Sustainability in STEM Higher Education: Making Social Change Together

Abstract

This paper examines the sustainability literacy of one pilot group of Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Maths (STEM) students in one U.S. HE institution. Currently, the absence of
understanding how sustainability goals and challenges are related is missing from many HE
programs. Students took the sustainability literacy test (SULITEST) and showed mixed results in
regards to their sustainability literacy. These initial results indicate that sustainability tenets are
well ingrained by the students, but not the application of sustainability to their lives. The results
presented here provide a first indication of the gaps in sustainability education for STEM
students in higher education.