Gender Differences in Pro-Environmental Behaviors Years After Participation in Secondary School Environmental Studies Programs

• In Event: 75.031 - Environmental Education in a Sustainable World

Abstract

Part of a larger research project on secondary school environmental studies programs, this study examined the long-term impacts of two longstanding programs. A survey of alumni of two programs revealed that while the vast majority of alumni were engaged in pro-environmental behaviours that they attributed to participation in the programs, most behaviours were of a domestic rather than political nature. Further, women alumni identified more household-oriented behaviours, raising concerns that their actions were relegated to the private sphere. A small number of rural, male respondents were actively hostile to environmental concerns, indicating a need for further research on masculinity in environmental education.

Authors

• Mary Catherine Breunig, Brock University

• Constance L. Russell, Lakehead University