What Are the Beliefs and Misconceptions about Climate Change of Students Pursuing Careers in Civil and Construction Engineering?

The overwhelming consensus in the scientific community is that anthropogenic climate change will irreversibly affect future generations. Engineering professionals who design and construct our built environment can protect society against the effects of global warming through implementation of building strategies that reduce climate changing emissions. There is little research to assess if students who intend to pursue careers in the design and construction of our built environment hope to address such important environmental and societal challenges. To advance understanding, a survey instrument was developed and validated to measure undergraduate engineering students' climate change literacy, career motivations, and agency to address climate change in their career. Preliminary results compare responses of engineering students intending to pursue a career in civil and construction industries to those of engineering students intending to pursue other engineering careers. The results indicate that civil and construction engineering students are more likely to take sustainability courses and learn about climate change in the classroom, but they do not excel above other engineers in their knowledge of climate science. The educational gap in engineering sustainability courses must be closed to ensure those who will design and construct our built environment are properly equipped to succeed in the sustainability-related careers they desire.