📄 social_science

Institutional Drivers of Green Skills Development in Ghanaian Higher Education

Drawing on data from 353 students at a Ghanaian public university, this study demonstrates that green skills development is driven by interconnected institutional initiatives, curriculum integration, and campus culture, which collectively enhance students' environmental knowledge and pro-environmental behaviors.

Original authors: Alex Boadi Dankyi, Kwame Ofori, Akua Tiwaa Buabeng-Boateng, Isaac Dabel

Published 2026-07-06

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CC BY 4.0

Original authors: Alex Boadi Dankyi, Kwame Ofori, Akua Tiwaa Buabeng-Boateng, Isaac Dabel

Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). ✨ This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer

Imagine a university not just as a building where students sit in classrooms, but as a massive, living garden.

In this garden, the goal is to grow "Green Skills." Think of these skills as the ability to understand how nature works and to act in ways that protect the planet. The researchers wanted to figure out: What actually makes these green skills grow in students? Is it just the textbooks they read, or is it something bigger?

Here is the simple breakdown of their study, using the garden analogy:

1. The Three Main Ingredients for Growth

The researchers looked at three specific things that act like the "sun, water, and soil" for this garden. They found that you can't just plant a seed (a student) and hope for the best; you need the whole environment to work together.

The Gardeners' Plan (University Initiatives): This is the university leadership. It's the rules, the funding, and the big plans the school makes to say, "We care about the planet." The study found that when the gardeners (leaders) have a strong plan and provide tools, the rest of the garden follows suit.
The Seeds and Soil (Curriculum Integration): This is what is actually taught in class. It's not just one special class on nature; it's sprinkling green ideas into every subject, from engineering to literature.
The Weather and Atmosphere (Environment and Culture): This is the "vibe" of the campus. It's seeing recycling bins everywhere, having solar panels on the roof, and seeing professors and other students actually doing eco-friendly things. It's the culture of the place.

2. How the Magic Happens (The Pathway)

The study tested a specific chain reaction, like a line of dominoes falling:

The Plan Starts It: When the university leadership (The Gardeners) makes a strong commitment, it forces the Curriculum to change and creates a greener Campus Culture. You can't have a green garden if the gardeners don't care.
The Mix: The study found that what is taught in class (Curriculum) and the "vibe" of the campus (Culture) actually reinforce each other. If you learn about recycling in class but see trash everywhere on campus, the lesson doesn't stick. But if the class and the campus match, the lesson sticks.
The Knowledge Grows: When students have good classes and a supportive campus, their Knowledge of how the environment works grows significantly. They start to understand the "cause and effect" of nature.
The Action: Finally, this knowledge leads to Action. Students who truly understand the processes are much more likely to say, "I intend to act," and actually do things like save energy or advocate for the planet.

3. The Big Discovery

The most important thing the researchers found is that you cannot grow green skills with just a textbook.

If a university only changes the syllabus (the seeds) but ignores the campus culture (the soil) or the leadership support (the water), the plants won't grow. The study proves that green skills are the result of a whole-system approach. It's the combination of:

Leadership saying "Go!"
Teachers teaching it.
The campus living it.

4. Who Was Studied?

The researchers looked at 353 university students in Ghana. They asked them about their classes, their campus life, and their own habits. They used a statistical method (like a complex recipe for analyzing data) to prove that these connections are real and not just a guess.

The Bottom Line

Think of a university as a factory that produces "Green Graduates." This study says the factory can't just change the instruction manual (the curriculum). The factory managers (leadership) need to care, the machines (campus facilities) need to be green, and the workers (students) need to see green behavior everywhere. When all three parts work together, the students learn the skills and actually start acting to save the planet.

In short: Green skills aren't just learned in a classroom; they are grown in a supportive, green ecosystem created by the whole university.

Technical Summary: Institutional Drivers of Green Skills Development in Ghanaian Higher Education

Problem Statement
While higher education institutions (HEIs) are increasingly expected to cultivate "green skills"—defined as a combination of environmental knowledge, technical competence, and pro-environmental values—to support the transition to low-carbon economies, empirical evidence regarding the specific institutional mechanisms that shape these outcomes remains limited, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Existing literature often highlights a gap between students' environmental awareness and their ability to translate this into consistent practice or professional readiness. Furthermore, studies in the region are frequently descriptive, lacking model-based evidence on how institutional conditions, curriculum design, and campus culture interact to influence student outcomes. This study addresses the need to understand the institutional pathways through which green skills develop, moving beyond isolated curricular interventions to examine the interconnected role of governance, environment, and pedagogy.

Methodology
The study employed a quantitative, cross-sectional explanatory design to test a structural model of green skills development at a public university in Ghana.

Participants: The sample consisted of 353 undergraduate students (62.6% male, 37.4% female), stratified across STEM and non-STEM disciplines. The mean age was 27 years.
Instrumentation: Data were collected using a validated Green Skills Competency Questionnaire (GSCQ) adapted for the Ghanaian context. The instrument measured five latent constructs:
1. University Initiatives and Support for Green Skills Development (UISGSD)
2. University Curriculum and Green Skills Integration (UCGSI)
3. University Environment and Culture (UEC)
4. Knowledge of Environmental Processes (KEP)
5. Behavioural Intentions and Practices (BIP)
Analytical Approach: Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) via SmartPLS 4.0. The analysis followed a two-stage approach: (1) assessment of the measurement model (reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity using HTMT ratios) and (2) assessment of the structural model (path coefficients, significance via bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples, and model fit indices). The study was grounded in Human Capital Theory, Institutional Theory, and behavioral perspectives (including the logic of the Theory of Planned Behavior).

Key Results
The structural model demonstrated that green skills development is driven by interconnected institutional processes rather than curriculum exposure alone. All hypothesized relationships were statistically significant ( $p < 0.05$ ):

Institutional Drivers: University Initiatives and Support (UISGSD) were strong predictors of both Curriculum Integration (UCGSI) ( $\beta = 0.723$ ) and University Environment and Culture (UEC) ( $\beta = 0.714$ ).
Curriculum and Culture Interaction: Curriculum Integration significantly influenced the University Environment and Culture ( $\beta = 0.184$ ).
Knowledge Formation: Both Curriculum Integration ( $\beta = 0.433$ ) and University Environment and Culture ( $\beta = 0.150$ ) were positively associated with students' Knowledge of Environmental Processes (KEP).
Behavioral Outcomes: Environmental Knowledge (KEP) was significantly related to Behavioural Intentions and Practices (BIP) ( $\beta = 0.569$ ).
Explanatory Power: The model explained a substantial proportion of variance in UCGSI ( $R^2 = 0.523$ ) and UEC ( $R^2 = 0.734$ ). It explained a moderate to substantial variance in KEP ( $R^2 = 0.538$ ) and a moderate variance in BIP ( $R^2 = 0.323$ ).
Model Fit: The model demonstrated acceptable fit, with an SRMR of 0.081 for the estimated model.

Key Contributions

Theoretical Integration: The study proposes and empirically tests an institutional pathway model that integrates Human Capital Theory and Institutional Theory. It demonstrates that student outcomes are shaped by the interaction of curriculum, institutional environment, and organizational support, rather than isolated instructional activities.
Contextual Extension: It extends the sustainability education literature, which is predominantly focused on the Global North, by providing evidence from a Sub-Saharan African university context.
Mechanism Elucidation: The research moves beyond surface-level descriptions to identify specific institutional mechanisms (governance, policy, culture) that facilitate the development of environmental knowledge and behavioral intentions.

Significance and Claims
The authors claim that the study provides evidence-based insights for policymakers and university administrators seeking to align educational practice with sustainable development goals. The findings suggest that effective green skills development requires a "whole-institution approach" where governance structures, curriculum reform, and campus practices are mutually reinforcing. Specifically, the paper argues that:

Institutional initiatives are foundational; without deliberate policy and resource allocation, sustainability efforts remain fragmented.
Curriculum integration alone is insufficient; it must be supported by a campus culture that normalizes and reinforces sustainable practices.
The "knowledge-behavior gap" may be reduced when learning occurs within a supportive institutional context that provides resources and social reinforcement for sustainable action.
For Ghana and comparable Sub-Saharan African contexts, policy interventions should shift from program-level interventions to institution-level design, embedding green skills into quality assurance and accreditation frameworks.

The study concludes that green skills should be viewed not merely as individual competencies but as capabilities enabled by organizational systems and learning environments.

1. The Three Main Ingredients for Growth

2. How the Magic Happens (The Pathway)

3. The Big Discovery

4. Who Was Studied?

The Bottom Line

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