International students want universities to act sustainably

Students who travel internationally to study are increasingly concerned about the environmental impacts.

In the wake of the Australian drought and bushfires, and the establishment of the global reputation taskforce by federal Education Minister Dan Tehan, it is timely to consider what environmental issues mean to international students.

The number of globally mobile students grows each year (more than five million in higher education alone) and carbon emissions associated with this mobility are estimated in a recent study at 14 megatons to 39 megatons a year, a significant proportion of which is caused by air travel.

Already some European universities are seeking to channel their students towards study destinations they can reach by train rather than plane.

We know many young people are deeply concerned about climate change and want to see action. Can we identify what these trends are likely to mean for the international education sector?

Key questions include whether environmental issues are a factor in attracting students to an institution or destination in the first place, and whether they contribute to student satisfaction or their propensity to recommend their institution or study destination to others.

Will students start voting with their feet based on a destination’s climate credentials or concern about climate-related natural disasters?

A fuller picture is starting to emerge. QS conducted an environmental concerns survey in August last year, with responses from more than 3700 prospective international students who were interested in studying in Britain, Australia, Canada or the US.

Most respondents considered universities to be very environmentally friendly (33 per cent) or somewhat environmentally friendly (49 per cent).

Of the respondents, 36 per cent strongly agreed that universities cared about the environment and 35 per cent slightly agreed. An overwhelming majority (94 per cent) agreed that universities could do more to be environmentally sustainable, but overall the survey demonstrated that students valued universities taking sustainability steps on both a global and local level.

The International Student Barometer survey run by i-graduate has included a question on universities’ “eco-friendliness” for many years.

Results from the Australian 2018 ISB showed that 91.7 per cent of international students were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their institutions’ “eco-friendly attitude to the environment”. Domestic students, on the other hand, were slightly less enthusiastic, with 84 per cent agreeing with their international counterparts.

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i-graduate also examined the link between satisfaction levels and students’ propensity to recommend their institution to others. The most impactful element of students’ living experience is their ability to make good contacts for their future (35 per cent positive correlation).

Institutions’ attitude to the environment has less impact on students’ propensity to recommend their institution (26 per cent positive correlation) but has a positive impact nevertheless.

The ISB this year will add “eco-friendly reputation of the institution” to the decision-making section of the survey to try to understand whether environmental issues influence students during that critical stage of their education journey.

The ISB is conducted all over the world, allowing comparisons between students in different countries and regions. International students in Canada and Australia, for example, were most satisfied with their institutions’ “eco-friendly attitude to the environment” (92.5 per cent and 91.7 per cent respectively). “Eco-friendly attitude” was most impactful among international students in Canada — a 33 per cent positive correlation with their propensity to recommend their institution to others.

As the table shows, for an institution’s eco-friendly attitude to the environment, Canada had the highest satisfaction scores among the countries and regions analysed and the strongest relationship between satisfaction levels and propensity to recommend the institution to others.

Britain’s National Union of Students survey has shown that 80 per cent of students expect universities to act on sustainability. Closer to home, the University of Tasmania found in a survey of 3700 students that 86 per cent expect carbon-neutral certification and 80 per cent support fossil fuel divestment.

The recent launch of the Times Higher Education Impact Ranking offers prospective students the chance to compare institutions on their performance against the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including climate action. This ranking is very new, but in its first year many of the top spots were held by Canadian institutions, in line with the ISB findings.

It may be that international students are beginning to take more stock of environmental issues when choosing universities for overseas studies and in their recommendations to friends and peers.

IDP’s Student Buyer Behaviour survey, which measures changes in perceptions of popular study destinations, may include questions on sustainability and climate action in the next round. Results from these surveys will help us understand more about how these issues affect international student decision-making and study experience.

The extent to which countries and their governments’ attitudes to environmental issues affect student choice is another issue altogether.

Will international students start to call out governments that are not seen to be pulling their weight on climate change? Australia could be the test case that the rest of the world is watching.

Ailsa Lamont is director, Pomegranate Global. Stephen Connelly is director, ­i-graduate Australia.