Profiling research of the engineering academics who successfully promote education in Sustainable Human Development

Abstract

Over the last decades, engineering faculties and universities have become increasingly engaged in integrating sustainable development into their different functions. Notwithstanding, more effort is required to effectively integrate sustainability principles as a whole-university approach, and specifically, in technical universities. Scientific literature highlights the main barriers to the success of initiatives that address this shortcoming. A better understanding of the scientific profile of the academics who engage in sustainable development activities can help to develop and promote initiatives for increasing faculty engagement in all academic functions. For this purpose, this study presents a bibliometric analysis of the scientific production of an academic community involved in a European initiative aimed at capacitating engineering academics for sustainable development. Specifically, two groups of academics with different degrees of expertise and involvement in sustainable development were characterized and compared, revealing common trends and similarities of their research production. The results have different implications for future strategies aimed at engaging specific academic profiles in the field of engineering, highlighting especially health science–related fields linked with engineering as a potential opportunity of promoting the integration of sustainable development in engineering education. Further analysis is required to determine the university rankings and their potential implications for the integration of sustainable development, as well as appropriate policies and mechanisms of faculty rewarding and promotion.