Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 60.18
Liaison Martín Sanchez
Submission Date June 29, 2024

STARS v2.2

Tecnológico de Monterrey – Campus Querétaro
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 4.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution conduct an assessment of the sustainability literacy of its students?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the literacy assessment? The assessment is administered to::
The entire (or predominate) student body, directly or by representative sample

Which of the following best describes the structure of the assessment? The assessment is administered as a::
Standalone evaluation without a follow-up assessment of the same cohort or representative samples

A copy of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment(s):
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A list or sample of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment or the website URL where the assessment tool may be found:

https://itesm.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2bmhKryWwG5Bs8e


A brief description of how the literacy assessment was developed and/or when it was adopted:
The Sustainability Culture Index is a proprietary tool of Tec that allows for the measurement of attitudes, behaviors, ideologies, and knowledge of its different populations regarding sustainability to define or rethink actions and programs for the experience of sustainability.

 

The instrument was designed from January to July 2022 by Florina Arredondo and Gabriel Cué Guerrero from the School of Humanities, Eva Guerra from EGADE Business School, and is led by Luis Fernández Carril, academic coordinator of Ruta Azul.

 

The main objective of the index is to understand four essential aspects: ideologies, attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors of Tecnológico de Monterrey members regarding climate change, the environment, and sustainable development.

 

The index was launched from October to December 2022, and in April 2023, the initial results of the first edition were presented.

 

To understand sustainable culture, a survey of 80 questions on various sustainability-related topics is used, which is applied to high school, undergraduate, and graduate students. The data from the responses are quantified to establish a score from zero to 100, with a higher score indicating a stronger and more committed sustainability culture, while a lower score presents areas of opportunity for improvement.

A brief description of how a representative sample was reached (if applicable) and how the assessment(s) were administered :

For the total universe of high school, undergraduate, and graduate students at Tec de Monterrey across all campuses, the number of students for each educational level necessary for a representative sample was calculated to provide a level of ≥ 95% statistical confidence. Therefore, for undergraduate students, out of the total of 60,200 students, 1050 were surveyed, while 382 were required to achieve 95% confidence. Regarding the total number of high school students (26,764), 500 students were surveyed (379 necessary for 95% confidence). For graduate students, a sample of 400 was taken from the total of 7,461 students (366 necessary for 95% confidence).


A brief summary of results from the literacy assessment(s):
Findings from the First Measurement

 

We implemented the first measurement of the Sustainability Culture Index, which allowed us to discover the knowledge, attitudes, ideologies, and behaviors of the institution regarding sustainability and to establish an indicator for measuring Ruta Azul's progress.

 

We obtained an overall score and one per population, allowing us to identify the most important areas of attention for each demographic and to establish goals for Ruta Azul in the following periods. The overall index of this first measurement (2022-2023) marked a baseline of 66.48.

 

Findings by Pillar:

 

Knowledge (Global: 51.33)

- Although climate change is a known topic, the level of understanding is incipient for the challenge of change we face.

- Human industrial activity is recognized as the main cause of climate change.

- There is no evidence of denial of science or climate change (Denialism).

- According to the results by school, population, and region, the knowledge category is the lowest pillar and should be a critical area of attention.

 

Ideologies (Global: 62.37)

- There is a limited vision of sustainability and where the greatest responsibility lies.

- The perception of responsibility for climate change is identified in individual action (reducing consumption and making small lifestyle changes).

- The social and political dimensions of sustainability are not considered, and the roles of companies and governments are ignored. This has ethical and justice implications. Citizenship in favor of sustainability is not contemplated.

- One out of every three students and one out of every five professors and collaborators perpetuate the myth of overpopulation*, which is an unfounded belief.

*This myth refers to the idea that the Earth's population will surpass the planet's carrying capacity in the foreseeable future, leading to economic or social collapse, and that measures must be taken to curb population growth.

 

Attitudes (78.06)

- There is a recognized urgent need to change the paradigm regarding nature but not how to act.

- There is an overvalued optimism in science and technology as the only solutions to address climate change. The severity of the eco-crisis is recognized; over 90% believe that humanity is abusing the environment and facing a potential ecological catastrophe. Over 90% reject anthropocentrism (a philosophical theory that conceives humans and their interests as the center of everything), and 95% agree that animals and plants have the same rights as humans. Over 50% believe that human ingenuity will solve the environmental crisis, along with scientific and technological development addressing sustainability issues.

 

Behaviors (63.26)

BEHAVIORS LIMITED TO ACTIVITIES RELATED TO REDUCING ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT.

- It is possible that more sustainable behaviors are reported than those actually practiced due to awareness of moral correctness (such as in transportation and food); the greater the identification with leading a more sustainable life, the fewer concrete actions are taken.

Knowing which actions reduce the ecological footprint, but not knowing how to foster a culture of sustainability in educational, citizen, and cultural matters.

 

GENERAL CONCLUSION

- This initial measurement reveals the gap in sustainability culture in our community and supports Ruta Azul's priorities regarding informing, training, educating, and promoting sustainable lifestyle changes.

 

Future measurements will show the evolution of Ruta Azul's actions and its effectiveness in changing the sustainability culture at Tecnológico de Monterrey.

Website URL where information about the sustainability literacy assessment is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.