Perceptions of college students towards climate change, environmental, and tourism issues: a comparative study in Botswana and the US

Abstract

This exploratory study used a comparative cross-sectional research design and survey data to describe and compare attitudes of undergraduate students about climate change and environmental issues at the University of Botswana in Gaborone and the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) located in Annapolis, Maryland during the spring of 2011. Two important patterns emerged in the survey responses. The first was a consistently large percent difference between students in the US and Botswana on issues related to climate change, tourism, and other environmental issues. Batswana students overwhelmingly shared similar perceptions on most issues regardless of their discipline. The only difference between perceptions of Botswana students majoring in Environmental Science and those majoring in Business was with regards to the impact of climate change on future attractiveness of their area. We conclude that climate change issues should be integrated into courses, subjects or programmes in Universities or colleges of education across African institutions and the developed world. Also, college students who live in urban centres should be exposed to rural environs through field-based courses or subjects regardless of their majors and geographic areas of abode. Both governments could use these results to formulate climate change policy with an inclination to nature-based tourism industry.