Environmental studies programs positively impact alumni's pro-environmental behavior years later, particularly women

Encouraging pro-environmental behaviors is one of the key desired long-term outcomes that environmental education programming attempts to meet. Environmental studies programs (ESPs) facilitate pro-environmental behaviors by using the environment as the unifying element in a school course and grouping curricular subjects together, often in secondary schools. ESPs can also have an impact on student engagement, environmental knowledge, and interpersonal skills, in the short and long term. Though ESPs can be influential regardless of gender, studies have shown gendered differences in pro-environmental behaviors, exemplifying the marginalization of women in the environmental field. Such as, while women have often been heavily involved in environmental movements, men, particularly White men, will more often hold senior leadership positions. This study examined the long-term impacts of ESPs on pro-environmental behaviors and discussed the results through a feminist perspective focused on the influence of the patriarchy and neoliberalism.

The study focused on past students from two secondary schools with ESPs in Ontario, Canada- Goodview and Riverway. Goodview is a rural school situated in a small farming community, while Riverway is in a semi-urban setting. Participants were recruited using advertising in local newspapers, an email sent to all alumni, and a message in each program's Facebook group. A total of 179 program alumni (73 from Goodview and 106 from Riverway), anywhere from 5 to 23 years out of the ESP, participated by completing a 14-page survey distributed digitally via Survey Monkey. The survey consisted of 23 questions focused on pro-environmental behaviors, with either yes/no or Likert-style scaled answers. Participants were also given space to elaborate on their answers, or otherwise provide comments on their pro-environmental behaviors. The Survey Monkey analysis tool was used to analyze and generate a summary of the results.

Researchers found that 100% of Riverway alumni reported engaging in pro-environmental behaviors that they directly attributed to their participation in the ESP, while at Goodview, engagement in pro-environmental behaviors was reported by 96.55% of women and 80% of men. They noted that this was not a surprising result—past research has shown that women are more likely to engage in pro-environmental behaviors. Overall, recycling, picking up litter, composting, and limiting purchases of new products received the highest rankings in terms of participation from both schools. Participants indicated limited participation in volunteering for an environmental organization, participating in environmental campaigns, or writing letters to support environmental issues. Female participants were more likely to cut down on water use, reuse items, and conserve gasoline by walking or bicycling, while males were more inclined to cut back on energy use and purchase products in reusable or recyclable containers. While most of the survey comments exemplified the positive experiences participants had with their ESPs, the researchers noted that three of the comments from male Goodview alumni were negative and used derogatory language when describing their lack of pro-environmental behaviors.

Generally, participants indicated more participation in individual level, private sphere environmental behaviors, though responses in the comments revealed that some alumni were more active in the public sphere through participation in the Green Party or volunteering for conservation projects. Researchers credited the often immediate “win” people receive from individual environmental behaviors, such as cleaning up one's street from litter, to influence their choice in private sphere versus public sphere participation and overall reduces their political participation. The impacts of neoliberalism, including societal trends of declining political activism and increased emphasis on ethical consumption, may also play a key role in influencing pro-environmental behaviors. The researchers also attributed females' higher participation in private sphere actions to a patriarchal phenomenon of the gendered division of labor in households, which leaves women with more household responsibilities and therefore a lack of time or energy to dedicate to public sphere activities. Finally, in response to the negative comments from Goodview male alumni, the researchers noted that caring about the environment is often associated with femininity, which can motivate some men to avoid or oppose pro-environmental behaviors to maintain their masculinity, resulting in what is called “petro-masculinity”.

There were limitations to this study. The study only included two secondary schools, which may not be representative of all schools with ESPs. The survey relied on reported behaviors rather than conducting observations, presenting an opportunity for bias. Also, though the survey had a comments section, including an interview or observation portion would allow researchers to explore these concepts further.

The researchers recommend focusing future research on masculinity in environmental education, specifically using an intersectional approach to learn more about the influences of sexism and racism that may contribute to environmental education and behaviors. While it is clear ESPs can have a positive long-term impact on participants, it is crucial to understand the gender differences in these impacts. The researchers recommend environmental education explores how it may disrupt petro-masculinity, which suggests practitioners should consider how their programming does or does not uphold patriarchal systems.