IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/forpol/v172y2025ics1389934124002612.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Becoming a forester. Exploring forest management students' habitus in the making

Author

Listed:
  • Cichecki, Diana
  • Weinbrenner, Hannes
  • Bethmann, Stephanie

Abstract

Foresters in Germany are facing extreme challenges due to climate change and social change, struggling to adapt their management strategies. In this context, our study explores the professional socialization of forest management students at Universities of Applied Sciences in Germany: How is a professional habitus formed during forestry education, and how well does this equip students to address ecological and social transformations? Through qualitative in-depth interviews, we investigate how students experience their education and interpret their future roles and tasks. Using a praxeological framework informed by Bourdieu's concept of habitus, we explore how higher education shapes students' ways of perceiving, feeling, and belonging.

Suggested Citation

  • Cichecki, Diana & Weinbrenner, Hannes & Bethmann, Stephanie, 2025. "Becoming a forester. Exploring forest management students' habitus in the making," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:172:y:2025:i:c:s1389934124002612
    DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2024.103407
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389934124002612
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.forpol.2024.103407?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bethmann, Stephanie & Simminger, Eva & Baldy, Jana & Schraml, Ulrich, 2018. "Forestry in interaction. Shedding light on dynamics of public opinion with a praxeological methodology," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 93-101.
    2. Buijs, Arjen & Lawrence, Anna, 2013. "Emotional conflicts in rational forestry: Towards a research agenda for understanding emotions in environmental conflicts," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 104-111.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John, Manuel & Wirth, Kristina & Kaufmann, Anna & Ertelt, Hannah & Frei, Theresa, 2024. "Forest deliberations: Marteloscopes as sites of encounter between climate activists and forest managers," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    2. Bergstén, Sabina & Stjernström, Olof & Pettersson, Örjan, 2018. "Experiences and emotions among private forest owners versus public interests: Why ownership matters," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 801-811.
    3. Kenter, Jasper O. & Bryce, Rosalind & Christie, Michael & Cooper, Nigel & Hockley, Neal & Irvine, Katherine N. & Fazey, Ioan & O’Brien, Liz & Orchard-Webb, Johanne & Ravenscroft, Neil & Raymond, Chris, 2016. "Shared values and deliberative valuation: Future directions," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(PB), pages 358-371.
    4. Katarina Haugen, 2016. "Contested Lands? Dissonance and Common Ground in Stakeholder Views on Forest Values," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 107(4), pages 421-434, September.
    5. Grilli, Gianluca & Curtis, John & Hynes, Stephen & O'Reilly, Paul, 2017. "Anglers’ views on stock conservation: Sea Bass angling in Ireland," Papers WP578, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    6. Mack, Philipp & Kremer, Jakob & Kleinschmit, Daniela, 2023. "Forest dieback reframed and revisited? Forests (re)negotiated in the German media between forestry and nature conservation," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    7. Bin Zhao & Xin Huangfu, 2023. "The More Training, the More Willingness? A Positive Spillover Effect Analysis of Voluntary Behavior in Environmental Protection," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-16, June.
    8. Takala, Tuomo & Brockhaus, Maria & Hujala, Teppo & Tanskanen, Minna & Lehtinen, Ari & Tikkanen, Jukka & Toppinen, Anne, 2022. "Discursive barriers to voluntary biodiversity conservation: The case of Finnish forest owners," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    9. Bethmann, Stephanie & Simminger, Eva & Baldy, Jana & Schraml, Ulrich, 2018. "Forestry in interaction. Shedding light on dynamics of public opinion with a praxeological methodology," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 93-101.
    10. Marian Drăgoi & Veronica Toza, 2019. "Did Forestland Restitution Facilitate Institutional Amnesia? Some Evidence from Romanian Forest Policy," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-19, June.
    11. Takala, Tuomo & Lehtinen, Ari & Tanskanen, Minna & Hujala, Teppo & Tikkanen, Jukka, 2020. "Discoursal power and multi-objective forestry in the Finnish print media," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    12. Kaakinen, Inka & Lehtinen, Ari, 2016. "A bridge that disconnects – On shared and divided socio-spatialities in the pulp mill conflict between Uruguay and Argentina," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 106-112.
    13. Marini Govigli, V. & Bruzzese, S., 2023. "Assessing the emotional and spiritual dimension of forests: A review of existing participatory methods," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    14. Konczal, Agata A., 2020. "Why can a forest not be private? A post-socialist perspective on Polish forestry paradigms – an anthropological contribution," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    15. Liebal, Sandra & Köhler, Josephine & Weber, Norbert, 2025. "Forest condition and forest restoration as topics of online communication – An analysis of website performance of selected forest actors in Germany," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    16. Yushuo Chen & Yanru Fang & Tao Wang & Runpu Liu & Afrane Sandylove & Shuan Peng & Xuefang Wu & Pingjian Yang, 2025. "Has Environmental Sociology Research Effectively Responded to the Urgent Need for Environmental Governance in China? A Study Based on Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-20, March.
    17. Zachrisson, Anna & Beland Lindahl, Karin, 2013. "Conflict resolution through collaboration: Preconditions and limitations in forest and nature conservation controversies," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 39-46.
    18. Bayne, Karen M. & Grant, Andrea, 2024. "Who cares what happens with planted forests? A public typology to assist community engagement and communication," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    19. Iversen, Sara V. & Naomi, van der Velden & Convery, Ian & Mansfield, Lois & Holt, Claire D.S., 2022. "Why understanding stakeholder perspectives and emotions is important in upland woodland creation – A case study from Cumbria, UK," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    20. Brian Witt, 2019. "Evaluating the Effects of a Minimalist Deliberative Framework on the Willingness to Participate in a Payment for Ecosystem Services Program," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-26, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:172:y:2025:i:c:s1389934124002612. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/forpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.