Sustainability Leadership in Higher Education Institutions: An Overview of Challenges
Sustainability Leadership in Higher Education Institutions: An Overview of Challenges
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DOI：
10.3390/su12093761
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发表时间：
2020-05-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
Kovaleva, Marina
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Leal Filho, Walter;Paulino Pires Eustachio, Joao Henrique;Kovaleva, Marina
可持续性领导力需要领导者、决策者和学者为在其组织内实施可持续发展政策和其他举措而开展的进程。它包括解决问题的方法，方法和系统解决方案，并推动机构政策走向更可持续的组织。高等教育机构（HEI）发挥着特别重要的作用，特别是在促进可持续发展方面的机构领导作用。在大学里，关注可持续性领导力的研究很少。为了弥补这一差距，本文在文献和实证研究的基础上探讨了可持续发展领导力的概念。该研究旨在了解HEI可持续发展领导者的主要特征以及他们面临的主要挑战。次要研究问题涉及性别问题和可持续性领导的积极成果。该研究的实证部分包括在29个国家的一组大学的领导人（n = 50）之间进行的在线问卷调查。抽样计划是有目的的，根据大学间可持续发展研究计划（IUSDRP）的成员资格。本研究为探索性研究，采用描述性统计进行分析。由于是有目的的抽样，来自高层管理职位的参与者可以被认为是有经验的，他们的观点被认为是信息丰富的。通过自我评价，被调查者描述了他们的领导风格和通常的特质，其中包容性风格和系统思维在样本中占主导地位。在技能方面，受访者选择了创新能力，长期思考能力，以及从预先定义的选项中管理复杂性的能力。与跨学科的联系和对组织环境的了解以及全球挑战和困境，被认为是与成为领导者所需知识有关的重要问题。关于向更可持续的大学课程调整转变的要求，提到了对教育促进可持续发展、可持续采购和报告的投资。研究还表明，抽样机构认真对待性别问题，这是一个令人鼓舞的趋势。例如，在实施可持续性领导方面遇到的挑战是，大学行政部门和学术界的一些成员缺乏兴趣，以及缺乏专门知识和材料或资源。根据实证见解，列出了一系列未来可能采取的措施，以使高等教育机构的领导者能够提高其可持续发展绩效。
Sustainability leadership entails the processes, which leaders, policymakers, and academics undertake in order to implement sustainable development policies and other initiatives within their organizations. It encompasses approaches, methods, and systemic solutions to solve problems and drive institutional policy towards a more sustainable organization. Higher Education Institutions (HEI) play a particularly important role, especially with regard to their institutional leadership role in promoting sustainable development. There is a paucity of research focusing on sustainability leadership in universities. In order to address this gap, this paper discussed the concept of sustainability leadership based on literature and empirical insights. The study aimed to understand the main characteristics of sustainability leaders at HEI and the main challenges they are confronted with. Secondary research questions involved gender issues and positive outcomes of sustainability leadership. The empirical component of the study consisted of an online-questionnaire survey performed among leaders (n = 50) from a set of universities in 29 countries. The sampling scheme was purposive, based on the membership in the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Program (IUSDRP). The study was explorative in nature, and the descriptive statistics were used for the analysis. Due to the purposive sampling, the participants from top management positions could be considered as experienced, and their views were assumed to be information-rich. With a self-evaluation, the respondents described their leadership style and their usual traits, with inclusive style and systemic thinking being predominant in the sample. Regarding the skills, the respondents selected the ability to innovate, to think long-term, and to manage complexity from a pre-defined set of options. Connectedness with interdisciplinarity and knowledge about organizational settings, as well as global challenges and dilemmas, were stated as important issues related to the knowledge required for being a leader. Regarding requirements for a change towards more sustainable universities' curriculum adaptation, investments in education for sustainable development (ESD), sustainable procurement, and reporting were mentioned. The study also revealed that gender issues were taken seriously among the sampled institutions, which is an encouraging trend. Challenges seen in implementing sustainability leadership are, for instance, a lack of interest by the university administration and among some members of the academic community, as well as lack of expertise and materials or resources. Based on the empirical insights, a set of measures were listed and which may be adopted in the future, so as to allow leaders of Higher Education Institutions to enhance their sustainability performance.