Rural College Students’ Eco-anxiety and Attitude toward Discussing Environmental Sustainability Topics Post-pandemic

Abstract

This mixed-methods study examines Southwestern U.S. college students’ potential experiencing of eco-anxiety, application of green practices, and attitude toward discussing environmental sustainability issues in the classroom after the pandemic, with the population examined by sex, race, age, and income. Additionally, the study offers faculty recommendations for implementing a sustainability curriculum. Conducted in a rural, geographically marginalized area, the study implemented mixed-methods with survey and short-answer question instruments and applied an exploratory case-study design and a convergent parallel strategy assessing 188 women and 188 men participants, including racial minority and low socio-economic status (SES) students, with a median age of 26 years. The author formulated the survey by adapting questions from four scales about eco-anxiety, college students’ potential experiencing of eco-anxiety during the pandemic, college students’ sustainability consciousness level, and a university’s sustainability rate: the Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale, Pandemic-related Political Identities Scale, Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire, and Sustainable University Scale. The author used independent samples t-tests to report potentially statistically significant difference amongst the student groups. Additionally, the author applied a grounded theory approach to code students’ short-answer comments about their possible eco-anxiety, sustainable activities, and view of exploring green discourses in class. Of participants surveyed, women reported statistically significantly higher eco-anxiety levels than men connected to their anxiety about climate change and other environmental problems. Likewise, Native Americans reported statistically significantly higher eco-anxiety levels than Caucasians linked to their worry about environmental problems, with Asian/Pacific Islander, African-American, and Hispanic/Latino students also having greater eco-anxiety rates than Caucasians.