Climate Uneducation in the US, Part 3: Colleges, Universities Need Academic Advisors

In parts
one
and
two
of this four-part series, we examined how climate change is being taught, or
not, in US primary and high schools. Here, we dig into our country’s
post-secondary education system.

Sadly, but unsurprisingly, too many US colleges and universities also score in
the lower percentiles when it comes to holistic instruction on the topic of
human-induced climate change — not only examining its effects and what students
can do to help fight them, but also industry’s role in the
crisis.

It would be easy to assume that something that has become so globally and
socially pertinent would be discussed in just about every degree program, beyond
Earth sciences — including
finance and even
psychology.
It would make sense for climate change education — or, more critically, climate
change mitigation or even adaptation education — to already be incorporated
into all disciplines. Right?

Is higher education teaching climate change?

But many higher-education and even graduate programs are also still lagging in this
area.

“I see progress, but it’s insufficient to the need,” Marsha
Willard, Faculty Chair at Presidio
Graduate School — which offers an MBA program in
Sustainable Solutions and an MPA in Sustainability and Social Justice — told
Sustainable Brands® (SB). “Most schools offer degrees in ecology or
environmental sciences, and those programs surely include the principles of
sustainability and climate science in their curricula.

“But these are programs that students opt into, which means that most students
may graduate without exposure to the topics,” she added. “This matters, because
climate literacy is becoming increasingly important to many disciplines — not to
mention to the everyday lives of students and their families.”

She added that the biggest impediments likely include “the lack of expertise
among faculty outside of the earth sciences, and their reluctance to incorporate
another topic into an already full curriculum. Sometimes, faculty do not
recognize the potential impact to their fields; sometimes, they are
uncomfortable teaching something out of their area of expertise; and sometimes,
in their defense, it is yet another timely issue they must consider. For
example, we are all struggling to keep pace with
AI and its impact on our respective
fields, as well as our pedagogy.

“Still, we are remiss if we are not preparing students to address climate change
from the perspective of their chosen field of study and career direction.”

Proper training of educators is indeed an issue — not only in US universities,
but globally — as highlighted in a 2024 study published in the National Library
of Medicine, which
reveals the lack of “more opportunities for exchange of experiences among
institutions” at a global level.

Across the US, improvements in higher education are happening; but some
experts agree with Willard that they’re not meeting the need.

“Although there has been a significant expansion of climate change education in
US universities over the past decade, there remains a need for the issue to be
addressed in more detail,” Brad
Sparks, executive director for
Accounting for
Sustainability,
told SB. “Climate change is already impacting all aspects of society, and this
impact will only accelerate in the decades to come.”

Sebastián Fernandes, founder
and CEO of Fixterra — a sustainability
consultancy that helps the education sector lead by example on environmental
awareness and sustainable practices — added: “Not only is there a lack of
climate change education but also a lack of action against climate change in the
higher education sector as a whole.

“Many universities have specific programs on climate change, and there are
specific majors focused on sustainability. But climate change is a global
problem, and that needs to be addressed in every single sector,” he asserted.
“If you study engineering, climate change should be a part of your
curriculum. If you study medicine, climate change should be a part of your
curriculum. If you study business, climate change needs to be a part of your
curriculum.”

Conflicts of interest

In addition to the fact that climate change has become unnecessarily
politicized
— and its integration into US education depends largely on the personal and
political beliefs of those in office across the country — another elephant in
the room is the fossil fuel industry’s influence on higher education. To the
dismay of those hoping universities will help educate and equip the next
generation of climate
warriors,
fossil fuel industry personnel serve in university posts and governing boards in
top-level universities across the US and abroad.

For example, the former Senior Vice President of ExxonMobil serves as Vice
Chair of
Northeastern University’s Board of Trustees; since 2021, the director of
the Corporate Responsibility Initiative at Harvard University has sat
on
ExxonMobil’s Sustainability Advisory Council; Shell donated $2
million
to Colorado State University for an endowed chair in Restoration Ecology;
and BP has sponsored Princeton
University‘s Climate Mitigation Initiative since its inception in 2000.

Fortunately, awareness of this dilemma has increased significantly in recent
years — and concerned citizens and prominent figures are fighting back: In 2022,
the Fossil Free Research Open Letter was
launched with the goal of
raising awareness of the industry’s influence on academia, and to assert that
fossil fuel money has no place in climate and energy research. That same year,
Princeton’s Board of Trustees voted to
dissociate
from 90 fossil fuel companies.

Climate-related opportunities in academia

While a light has been shone on the fossil fuel industry’s hand in US higher
education, there is still much work to be done. As the effects of climate change
continue to become more
harrowing,
the higher education system may find itself forced to incorporate it into most
every career field.

Willard highlighted just a few of the topics and disciplines for which climate
change is increasingly relevant, and “opportunities for schools to ensure
students are exposed to it multiple times and from multiple perspectives”:

• Psychology: “We’re living in a world where people — young adults,
  especially — are experiencing existential angst over the impacts of climate
  change.”

• Political science and international studies: “how climate change will
  create new sources of social conflict, migration patterns, international
  relations, and government and intergovernmental policies.”

• Sociology: “the challenge of climate-related social unrest and of
  managing multi-stakeholder relationships and agreements.”

• Biology: “the impacts of biodiversity loss and the migration of flora
  and fauna … to name just a few.”

In the fourth and final part of this series, we’ll look at reasons to hope — as
some prominent figures work to help the US education system meet the
climate-changing moment.

Climate Uneducation in the US:

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Roberto Guerra

Roberto Guerra is a bilingual writer, editor, entrepreneur, corporate engagement and communications specialist, and US Air Force veteran with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Universidad de la Sabana (Bogota, Colombia) and an International Master in Sustainable Development and Corporate Responsibility from EOI Business School (Madrid, Spain). Born in New York and raised in Florida, Roberto is former managing director for the Spanish-language version of vegan business magazine “vegconomist” and is also author of three novels. He has lived, worked and studied on four different continents.

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Published Oct 10, 2024 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST