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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Education and Approaches".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 11262

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Prof. Dr. Tin-Chun Lin

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Guest Editor

School of Business and Economics, Indiana University – Northwest 3400 Broadway, Gary, IN 46408, USA
Interests: economics of education; economic growth and development; tax and fiscal; money and monetary policy; consumer behavior and restaurant tipping; economic education
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will present articles that investigate and discuss the relationship between economic development and sustainable future, focusing on the role of education. That is, how education plays an important role in a nation’s economic development and thus influences our sustainable future. Education can be regarded as human capital and one of the essential engine factors that can determine how an economy grows and develops. An economy that continuously and steadily develops and grows will provide a sustainable future. Therefore, any education systems, policies, trainings, and approaches will indirectly or directly affect a nation’s economic development and hence impact our sustainable future. In other words, this Special Issue will study education issues related to economic development (such as education policy and finance, human capital production and acquisition, and the returns to human capital) and to sustainable future, i.e., how a system (a human society) operates and grows continuously, impacting environment, economy, industry, business, agriculture, etc., and influencing human future.

Authors from different disciplines, such as economics, education, social science, and other disciplines related to education for sustainable future and economic development are invited to submit their papers. Theoretical and empirical research articles are welcome for this Special Issue. For both theoretical and empirical studies, authors are highly expected to provide economic theoretical or empirical models and economic analyses.

Prof. Dr. Tin-Chun Lin
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

education
economic development
education economics
sustainable future
sustainable development
education and economic growth
human capital
teacher salaries
the role of government in education
taxation for education
financing education
production and cost functions in education

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 432 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Autonomy Acquisition and Performance within Higher Education in Vietnam—A Road to a Sustainable Future?

by Ngo Thi Hieu and Le Duc Niem

Sustainability 2024, 16(3), 1336; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su16031336 - 05 Feb 2024

Viewed by 681

Abstract

The Vietnamese Government prioritizes education as a developmental investment within its socioeconomic development programs. Subsequently, Vietnam’s higher education system (HE) is experiencing substantial transformation, emphasizing autonomy, because institutions endowed with self-governance capabilities may allocate societal resources more efficiently for developmental purposes. In this paper, we measured Vietnamese universities’ total factor productivity change (TFPCH) in the autonomy context, using it as a proxy for the sustainable performance of HE institutions. We decomposed TFPCH into Technical Efficiency Change (EFFCH) and Technology Change (TECHCH) and regressed these indices with independent variables to derive their determining factors. Notably, we employed the derived intercept as a proxy for the autonomy context of Vietnam. The DEA found significant advancements in productivity and technology, indicating a positive paradigm shift within Vietnam’s higher education system. The intercepts obtained from these regressions are positive and significant, implying that the autonomous environment supports the sustainable advancement of Vietnam’s higher education system in both components of TFPCH: the catch-up ability (EFFCH) and technological improvement (TECHCH). In addition, we found that investment in vital resources (number of laboratories, research funding, or quality accreditation) improves productivity (TFPCH) via technological improvement. We also observed that private universities experienced higher performance progress than public ones. However, we did not find any significant relationships between the university scale or the location of the main campus and their performance. To further the growth of Vietnam’s higher education system, we propose that the autonomy of institutions continues to be granted. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for Sustainable Future and Economic Development)

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17 pages, 5034 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainability of Graduate Employability in the Post-COVID-19 Era: Initiatives by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education and Universities

by Soon Singh Bikar, Rosy Talin, Balan Rathakrishnan, Sabariah Sharif, Mohamad Nizam Nazarudin and Zulfhikar Bin Rabe

Sustainability 2023, 15(18), 13536; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su151813536 - 11 Sep 2023

Viewed by 1321

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic that hit the world in early 2020 has had major impacts on social and economic life in every country, including Malaysia. Many socio-economic activities have been globally disrupted, leading to the closure of companies and the suspension of work activities, which have drastically increased the unemployment rate and narrowed employment opportunities. This study used a qualitative method to explore the initiatives taken by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education and University Malaysia Sabah to improve the sustainability of graduate employability in the post-COVID-19 era. The study sample comprised ten officers who are experienced and responsible for organising initiatives for university graduate employability programmes and ten students who participated in these programmes. The study showed that the Short-Term Training and Placement Programme (MySTEP), Career Advancement Programme (Penjana CAP), Professional Certification Programme (Penjana PACE), and Career Advancement Programme at State (Penjana KPT-CAP @ State) were the major initiatives taken by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education to improve graduate employability in the post-COVID-19 era. The findings also revealed that the university undertook initiatives regarding upskilling and reskilling, the gig economy, entrepreneurship, finishing school programmes, and online career fairs to improve graduate employability rates in the post-COVID-19 era. Interviews with student respondents showed that these initiatives have given them the opportunity to learn and improve on new skills that are necessary to find new job opportunities in the post-COVID-19 era. The main contribution of this study is that upskilling and reskilling programmes are essential to improving the sustainability of graduate employability in the post-COVID-19 era. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for Sustainable Future and Economic Development)

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22 pages, 324 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Does Volunteer Service Foster Education for A Sustainable Future?—Empirical Evidence from Chinese University Students

by Ling Chen, Degang Li and Yong Li

Sustainability 2023, 15(14), 11259; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su151411259 - 19 Jul 2023

Viewed by 1138

Abstract

Sustainable development is an extremely important global vision of the current era, and higher education plays a significant role in deeply immersing young people in this prospect. As an important part of labor education for contemporary Chinese university students, volunteer service has proven to be a sustainable and valuable talent training process. Different from the grand narrative and simple political perspective of previous studies, this paper selects the relevant data of a university in Beijing as a sample to conduct a “black box disassembling” micro study. By building three sets of data, the authors were able to adopt difference-in-differences, analysis of variance, and hierarchical regression methods to study the comprehensive improvement of university students’ inner ability and sense of responsibility after participating in voluntary services. Results show that participation in more voluntary services will improve students’ performance and employment quality, mostly promote students’ teamwork ability, and differentially enhance students’ comprehensive, personal, and collective senses of responsibility, thus facilitating education for a sustainable future and, accordingly, economic development. The study reveals the formation mechanism of the sustainability value of voluntary service in more detail, complements the absence of Chinese sample data in international studies, and lays an effective foundation for more comprehensive micro studies in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for Sustainable Future and Economic Development)

22 pages, 1153 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Financial and Banking Education of Consumers in the Context of Sustainable Development Society

by Nicoleta Andreea Neacșu, Carmen Elena Anton, Camelia Mirela Baba and Anca Popescu

Sustainability 2023, 15(13), 10052; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su151310052 - 25 Jun 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1320

Abstract

The paper addresses the consumer’s behaviour toward banking services, outlining the need to deepen and complete a financial-banking education. The purpose of the study is to identify the opinions of consumers of banking services regarding the collaboration relationship with financial-banking institutions from the perspective of financial education and sustainable development. In this regard, the authors carried out an analysis of the content of loan agreements using: the method of evaluation grids—a specific method of diagnostic analysis supplemented with in-depth interview—a qualitative research method. Our study highlights the role of financial-banking institutions in the sustainable development of social and economic life, marking the need for primary financial education for effective consumer-bank collaboration. The research results reflect the need to develop contractual relationships based on transparency, fairness, and better financial information and education of consumers. The obtained results are useful for decision-makers in banking institutions to develop lending policies according to customer expectations and for authorities to shape various social development policies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for Sustainable Future and Economic Development)

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20 pages, 1071 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Influence of Social Capital and Intergenerational Mobility on University Students’ Sustainable Development in China

by Chuang Bao, Yong Li and Xinmeng Zhao

Sustainability 2023, 15(7), 6118; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15076118 - 01 Apr 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1552

Abstract

A person’s family of origin has a profound impact on his or her life; a student’s performance at university and their interpersonal skills are also influenced by the characteristics of their family. In order to explore how social capital and intergenerational mobility impact university students’ quality of interpersonal communication and experiences, whether there is a “Matthew effect” at the higher education level, how the external social capital and the parenting style within a family affect the comprehensive quality of university students separately, and how university students’ family characteristics impact their quality of interpersonal communication, which will in turn affect their performance at university, this paper starts from the perspective of social capital and intergenerational mobility, and uses the cross-sectional data of the China Family Tracking Survey (CFPS) from 2018 to conduct Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin analysis and logistic binary regression for 1037 university students nationwide, to check whether the selected variables can be subjected to principal component analysis. The results show that, on one hand, university students’ family characteristics have a significant positive impact on their quality of interpersonal communication; on the other hand, their family backgrounds also have significant impact on their academic performance and enthusiasm for participating in student unions, as well as part-time employment and internships. In addition, according to the results of the mediation test, interpersonal communication skills play a mediating role in the way that family characteristics impact students’ performance at university, including their participation in student organizations, as well as internships and part-time jobs. Finally, this paper, by referring to both theoretical and empirical analysis, presents relevant suggestions from the perspectives of the individual, family, and government, aiming to facilitate the sustainable development of university students. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for Sustainable Future and Economic Development)

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18 pages, 621 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Development and Workers Ability: Considerations on the Education Index in the Human Development Index

by Giulia Grisolia, Umberto Lucia and Marco Filippo Torchio

Sustainability 2022, 14(14), 8372; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14148372 - 08 Jul 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1882

Abstract

Sustainability is an imperative of the 21st century in order to preserve the environment for the next generations, but sustainable development also requires the introduction and use of new technologies, and the related abilities for their use. The United Nations have adopted the [...] Read more.

H D I

in order to assess human well-being. This index includes a component related to knowledge, the Education Index, which is expressed in terms of the mean schooling years. However, this information does not contain a measure of the student’s ability to solve complex problems or ability to reason, which are fundamental skills for sustainable development. In this study, an improved version of the Education Index was developed by considering the data available from the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). This new index takes into account both the social impact of schooling years and the outcomes of the education systems for each country (PISA scores). As a consequence of this new Education Index, a new Human Development Index,

H D I^{*}

, is proposed. Two case studies were performed, comparing the European and non-European countries, focusing on government education spending. Moreover, the trends of an energy and an environmental indicator are analyzed in relation to the

H D I^{*}

. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for Sustainable Future and Economic Development)

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17 pages, 1807 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How Is Alumni Giving Affected by Satisfactory Campus Experience? Analysis of an Industry-Research-Oriented University in China

by Leiyu Mo and Yuting Zhu

Sustainability 2022, 14(13), 7570; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14137570 - 21 Jun 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2030

Abstract

Alumni giving is an emerging funding source for industry-research-oriented universities in China, which show unstable and limited growth compared to their elite counterparts despite providing their alumni a satisfactory campus experience. Identifying the mechanisms whereby campus experience satisfaction results in steady alumni donation is essential for providing guidance on effective alumni relations practice in the Chinese context. Using structural equation modeling, this quantitative study surveyed 238 alumni of an industry-research-oriented university in China to explore the relationships among campus experience satisfaction, faculty-alumni contacts, trust in foundation, and alumni-giving intention. The results indicate that campus experience satisfaction is a significant predictor of the other three, while also indirectly affecting alumni donation willingness, which includes faculty-alumni contact and trust in foundation. It was also revealed that trust in foundation could be enhanced by strengthening contact between faculty and alumni. Theoretically, this study identifies and reveals the key determinants of increased alumni giving and their interactive mechanisms in the Chinese higher education ecosystem. For sustainability, suggestions for optimizing alumni relation practices are provided to university administrators and policymakers to advance higher education’s contribution to social and economic development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for Sustainable Future and Economic Development)

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