Approaches to education for sustainability leadership development in higher education: an international comparative study in the Asia Pacific region
International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
ISSN: 1467-6370
Article publication date: 22 April 2024
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to focus on key approaches to education for sustainability (EfS) leadership development in the context of Malaysian and Japanese universities. The authors identify key indicators of effective EfS leadership development approaches using both descriptive and inferential analyses, identify and compare the preferred leadership learning methods of academics and examine the impact of marital status, country of residence and administrative position on the three EfS leadership development approaches.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is quantitative in approach and survey in design. Data were collected from 664 academics and analysed using the efficient partial least squares (PLSe2) methodology. To provide higher education researchers with more analytical insights, the authors re-estimated the models based on the maximum likelihood methodology and compared the results across the two methods.
Findings
The inferential results underscored the significance of four EfS leadership learning methods, namely, “Involvement in professional leadership groups or associations, including those concerned with EfS”, “Being involved in a formal mentoring/coaching program”, “Completing formal leadership programs provided by my institution” and “Participating in higher education leadership seminars”. Additionally, the authors noted a significant impact of country of residence on the three approaches to EfS leadership development. Furthermore, although marital status emerged as a predictor for self-managed learning and formal leadership development (with little practical relevance), administrative position did not exhibit any influence on the three approaches.
Practical implications
In addition to the theoretical and methodological implications drawn from the findings, the authors emphasize a number of practical implications, namely, exploring the applicability of the results to other East Asian countries, the adaptation of current higher education leadership development programmes focused on the key challenges faced by successful leaders in similar roles, and the consideration of a range of independent variables including marital status, administrative position and country of residence in the formulation of policies related to EfS leadership development.
Originality/value
This study represents an inaugural international comparative analysis that specifically examines EfS leadership learning methods. The investigation uses the research approach and conceptual framework used in the international Turnaround Leadership for Sustainability in Higher Education initiative and uses the PLSe2 methodology to inferentially pinpoint key learning methods and test the formulated hypotheses.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This project (registration ID # 198933) was funded by the Sumitomo Foundation headquartered in Japan.
This study replicates the original TLSHE study (Scott et al., 2012) funded by the Australian Government’s Office for Learning and Teaching. A part of the results of this study was presented at the International Conference on Research in Education and Science (ICRES) which took place on 24–27 March 2022 at Ramada Plaza by Wyndham Antalya Hotel in Antalya, Turkey.
Ethics: The performed procedures were in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Declaration of conflicting interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest of any kind related to this paper.
Data availability statement: The final sample covariance matrices that can be used to estimate Model 1, Model 2 and Model 3 are available here: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/URLOYK.
Citation
Ghasemy, M., Elwood, J.A. and Scott, G. (2024), "Approaches to education for sustainability leadership development in higher education: an international comparative study in the Asia Pacific region", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-11-2023-0558
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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