Profiling research of the engineering academics who successfully promote education in Sustainable Human Development

Abstract

Over the last decades, engineering faculties and universities have become increasingly engaged in integrating sustainable development into their different functions. Notwithstanding, more effort is required to effectively integrate sustainability principles as a whole-university approach, and specifically, in technical universities. Scientific literature highlights the main barriers to the success of initiatives that address this shortcoming. A better understanding of the scientific profile of the academics who engage in sustainable development activities can help to develop and promote initiatives for increasing faculty engagement in all academic functions. For this purpose, this study presents a bibliometric analysis of the scientific production of an academic community involved in a European initiative aimed at capacitating engineering academics for sustainable development. Specifically, two groups of academics with different degrees of expertise and involvement in sustainable development were characterized and compared, revealing common trends and similarities of their research production. The results have different implications for future strategies aimed at engaging specific academic profiles in the field of engineering, highlighting especially health science–related fields linked with engineering as a potential opportunity of promoting the integration of sustainable development in engineering education. Further analysis is required to determine the university rankings and their potential implications for the integration of sustainable development, as well as appropriate policies and mechanisms of faculty rewarding and promotion.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Teaching for a Better World. Sustainability and Sustainable Development Goals in the Construction of a Change-Maker University

“…For this reason, it is essential to train them, motivate them and value the activities related to the integration of SDGs in the university curriculum [12,32]. The description of the committed with sustainable education teachers' profiles has been published elsewhere [10]. In order to implement the SDGs development and promote sustainability, it is crucial to increase the social mass of committed teachers [10].…”

“…The description of the committed with sustainable education teachers' profiles has been published elsewhere [10]. In order to implement the SDGs development and promote sustainability, it is crucial to increase the social mass of committed teachers [10].…”

Key characteristics of academics promoting Sustainable Human Development within engineering studies

“…The bibliometric analysis was only performed for those academics that completed the survey, following the methodological proposal of a recently published study on research profiling of academics engaged in SD (Lazzarini and Pérez-Foguet, 2018).…”

Analysis of Interurban Mobility in University Students: Motivation and Ecological Impact

“… Institutions of higher education should be evaluated using instruments that go beyond their research activity [ 10 ]. The activity of universities is oriented towards the position and impact on the rankings [ 61 ]. In this respect, it is fundamental that parameters of sustainability and compliance with the SDGs begin to appear in these rankings [ 7 , 61 ], and they should be considered for the financing of the universities [ 16 ].…”

“…The activity of universities is oriented towards the position and impact on the rankings [ 61 ]. In this respect, it is fundamental that parameters of sustainability and compliance with the SDGs begin to appear in these rankings [ 7 , 61 ], and they should be considered for the financing of the universities [ 16 ]. The creation of rankings that evaluate the role of higher education institutions in achieving the SDGs, such as “The Impact Ranking” [ 62 ], is an opportunity for higher education institutions [ 7 ].…”