The representation of climate change in the university: students’ assessments and beliefs

Abstract

The university should be at the forefront of the necessary transition to a decarbonized society, undertaking internationally established goals on climate change mitigation and adaptation. The following research intends to get insight into the achievement of these goals. College students from the University of Santiago de Compostela participated in the study. The aim is to explore their levels of climate literacy and their personal beliefs and assessments on climate change. The methodological design is quantitative and descriptive. Non-probabilistic and conventional sampling was performed. Students, 488 in total, responded a 45-item closed-end questionnaire. SPSS software was used to perform descriptive statistical analyses as well as variance analyses (ANOVA). The results do not allow to establish a relationship between the level of knowledge about the problem and the elements analyzed regarding the perception of climate change: belief in the occurrence of climate change, perception of responsibility and perception of risk, and belief in the scientific consensus on its anthropogenic origin. This study provides an overview of the social representation of climate change in this particular audience and further qualitative studies for an in-depth view the result are recommended.