cognitive career theory” which places an emphasis on an individual’s previous learning experience in tandem with personal, environmental, and social cognitive factors aligning with the student’s future goals and career prospectus (Lent et al., 1994, Lent et al., 2000). Social cognitive theory creates a unified network to better understand an individual’s vocational interests, how they make choices in hopes of career success and satisfaction. Supported by Antonovsky’s “salutogenic theory” of the late 80’s, there may be several factors at play within the value system of an individual influencing their perception of the world around them (Antonovsky, 1987). This can in turn enhance or deteriorate one’s health and well-being as a fabricated sense of perceptual rationality encompassing comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness (Antonovsky, 1998, Eriksson and Lindstr?m, 2005).

"Those who choose an employer based on their green merits and values can facilitate a personal sense of satisfaction leading to overall job satisfaction"

The aim is to uncover and better understand the awareness and importance of sustainability in the workplace among current and prospective graduate students. It is believed that with the current climate crisis and emphasis placed on greener and sustainable practices that the college-to-work transition may place an emphasis on future career prospectus among an uncertain labour market. Our overall goal is to gather sufficient information to better understand consequential life choices that would be determinants of future career opportunities.

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