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More engineering students are needed to address climate change in their careers. These students are necessary because engineering includes designing and building machines, structures, and components that contribute large portions of society's carbon emissions. We surveyed a national sample of undergraduate engineering students (n = 4605) in their last semester of college about their desire to address climate change in their careers and the factors that predicted these responses. Possible variables for wanting to address climate change in their career included course topics, co-curricular experiences, climate knowledge, political affiliation, religion, and other demographics. The strongest factors that predicted engineering students' desire to address climate change in their career were related to a feeling of personal responsibility to deal with environmental problems, recognizing climate change as a technical (not social) issue, believing climate change is caused by burning fossil fuels and livestock production, and their engineering discipline. Students majoring in environmental and architectural engineering were more likely to want to address climate change in their careers than others. Previous known factors to increase motivation for climate action like course topics, political affiliation, student organization participation, undergraduate research experience, and environmental volunteering were not strong predictors among engineering undergraduate students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has not been well understood by high school students in the US and the topic is often connected to misconceptions, which is especially damaging since accurate understandings of the concepts are strongly predictive of intent to do something about it. We use data from a national (US) survey of first year college students to identify high school experiences which correlate with the belief that climate change is caused by human activities. In-class coverage of climate change is less predictive of belief than time spent on science homework or science-themed extracurricular activities. These correlations suggest that simply covering climate change in class may not necessarily lead to greater belief in the scientific consensus. While deeper understanding is a worthy goal, the results indicate that, when it comes to high school science education, social factors such as the process and culture of education are also important for belief in climate change. These finding aligns with previous research about college students, which suggest student activities are more strongly correlated with student viewpoints than professor beliefs. Given the potential for curricula to become politicized these finding suggests an alternative route to achieve climate change education goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes beliefs related to human-caused climate change and predictors of these beliefs among students intending to pursue civil engineering. Based on a nationally distributed survey to first-year college engineering students (n = 937) in the United States, civil engineering students are less likely than others to believe that climate change is caused by humans. One reason this is a problem is because civil engineering students who do not believe in human-caused climate change are less likely to want to address climate change in their careers. Education has potential to address this gap in knowledge. For example, coverage of topics related to climate change in high school courses is a strong predictor for belief in anthropogenic climate change. For educators working with college students who may not believe in anthropogenic climate change, simply covering the topic can increase students' awareness, which would seem to lead them to more desire to address climate change issues, which is a necessity for realizing more-sustainable and resilient infrastructure systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning more about the career outcome expectations of students interested in civil engineering can help identify gaps between their expectations and sustainability challenges. The authors used data from two national surveys to compare students interested in civil engineering and other engineering disciplines. Those interested in civil engineering are more likely to address such sustainability topics as environmental degradation, water supply, and climate change. However, civil engineering students are less likely to have outcome expectations related to disease and saving lives. Particularly, female students interested in civil engineering have similar expectations to males but also hope to address poverty and opportunities for women and minorities. The gaps in outcome expectations related to disease and saving lives are troubling for a profession that is so instrumental in providing, for example, clean water and safe shelter. Showing the connection between societal needs and civil engineering may broaden participation, including among underrepresented female students. Recruiting more undergraduates using these outcome expectations would bring sorely needed new ideas and ways of thinking to help civil engineering respond to sustainability challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engineers are an essential part of solving the effects of climate change. They must be aware of the issues related to this phenomenon and empowered to make change to reduce and shift the impact of humans on the planet. Engineering students in their fourth-year of undergraduate studies in the United States (n = 4364) were asked 24 questions about climate change. We also explored how covering climate science-related topics in their college courses related to their understanding of climate change science. Our results indicate that climate change science was not well understood by engineering students in this sample. Only 30 percent of students in our sample understood the specific causes and methods to address it. For example, students incorrectly believed the hole in the earth ozone layer causes global climate change. This misconception is consistent with the literature on middle and high school students' understanding of climate change causes and consequences. We found that college courses and scientific publications have a positive effect on students' science knowledge related to climate change. Mainstream media, friends and family members have a reverse effect. While covering climate change and sustainable development in college courses favored students' knowledge of climate change, it was not sufficient to correct some climate change misconceptions. Our results suggest that engineering education in the U.S. does not provide an adequate impact on students' knowledge of this important topic. Understanding the science of climate change is a first step toward taking action to address it. Engineering students in the U.S. about to enter the workforce carry misconceptions about climate science, which is an educational issue that should be addressed. They need an understanding of climate change science for them to take relevant action to address it. The study provides directions to better prepare engineers to address climate change in their future practices. • Senior engineering students carry misconceptions about climate change science. • College courses and scientific publications are positive predictors of students' knowledge of climate change science. • Mainstream media, friends and family members are negative predictors of students' knowledge of climate change science. • Covering climate change or sustainable development in college courses failed to correct misconceptions about climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]