Sustainability Assessment Indicators in Higher Education: Stakeholders' Perception and Challenges

A Master of Science thesis in Engineering Systems Management by Najihath Basheer entitled, “Sustainability Assessment Indicators in Higher Education: Stakeholders' Perception and Challenges”, submitted in August 2024. Thesis advisor is Dr. Vian Ahmed. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Completion Certificate, Approval Signatures, and AUS Archives Consent Form).

Abstract

The drastically increasing significance of sustainability development has urged higher education institutions (HEIs) to make efforts to achieve sustainability development goals (SDGs). For instance, United Nations reported that, by 2024, 75% of the countries worldwide would incorporate SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 13 (Climate Action) into their national education policies. In addition, according to Smithonian Science education center, there is a 30% increase in the number of HEIs that participates in Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, which reflects the institutions' success in delivering on the UN's SDGs. This has led to the inevitable need to track and assess these efforts, emphasizing the critical need for HEIs to integrate SDGs across all strata of an institution. However, stakeholders are looking for a comprehensive set of sustainability indicators that is currently spread over various existing tools and frameworks. In addition, HEIs are still struggling to integrate sustainability efficiently. Despite the urgency of the issue, few studies have addressed the root problems that leave policymakers grappling with these challenges. To address this gap, a systematic literature review using PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) technology is conducted to present a comprehensive set of sustainability indicators (SI) for sustainability assessment in HEIs. Moreover, the study intends to identify the challenges faced by policymakers in the process and analyse the disparity in understanding among the students, educators and Administration, governance and operation (AGO) staff regarding the concept of sustainability assessment and indicators using semi structure interviews and Relative Importance Index (RII) analysis by choosing American University of Sharjah as the case study. The results revealed the lack of knowledge among the stakeholders regarding SIs and the existence of sustainability ranking systems. In addition, various challenges associated with the sustainability implementation process were identified among which the cost-sustainability was the major threat. Finally, considerable disparity in the understanding of the SIs among different categories of stakeholders was revealed. Accordingly, various recommendations like awareness programs and better transparency in communication were proposed.