Environmental Engagement in Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are the potential stewards of the environment. Their influence extends from the workplace to the communities and homes where they play a vital role in environmental engagement. Hence, this paper investigates the 3 drivers of environmental engagement, namely, Knowledge and Awareness (KA), Personal Engagement (PE), and Policies and Practices (PP) in Environmental Engagement (EE) of the 213 faculty of the 9 HEIs in the Philippines. The study used a Quantitative Approach employing the comparative and correlational analyses of the survey results derived from the duly validated instruments. Pearson Product Moment Correlation test shows that the Knowledge and Awareness (KA) driver has no relationship while Personal Engagement (PE), and Policies and Practices (PP) have a significant relationship with Environmental Engagement (EE). The consistency of the faculty's Environmental Engagement at home and at work, as supported by the Behavior Consistency Theory, prevails over Knowledge and Awareness. The faculty's Environmental Engagement is high in the tasks with tangible economic value such as energy and water conservation but low in those with intangible benefits like recycling or waste segregation. While the Policies and Practices driver is significantly related to Environmental Engagement, less than half of the faculty are engaged in training, campaign, and policy participation. Thus, the study recommends incentivizing faculty Environmental Engagement and needs assessment for environmental learning and development programs. The study offers a valuable contribution to the latent literature on Environmental Engagement in Higher Education.