What’s going on at the universities? How much has the research revealed university students’ attitudes towards the environment? A case study of Bursa, Turkey

Abstract

The aim of this research is to reveal the environmental consciousness levels of university students determine how they evaluate the society and the University at this level of consciousness and analyse the attitudes and behaviour they exert. For this purpose, a structured survey was conducted at nine faculty students at Bursa Uludag University in Turkey. Students’ attitudes and behaviour were examined through their gender, family income level, parental education and professions and the field of the study variables. In this research, the questionnaire consisting of open and close-end questions was used; SPSS 23 program was used to evaluate the data. The research revealed that variables other than gender and the fathers education have a significant effect on the environmental awareness of the students. Furthermore, the students stated that universities did not take an active role in environmental protection. They attributed the lack of environmental awareness to the lack of adequate environmental protection laws and penalties. They wanted society to be more active in protecting the environment and universities to include students in environmental decisions and practices. The results show that students have inadequate environmental knowledge, therefore, display lower levels of environmental attitude and do not exert highly favourable behaviour.