Environmental Perceptions of College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In this study, we investigate the environmental perception changes in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the almost worldwide lockdown between March and December 2020, many students experienced dramatic changes in their socioeconomic life that have affected their well-being, ability to learn, and environmental perceptions. Students were sent home from college campuses, many businesses were shut down, and changes were seen in the environment throughout the world. In many places, lockdown policies lead to improved air, water, and land quality, mainly due to fewer vehicle and anthropogenic emissions. An online survey conducted on students enrolled in the University of South Florida and Florida State University demonstrates that most students have become more environmentally conscious after the COVID-19 lockdown, indicating significant perception changes. The students’ demographic backgrounds played a major role in affecting their perception changes. Furthermore, mass media was found to have affected the student’s perceptions, which demonstrates the important role media plays in directing public opinion, especially among college students and millennia. This study also highlights the environmental issues that underrepresented students face and calls for policies to address them on both educational and socioeconomic levels.

本文研究了新冠肺炎期间大学生的环境意识的变化。2020年3月至12月, 几乎全世界都处于封锁状态。在此期间, 许多学生的社会经济生活发生了巨大变化, 进而影响了学生们的福祉、学习能力和环境意识。学生离开校园返家, 许多企业被关闭, 世界各地的环境都发生了变化。在许多地方, 由于汽车排放和人为排放的减少, 封锁政策改善了空气、水和土地质量。我们对美国南佛罗里达大学和佛罗里达州立大学学生的在线调查表明, 新冠肺炎封锁后, 大多数学生加强了环境意识, 展现了环境意识的重大变化。学生的人口统计学背景, 是环境意识变化的重要影响因素。大众传媒影响了学生们的意识, 表明了媒体引导公众舆论(尤其是大学生和2000年后出生的人群)的重要作用。本文还强调了未被充分代表的学生所面临的环境问题, 呼吁在教育和社会经济层面制定解决这些问题的政策。

Investigamos en este estudio los cambios en la percepción ambiental que se presentaron en los estudiantes universitarios durante la pandemia del COVID-19. Durante el encierro casi mundial que ocurrió entre marzo y diciembre del 2020, muchos estudiantes experimentaron cambios drásticos en su vida socioeconómica que afectaron su bienestar, su habilidad de aprendizaje y sus percepciones ambientales. A los estudiantes se les envió a casa desde los campus universitarios, muchos negocios se cerraron y se vieron cambios en el entorno en todas partes del mundo. En muchos lugares, las políticas del encierro llevaron a un mejoramiento de la calidad del aire, el agua y el suelo, principalmente por la limitación de vehículos en circulación y por la reducción de las emisiones antropogénicas. Una encuesta en red administrada entre estudiantes matriculados en la Universidad del Sur de la Florida y en la Universidad Estatal de la Florida demuestra que la mayoría de los estudiantes son ahora mucho más conscientes desde el punto de vista ambiental desde el encierro del COVID-19, lo cual es indicio de cambios significativos de percepción. Los antecedentes demográficos de los estudiantes jugaron un papel importante al momento de afectar sus cambios de percepción. Por otra parte, se pudo establecer que los medios de comunicación masiva habían afectado las percepciones de los estudiantes, lo que demuestra el rol importante de los medios en orientar la opinión pública, especialmente entre los estudiantes universitarios y los mileniales. Este estudio destaca también las cuestiones ambientales a las que se enfrentan los estudiantes infrarrepresentados y reclama políticas que la aborden en niveles tanto educacionales como socioeconómicos.

Key Words:

• college students
• COVID-19
• environmental perceptions
• socioeconomic impacts
• underrepresented students

关键词::

• 大学生
• 新冠肺炎
• 环境意识
• 社会经济影响
• 未被充分代表的学生

Palabras clave:

• COVID-19
• estudiantes infrarrepresentados
• estudiantes universitarios
• impactos socioeconómicos
• percepciones ambientales

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplemental Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s site at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2023.2258425.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the USF COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant Program, National Science Foundation grant number 100431, USF Creative Scholarship Grant 2022, and the NSF AGS, grant number 1900795.

Notes on contributors

Sydney Kaylor

SYDNEY KAYLOR is a graduate student in the School of Geosciences at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include the connections between humans and the environment, climate change risks, and their socioeconomic impacts.

Yasin Elshorbany

YASIN ELSHORBANY (corresponding) is an associate professor at the School of Geosciences at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include atmospheric chemistry and climate, and socioeconomic impacts of climate change.

Jennifer Collins

JENNIFER COLLINS is a professor in the School of Geosciences at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include physical and social aspects of hurricanes including understanding active and inactive hurricane seasons and hurricane evacuation decision-making.

Robin Rives

ROBIN RIVES holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science & Policy and a Master of Geography degree with a concentration in GIScience, both from the University of South Florida. Robin currently works in local government as a Sustainability Coordinator. E-mail: [email protected].