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In many societies across the globe, females are still underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM fields), although they are reported to have higher grades in high school and college than males. The present study was guided by the assumption that the sustainability of higher education critically rests on the academic success of both male and female students under conditions of equitable educational options, practices, and contents. It first assessed the persistence of familiar patterns of gender bias (e.g., do competencies at enrollment, serving as academic precursors, and academic performance favor females?) in college students of a society in transition from a gender-segregated workforce with marked gender inequalities to one whose aims at integrating into the global economy demand that women pursue once forbidden careers thought to be the exclusive domain of men. It then examined how simple indices of academic readiness, as well as preferences for fields fitting traditional gender roles, could predict attainment of key competencies and motivation to graduate (as measured by the average number of credits completed per year) in college. As expected, females had a higher high school GPA. Once in college, they were underrepresented in a major that fitted traditional gender roles (interior design) and over-represented in one that did not fit (business). Female students’ performance and motivation to graduate did not differ between the male-suited major of business and the female-suited major of interior design. Male students’ performance and motivation to graduate were higher in engineering than in business, albeit both majors were gender-role consistent. Although high school GPA and English proficiency scores predicted performance and motivation for all, preference for engineering over business also predicted males’ performance and motivation. These findings offered a more complex picture of patterns of gender bias, thereby inspiring the implementation of targeted educational interventions to improve females’ motivation for and enrollment in STEM fields, nowadays increasingly available to them, as well as to enhance males’ academic success in non-STEM fields such as business.

The present study offers a window into college students’ views of environmental sustainability in a country that is one of the major oil producers in the world. College students are the main constituents of the country’s programmatic plan (i.e., the 2030 Vision) for restructuring its infrastructure and human capital away from oil and gas production and toward a knowledge and service economy. Thus, their views can influence the success of the plan. In the present study, 430 college students at a university located at the heart of the oil and gas region were surveyed via an online questionnaire. Participants were of Middle Eastern descent. It was found that their beliefs and reported actions were generally supportive of a green economy. However, their beliefs in climate change and specifically in renewable energy did not predict much of their sustainability-based behaviors (e.g., recycling). The latter findings were interpreted as reflecting the internal conflict between embracing change (i.e., a desirable but uncertain future), and resisting change (i.e., a choice that would preserve, at least for some time, the benefits of the fossil fuel economy).

The present research examined the extent to which the initial approach to a research-writing course by STEM and non-STEM second-language learners may entail the contribution of different dispositions to course performance and ultimately be responsible for dissimilar outcomes. Individual differences in dispositions and behavior were assessed during the first four weeks of the semester. They pertained to an understudied college population of young women from a society (Saudi Arabia) that has only recently begun to address gender inequalities in education and the workforce by placing women at the center stage of its economic development. There were no differences in generic and research-specific writing skills, but performance on the first assignment was higher in non-STEM students, whereas general confidence (i.e., self-efficacy) and confidence specific to research writing were higher in STEM students. Nevertheless, STEM students were more likely to complete the course successfully than non-STEM students. It was concluded that the former treated initial poor performance as a warning call to increase engagement, thereby independently addressing their own difficulties. Instead, the latter required additional instruction and counseling as engagement by itself was insufficient to lead to academic success. These findings underscore the relevance of targeted, evidence-driven interventions that acknowledge the different academic needs of STEM and non-STEM students.

A sustainable education amid a disruptive event (e.g., a pandemic) requires the objective assessment of learning before and during the event and, if necessary, evidence-driven solutions in response to deficiencies. The present action research study illustrates an evidence-based response of educators to the widespread concerns that learning in college students, accustomed to face-to-face courses, might have been damaged during the pandemic by the switch to the online mode. It focuses on general education (GE) courses as they usually enroll students at the beginning of their journey in higher education, and thus, a population that is likely to be particularly sensitive to unforeseen changes. Pass/fail grades in courses taught face-to-face and online synchronously by the same instructors were examined. It was hypothesized that if the switch from face-to-face to online instruction changed the students’ approaches to learning, course performance would differ between the instructional modes. Differences in female and male students’ adaptation responses were expected to be reflected in their course performance. The study found that female students performed better online than face-to-face in Arabic Culture, Natural Science, Math, and Wellness courses. Male students also performed better online in Math and Natural Science courses, whereas they exhibited better performance face-to-face in Arabic Culture, Wellness, and Professional Competency courses. It was concluded that basic indices of uneven performance can guide further analyses into the sources of female and male students’ approaches to instructional modes.

In the present research, faculty at a university in the Middle East were asked to report their attitudes towards learning and grades through the LOGO: F scale. At the selected university, faculty are required to apply a student-centered approach to instruction, which is expected to be driven by active learning of key academic and professional competencies. Although the institutional policies explicitly emphasize active learning, the broader educational system in which the university is embedded puts a premium on grades to assess students’ academic success. The present research examined how faculty might respond to these institutional inconsistencies, which are typical of universities across the globe. Participants were the faculty of a university located in Saudi Arabia, which conforms to a US curriculum and a student-centered instructional model. The evidence collected underscored the faculty’s struggle between emphasizing learning and recognizing the undeniable relevance of grades in the educational marketplace. The usefulness of the evidence collected is discussed from the perspectives of the institution and individual faculty with an eye on sustainable objectives and outcomes.

Adherence to sustainable development in higher education rests on the assessment of students’ academic attainment, especially during unexpected environmental changes, such as the sudden move from face-to-face to online courses during the recent pandemic. Most studies devoted to this issue have compared students’ performance online with that of face-to-face courses before the pandemic, tallying together a variety of courses, often from specific disciplines. Besides their mixed results and generality, such studies do not address the issue of students’ adjustment to the post-pandemic learning environment. The present retrospective case study offered a simple evidence-based model for educators to measure the relationship between environmental changes and students’ behavior for self-reflection and adjustment. It examined students’ academic attainment (as measured by grades) within a broader timeframe, including courses taught by the same instructors face-to-face before and after the pandemic and online during the pandemic. Specific courses of the general education curriculum were selected to include a broad spectrum of students. The study then assessed whether students’ activities before, during, and after the pandemic predicted summative assessment performance (i.e., final exam grades) differently. In this study, performance differences were recorded, usually in favor of post-pandemic face-to-face classes. Midterm examinations were the best predictors of final exam grades irrespective of the modality of instruction and timeframe. Implications and applications of the methodology used and the results obtained were considered.

According to the extant literature, inquiry-based learning instruction can be an effective pedagogical tool as it frames learning as problem-solving activities. However, considerable debate exists about how to implement inquiry-based instruction. The present study compared the academic performance and engagement (as measured by course learning outcomes) of freshmen exposed to one of two inquiry-based learning modes differing in the volume of load-reducing instruction. The context was a writing-intensive, research-oriented course that enrolled second-language speakers with a didactic past. Thus, the study also examined whether the two modes differentiated freshmen’s second-language writing anxiety, a key emotive negative reaction likely to emerge in a writing-intensive course. At the end of the semester, the condition that involved greater load-reducing instruction before problem-solving activities yielded superior attainment of learning outcomes encompassing knowledge acquisition and use of problem-solving skills. No differences in engagement, withdrawal rates, or writing anxiety were detected. Writing anxiety was only minimally related to students’ performance and engagement as measured by the course learning outcomes. These findings illustrate that ostensibly minimal variations in the implementation of inquiry-based learning can have a selective impact on cognitive rather than emotive processing.

One of the challenges of sustainable education in the post-pandemic world is students' writing anxiety. The present study aimed to answer two key questions about writing in a second language for Arabic-English speakers enrolled in a written communication course after a return to on-campus instruction. First, it examined whether early exposure to English would predict diminished anxiety. Then, it assessed whether anxiety predicted specific writing deficits in the quality and quantity of students' writing. Students completed a writing anxiety questionnaire, answered questions about their exposure to English and their attitudes toward English writing, and responded in writing to the query \"Who am I?\". In this correlational study, overall anxiety increased with students' later exposure to English and decreased with exposure to English-speaking media, and favorable attitudes toward English writing. Overall anxiety was linked to particular writing qualities, such as increased use of concrete words, and brevity of exposition. Yet, somatic anxiety, appraisal concerns, communication apprehension, and avoidance behaviors were differentially related to measures of English exposure and attitudes as well as to writing quality and quantity. For instance, late exposure to English writing was related to increased levels of appraisal concerns, somatic anxiety, and communication apprehension, but not to avoidance behaviors. Except for appraisal concerns, all other forms of anxiety were accompanied by decreases in word and sentence outputs and increases in the use of concrete words. Appraisal concerns were related to a decreased use of low-frequency (i.e. unfamiliar) words. Applications and implications for sustainable education in the post-pandemic world are examined.

Definitions of a sustainable higher education focus on the different factors that are critical to the continued existence of the institution, the people it serves, and the surrounding society. If higher education is assumed to be a conduit for the acquisition of knowledge and skills that can contribute to a healthy, ethical, and sustainable society, then it has to be able to induce lasting behavioral change in its primary beneficiaries (i.e., students). In the age of fake news, misrepresentation, and rejection of scientific principles and facts, we identified cognitive operations that are key to scientific reasoning (i.e., apply, analyze and evaluate), and offered sustainable practice to students enrolled in a course devoted to scientific writing. Students were classified as possessing an inclination towards a reproductive mode of learning, which could increase their vulnerability to absorb fabrications and distortions of information. The research first asked whether practice in applying, evaluating, and analyzing induces an information processing change (as measured by the content of scientific writing). Then, it asked whether environmental disruptions (e.g., shifting from face-to-face instruction, a mode familiar to students, to online instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic) would affect the likelihood of change. We found that this type of practice was an effective propeller of change in students’ scientific reasoning. A disposition towards reproductive learning did not impair scientific reasoning, whereas engagement and practice made a positive contribution. We concluded that behavioral change is blocked by neither the availability of technology, nor the learner’s use, but rather by one’s motivation to make use of opportunities for change. A sudden alteration in the learning environment may create uncertainty but does not substantially alter this motivation. The findings of the present study can be useful to the development of a sustainable education in the Middle East and beyond.

The present study was driven by the assumption that a key feature of sustainable education is its ability to preserve standards of quality even amid unforeseen, potentially disruptive events. It asked whether students’ academic success in math general education courses differed between synchronous online (during the COVID-19 pandemic) and face-to-face (before the pandemic), under the ancillary assumption that computational competency, a pillar of sustainable education, shapes enduring success in a variety of professional fields. As the early identification of at-risk students and ensuing remedial interventions can bring about academic success, the study also investigated the predictive validity of students’ initial performance in online and face-to-face math courses. Two general education courses (introductory calculus and statistics), taught by the same instructor, were selected. Class grades did not differ between instructional modes, thereby providing no evidence for the widespread concern that the switch to the online mode had damaged learning. Yet, during the semester, test and homework performance were differentially sensitive to modes of instruction. Furthermore, both test and homework performance during the first half of the semester predicted class grades in online courses, whereas only test performance predicted class grades in face-to-face courses. These results suggest that sustainable math education in times of crisis is feasible and that educators’ consideration of the differential predictive value of test and homework performance may aid its attainment.