1. This work is supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) collaboration between the
Directorates for Education and Human Resources (EHR) and Geosciences (GEO) under grant DUE - 1125331
A Nationwide View of Undergraduates’
Interest in Earth-related Careers &
Motivation to Tackle Environmental Challenges
Kim Kastens
Valentina Mara
Margie Turrin
American Geophysical Union
December 2016

2. InTeGrate Attitudinal Instrument (IAI)
• Survey instrument administered online pre- and post-
instruction
• Probes:
o Career interests and college major selection
o Concern about environmental issues and motivation
towards sustainability behaviors
o Demographics

3. Sample:
o 2,625 students with pre- and post-instruction surveys
o 58% female
o 37.1% under-represented minorities
InTeGrate Attitudinal Instrument (IAI)
Setting:
o 163 undergraduate courses
o 15% in 2-year colleges
o 81% in intro-level courses
o Both Geo and non-Geo courses
o Typically 2-3 weeks of InTeGrate content, the rest
of the semester pre-existing content

4. Distribution of Courses with IAI Pairs
Includes 168 courses from 30 states + Puerto Rico
1-5 6-10 11- 21-30
Includes 163 courses from 30 states + Puerto Rico

5. Please indicate whether you have declared or intend to declare a major in
each of the following areas of study.
( ) will not choose ( ) might choose ( ) will definitely or have chosen(✔)(✔)
81% of respondents were in Intro level courses

6. Career and College major

7. As you consider career directions after graduation, how important is it to you to do
work in which you use your knowledge of the Earth and environment?
Please select one number: [Likert scale 1 = not important to 7 = very important]
Mean 4.6

8. 27% 37%
3% 34%
Which of the following graphs most accurately depicts your level of
interest in a career in Earth or Environmental Sciences before and after
taking this course or studying this module?

9. How interested are you in each of the following professions?
Very
interested
( ) Don’t know
enough to judge
( )Definitely NOT
interested
( )A little bit
interested
( )(✔)(✔)

10. How interested are you in each of the following professions?
Very
interested
( ) Don’t know
enough to judge
(✔)Definitely NOT
interested
( )A little bit
interested
( )

11. Please indicate whether you have declared or intend to declare a major in each of
the following areas of study.
( ) will not choose ( ) might choose ( ) will definitely or have chosen
Change from pre-instruction to post-instruction for Environmental Science Major

12. Concern about environmental issues
and
motivation towards sustainability

13. As you consider employment after graduation, how important is it to you to work in an
organization committed to environmentally sustainable practices (independent of the field)?
Examples of environmentally sustainable practices would include minimizing energy and water
use in the workplace. Please select one number: [Likert scale 1 = not important to 7 = very
important]
Mean 4.9

14. Please indicate your level of concern about each of the following potential
developments on the Earth. Focus on the impact on your region in your lifetime.
Intentional
distractor

15. Please indicate your level of concern about each of the following potential
developments on the Earth. Focus on the impact on your region in your lifetime.

16. Please indicate the extent to which you have engaged in the following
activities during the past week:

17. Please indicate the extent to which you have engaged in the following
activities during the past week:
n = 1972

18. Please indicate the extent to which you have engaged in the following activities
during the past week:
Sustainable activities index is constructed by summing number of sustainable
activities respondent engaged in at least once per week.
Mean 7.5

19. When you engage in behaviors such as those listed in the previous question,
what factors or sources of information influence your decision to do so? (mark
all that apply): [asked only post-instruction]

20. 33% 21%
2% 43%
“People differ in how motivated they are to take action in their personal and
professional lives to create a more environmentally sustainable society.
Which of the following graphs best represents your degree of motivation
before and after taking this course?”

21. As you think about your future, can you envision using what you have learned in this course to
help society overcome problems of environmental degradation, natural resources limitations,
or other environmental issues? ( ) yes ( ) noX
81% of respondents
33%
21%
Of those who checked “Yes”
and then
commented

22. As you think about your future, can you envision using what you have learned in this course to
help society overcome problems of environmental degradation, natural resources limitations,
or other environmental issues? ( ) yes ( ) noX
17% of respondents
38%
31%
Of those who checked “No”
and then
commented

23. Take home thoughts
• An encouraging fraction of undergraduates are concerned
about environmental issues and interested in Earth-
related careers.
• Instruction is helping them decide about Earth-related
majors and careers.
– Movement both towards and away from geo./env. major
– Decrease in “Don’t know enough to judge”
• Participation in sustainability behaviors ranges from
almost none to extremely committed.
• Strongest motivator towards sustainability behaviors is
saving money.

24. Take home thoughts (2)
• A large majority of students can envision using what
learned in their coursework to help society overcome
problems of environmental degradation, etc.
– through personal action or professional actions
– Those who cannot, cite inadequate feeling of empowerment
• IAI survey instrument exists and could be used in your
own course or project, with national comparison sample.

25. This work is supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) collaboration between the
Directorates for Education and Human Resources (EHR) and Geosciences (GEO) under grant DUE - 1125331
For more information about the
InTeGrate Attitudinal Instrument, see:
http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/about/iai.html
or email
kastens@ldeo.columbia.edu