Abstract:

The leadership role of education, especially higher education, in creating sustainable development has been acknowledged in large scale. This is due to the fact that many of today's universities are similar in size and population to small cities, and this lends them significant impact on the economy, society and the environment. Universities have a strategic role as drivers of regional economic growth. By educating current and future decision makers, universities act as "shapers of society's values". On the one hand, universities have a moral responsibility to disseminate to society the values and knowledge needed to create sustainable development; on the other hand, they contribute to generating optimal solutions to make sustainable principles a reality. The importance of sustainability in universities is confirmed by numerous national and international papers on higher education institutions and sustainability. The "UN Agenda 2030" and the UNESCO initiative "Education for Sustainable Development" have emphasized the role and responsibility of universities in building a more sustainable society and achieving sustainable development goals.

Universities can support the sustainable development of society in two different ways: by implementing and promoting "sustainability activities in the curriculum" and "sustainability in research programs to reduce the negative impacts of their work on the economy, society and the environment". With responsibility for educating future generations (including future leaders and policy makers), universities have the power to raise students' awareness of environmental and social issues. Universities are a very important source of knowledge for sustainable development due to their research activities. Therefore, universities should regard sustainability not only as a field of academic study but also as a means of contributing to the need for a greener world in their research activities, and support all sustainability-related research in all fields (biology, chemistry, economics, political science, etc.).

In recent years, many universities have sought to align themselves with the principles contained in sustainability indicators. Many universities around the world have started to publish information closely related to sustainability, such as sustainability reports or environmental, social and economic activities online. Such information helps to promote the interaction and oversight of various stakeholders in the sustainable development of universities.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the statistical differences of sustainability perceptions for gender, job title, tenure, faculty and membership in a non-governmental organization for 782 academics working at universities in Istanbul. Since the data were not normally distributed, Mann-Whitney-U test was used for groups of 2 and Kruskal-Wallis test was used for groups of 3 or more. As a result of the analyses, the sustainability perception levels of women, associate professors, those with 15-20 years of service, those working at the Faculty of Economics and those who are members of an NGO were found to be significantly higher.

Keywords:

Attitudes Towards Sustainability, Academics, University, Statistical Analysis.