Sustainability in Higher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has created cause for rapid innovation in, reimagining of, and pivoting of higher education institutions. Prior to 2020, the global higher education sector began to radically focus their efforts on creating sustainable institutions, and incorporated the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The novel coronavirus pandemic may have changed that. This systematic review examines eight manuscripts, identified through a systematic search strategy on sustainability during the COVID-19 pandemic across 2020–2021. Interestingly, the low volume of manuscripts identified highlights potential learning and teaching risks, as priorities may have shifted during rapid digitalization and emergency remote teaching practices. These manuscripts focused on Goal 4, inclusive and equitable quality education (50%); Goal 8, decent work and economic growth; Goal 9, industry, innovation, and infrastructure (37.5%); and goal enabling through integrating and embedding sustainability into the curriculum (12.5%). The implications of this systematic review highlight a need to rebuild efforts to focus on the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly considering the evolving higher education landscape during COVID-19. While there were still considerable volumes of manuscripts on higher education and sustainability during 2020–2021, the lack of contextualization to current higher education conditions should be of concern for sustainability scholars. This systematic review creates a critical foundation for accelerating our understanding of achieving SDGs in higher education during and beyond the pandemic.

Grade Prediction Modeling in Hybrid Learning Environments for Sustainable Engineering Education

“…Blended learning can be defined as a combination of practices applied in face-to-face and online learning environments [17,18]. Colleges and universities around the world are the leading knowledge-sharing institutions that aim to provide scalable information in a modern, lifelong educational system [19].…”

Measuring the Impact of the Pandemic on Female and Male Students’ Learning in a Society in Transition: A Must for Sustainable Education

“…Notwithstanding its content-related limitations, our study can serve as a simple model of evidence-based inquiry, employed by an academic institution whose goal is to provide quality education to all its students, face-to-face as well as online [57][58][59]. It brings to the forefront the theoretical, practical, and managerial implications of online instruction, and focuses the attention of stakeholders on the questions that remain objects of investigation and debate in the extant literature.…”

“…They determine how information is selected and interpreted for consumption and acted upon in daily lives. A sensible understanding of how differences and similarities can contribute to the quality of the education offered by a given institution is key to its sustainability [59].…”

Exploring Teaching and Learning Experience during COVID-19 Pandemic in Engineering Education

“…However, authors in [34] states that applying innovative teaching method can address the challenges of distance/online learning environment and improve student performance under special learning environment due to pandemic. Again, authors in [35] examined the sustainability landscape in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic and critical effects on university practices highlighted such as; unpreparedness for online delivery, difficulty in access to digital technology, and limited access to reliable internet. Authors also indicated that these effects mostly affected the low socioeconomic and vulnerable students which challenges to maintain Sustainable Development Goals 4.…”