“Sustainability as a life purpose among first-semester students at a private university” is published by Discover Sustainability on Springer Nature.
🌍 What truly moves our students to care — not just about success, but about something greater than themselves?
When our research team began this study, we were curious about a simple yet powerful question:
Do today’s university students see sustainability as part of their life purpose?
At a private university in Malaysia, we invited 1,506 first-semester students—from both science and social science disciplines—to reflect on their life purpose. What emerged was deeply revealing.
We found three distinct purpose profiles: Purposeful, Dreamer, and Self-oriented. Nearly half of the students were prosocial – driven by the desire to make a positive difference. Yet, among them, most were drawn to social sustainability (helping people), some to economic sustainability (creating opportunities), and only a small group to environmental sustainability (protecting the planet).
These findings reminded us that while the passion to help others is strong, the environmental dimension of sustainability still needs nurturing – especially in emerging nations like ours. 🌱
Our paper sheds light on how students’ sense of purpose connects (or sometimes disconnects) with sustainability, and why integrating purpose-led education across disciplines could be key to shaping the next generation of changemakers.
If you’re passionate about reimagining how universities can inspire students to act for a sustainable future, this study may offer food for thought.
👉 https://lnkd.in/gkxNPxwg
🎧 You can also listen to our 7-minute podcast highlighting the key insights and implications of the study here: https://lnkd.in/gmER89eZ
We sincerely thank Professor Charles Hopkins, UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability at York University, Canada, for his helpful feedback on this manuscript. A heartfelt thank you to my dedicated research team members — Yen Heng Chang, M.R Naveen Raman, and Veronica Ng. 🙏
For educators seeking practical ways to reorient education for sustainable development, our new book — Purpose-led Education: Education for Sustainable Development — offers 10 real case studies from Taylor’s University Impact Labs to inspire action and transformation. 📘✨
👉 https://lnkd.in/gVF7D32r
