Competences for sustainability and its institutionalization level in a higher education institution

Abstract

This paper aims to identify the competences for sustainability and its level of institutionalization from the perspective of the professors of the Department of Applied Social Sciences (SESA) of a State University of the Center-South region of Paraná, Brazil. The research can be characterized by the quantitative approach and survey method. For data collection, an already tested and validated instrument proposed by Stefano and Alberton (2015) was used to identify the 5 (five) competencies for sustainability (focus on systemic thinking; preventive; normative; interpersonal strategic), as well as issues related to their level of institutionalization (habitualization, objectification and sedimentation), based on the model of Tolbert and Zucker (1999). Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Cronbach's Alpha test and Cluster Analysis were performed. The results show that approximately 70% of the respondents consider the existence of competencies for sustainability at the university, however, the institutionalization of the sustainability theme is at the habitualization level. It is important to identify the competencies that favor sustainability practices in the organizational environment, as well as the institutionalization of these new values, especially in public universities, which, besides their social duty, are educating future generations to make decisions, thus being able to promote a more sustainable future.