Proceedings of the 5th Global Conference on Education and Teaching
Year: 2023
DOI:
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What Do Female and Male College Students from Saudi Arabia Think of a Green Economy?
Gaydaa Al-Zohbi, and Maura A. E. Pilotti
ABSTRACT:
The present research surveys the views of a green economy held by Saudi Arabian college students. The economy of their country is in the process of being restructured from one largely based on fossil fuels and their byproducts to one that is knowledge- and service-based. Thus, students are likely to experience cognitive dissonance between resisting change, which would preserve the known benefits of the fossil fuel economy, and embracing change, which is associated with desirable but uncertain economic outcomes. In the study, students’ cognitive dissonance emerged in an online survey administered during the post-pandemic period. Students’ favorable views of a green economy remained superficial. Furthermore, views (including attitudes and beliefs) failed to predict actions consistent with such views. Students’ contradictory answers stimulated faculty members in the College of Sciences and Human Studies to develop a plan to counteract cognitive dissonance and thus promote in students behaviors consistent with their overall favorable attitudes and beliefs toward a green economy.
keywords: green economy, female college students, fossil fuel economy