Diversity beyond demographics: Environmental worldviews of forestry and natural resource undergraduate students
Diversity beyond demographics: Environmental worldviews of forestry and natural resource undergraduate students
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人口统计之外的多样性：林业和自然资源本科生的环境世界观
DOI：
10.1002/ece3.9203
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发表时间：
2022
影响因子：
2.6
通讯作者：
Nelson, Michael Paul
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Cruz, Sativa;Batavia, Chelsea;Arismendi, Ivan;Spalding, Ana;Nelson, Michael Paul
在美国的学术机构，努力往往集中在加强从代表性不足的群体中招收学生，重点是性别和/或种族。然而，很少有人注意到非人口统计学形式的多样性，如环境世界观（即，形而上学、认识论和伦理信仰的差异，这些信仰定义了人类如何看待、评价自然世界并与自然世界互动）。在这里，我们提出了一个探索性的措施，环境世界观的多样性就读于自然资源相关的课程的本科生。我们在俄勒冈州州立大学测试了我们的程序，这是美国一所大型的公立赠地大学。许多学生报告了形而上学、认识论和/或道德信仰，这些信仰偏离了西方占主导地位的自然资源世界观（以人为中心、二元、等级、功利和机械）。我们的研究结果表明，虽然林业学生的环境世界观在某些方面比其他学生在自然资源方面更接近占主导地位的西方世界观，但一般来说，学生的世界观反映了从严格的资源商品价值取向的长期代际转变，如过去的研究所述。我们的研究结果强调了将环境世界观视为新一代自然资源学生多样性的一个维度的重要性。未来努力了解这些差异水平可以是设计吸引各种学生的课程的重要资产，最终有助于招募和留住各种有抱负的自然资源专业人员。
In US academic institutions, efforts often concentrate on enhancing the recruitment of students from underrepresented groups, focusing on gender and/or race. However, little attention has been paid to nondemographic forms of diversity, such as environmental worldviews (i.e., differences in the metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical beliefs that define how humans view, value, and interact with the natural world). Here, we present an exploratory measure of environmental worldview diversity among undergraduate students enrolled in natural resource‐related programs. We tested our procedure at Oregon State University, a large public land‐grant university in the United States. Many students reported metaphysical, epistemological, and/or ethical beliefs that deviate from what has been philosophically characterized as the dominant western worldview of natural resources (anthropocentric, dualistic, hierarchical, utilitarian, and mechanistic). Our results suggest that, although forestry students' environmental worldviews are in some ways more closely aligned with the dominant western worldview than other students in natural resources, generally student worldviews reflect a long‐term generational shift away from a strict resource‐commodity value orientation, as documented in the past research. Our findings highlight the importance of considering environmental worldviews as a dimension of diversity within the new generation of natural resource students. Future efforts toward understanding these levels of difference can be important assets in designing programs that appeal to a wide variety of students, ultimately helping efforts to recruit and retain a diverse pool of aspiring natural resource professionals.