The role of education in shaping attitudes of academic youth towards sustainable development

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of the article is an attempt to answer the question about the current shaping of attitudes of European academic youth towards the idea of sustainable development.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The C&RT classification tree model was used, which allowed systematizing the factors differentiating attitudes towards the idea of sustainable development of 1175 students from over 30 European countries.

FINDINGS: The work focuses on the role of education in understanding and perceiving the idea of sustainable development. It was not only a factor in the first division of the tree but also one of the more important predictors in the ranking generated by the C&RT model. The tree structure showed that school education and family’s influence were the overriding criteria for differentiating students' attitudes towards the idea of sustainable development.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: In the conducted analysis of education, it appeared both as an indirect and direct factor - through meetings with sustainable everyday life and proper understanding of this concept. Also, some respondents indicated that in comparison to other actors and stakeholders addressed to recipients and implementers of the idea of development is precisely the idea of school.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The value of the research is extensive statistical material that enabled the use of an innovative research method - the classification model of C&RT trees.