Mapping the environmental landscape: an investigation into the state of Environmental Science in higher education

Abstract

Part of Phase 1 of a project to map the landscape of Higher education (HE) for environmental science over time has been completed and the report Mapping the Environmental Landscape: An investigation into the state of the environmental science subject in higher education was released in March 2008. This paper summarizes the information it provided.

Student Interest for Environment/Sustainability Undergraduate Programmes: Recent Australian Experience

“…Across the range of disciplines, the early years of the twenty-first century, specifically between 2002 and 2005, saw ‘a small but steady increase’ in applications to, and enrolments in, universities in the United Kingdom (Blumhof and Holmes 2008: 9). Looking particularly at the physical sciences, enrolments increased, but were low compared to other discipline areas.…”

“…Looking particularly at the physical sciences, enrolments increased, but were low compared to other discipline areas. Blumhof and Holmes (2008: 9) observed that ‘as a component of the sciences, environmental science showed a slight increase in student numbers, while enrolments in environmental science single honours programmes saw a slight decline’.…”

“…Smith speculated that this change was associated with: poorer employment prospects for graduates generally; a perception that jobs in environmental sciences are difficult to find and that renumeration for environmental jobs is relatively low. To enhance recruitment for environmental science programmes, respondents to a survey proposed that emphasis be given to raising awareness of environmental science, especially in secondary schools, while highlighting the potential career path of graduates (Blumhof and Holmes 2008).…”

“…Second, to reverse the apparent current situation and ensure that a body of environment professionals is available in the future, universities will have to do a much better job of attracting students to their programmes. In this context, the proposals of Blumhof and Holmes (2008), regarding promotion of environmental programmes to school students and explaining the options for environment careers, should be considered seriously. Given that the youth survey found that the most important issue is ‘The economy and financial matters’ (Mission Australia 2012), it suggests that young people are concerned about their economic future and, presumably, jobs.…”