The undergraduate dissertation as a reflection of education for sustainability and professional identity: the faculty of education of Bilbao
International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
ISSN: 1467-6370
Article publication date: 8 June 2021
Issue publication date: 30 August 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The undergraduate dissertation (UD) can be considered to be a reflection of the influence of the sustainable developmental goals (SDG) and the professional identity of the students. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the extent to which the topics of the UD reflect the SDG, considering, moreover, that they may be related to the professional identity developed by the students throughout the degree.
Design/methodology/approach
This work researches the topic of 308 UDs graded as “Excellent” in the Faculty of Education of Bilbao (FEB), using a lexical analysis method.
Findings
The results show two main branches: one associated with Childhood and Social Education Degrees (related to gender equality and socio-educational transformation); and another linked to the Primary Education Degree (language learning, innovation and new technologies). These analyses show the influence of the 5th (40.8%) and 4th (38.4%) SDGs in the topics chosen for the UDs.
Research limitations/implications
The findings provide valuable insights into the current state of Education for Sustainable Development in the Faculty, but should be complemented with an analysis of the topics of all the UDs, to have a more real vision of the situation.
Originality/value
This study analyses, for the first time, the topics of the UDs from the perspective of sustainability, taking into account the dissertations that reach a standard of excellence in the FEB. These results provide relevant information that can be very helpful to detect the specific needs for the design and implementation of an awareness-raising action that will lead to working on sustainability in a transversal way in the education degrees of the FEB.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding: This work was supported by the Campus Bizia Lab programme [19IDOI], with a grant from the Sustainability Department of the Vice-Rector’s Office for Innovation, Social Commitment and Cultural Action of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). This programme is supported by the Basque Government.
Citation
Idoiaga Mondragon, N., Axpe Saez, I. and Berciano, A. (2021), "The undergraduate dissertation as a reflection of education for sustainability and professional identity: the faculty of education of Bilbao", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 22 No. 6, pp. 1285-1301. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-09-2020-0346
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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