IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i14p5829-d1431415.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unveiling the Role of Arab Universities in Advancing Sustainable Development Goals: A Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Suliman Abdalla

    (Department of Sociology and Social Work, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat 123, Oman)

  • Elnazir Ramadan

    (Department of Geography, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat 123, Oman)

  • Mohammed Ali K. Al-Belushi

    (Department of Archeology, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat 123, Oman)

  • Nawal Al-Hooti

    (Ministry of Education, Muscat 100, Oman)

Abstract

In the global pursuit of sustainability, higher education institutions serve as powerful actors, leveraging their multifaceted contributions to advance the implementation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study employed a multi-dimensional analysis to evaluate the prioritization of these goals within the institutional framework of Arab universities and identify the key factors that drive their involvement with these goals. The methodology used involved a quantitative approach, utilizing a survey questionnaire to collect data from faculty members representing 30 public universities across the Arab region. The results of the study regarding prioritization analysis reveal that SDG4 (Quality Education) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) are top priorities across all universities, with prioritization scores exceeding 65.4. Furthermore, the results of the ordinal logistic regression analysis demonstrate that institutional governance and research productivity are significant factors that influence Arab universities’ engagement with the SDGs. The findings of this study have important implications for higher education policies, practices, and interventions, aimed at fostering university engagement with the Sustainable Development Goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Suliman Abdalla & Elnazir Ramadan & Mohammed Ali K. Al-Belushi & Nawal Al-Hooti, 2024. "Unveiling the Role of Arab Universities in Advancing Sustainable Development Goals: A Multi-Dimensional Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-24, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:14:p:5829-:d:1431415
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/14/5829/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/14/5829/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shiel, Chris & Leal Filho, Walter & do Paço, Arminda & Brandli, Luciana, 2016. "Evaluating the engagement of universities in capacity building for sustainable development in local communities," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 123-134.
    2. Marisa Rifada & Vita Ratnasari & Purhadi Purhadi, 2023. "Parameter Estimation and Hypothesis Testing of The Bivariate Polynomial Ordinal Logistic Regression Model," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-12, January.
    3. McCowan, Tristan, 2023. "The crosscutting impact of higher education on the Sustainable Development Goals," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    4. Mirjam Braßler & Sandra Sprenger, 2021. "Fostering Sustainability Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviours through a Tutor-Supported Interdisciplinary Course in Education for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-21, March.
    5. Murad H. & Fleischman A. & Sadetzki S. & Geyer O. & Freedman L.S., 2003. "Small Samples and Ordered Logistic Regression: Does it Help to Collapse Categories of Outcome?," The American Statistician, American Statistical Association, vol. 57, pages 155-160, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Volkan Göçoğlu, 2025. "Strategic intentions of higher education for sustainable development goals: Qualitative evidence from universities in Türkiye," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), pages 1575-1587, February.
    2. Ciprian Simut & Julien Ferenc Kiss & Florica Ortan & Laurentiu Mandrea, 2025. "Pedagogy and Civic Engagement: Theoretical Insights into Fostering Active Citizenship in University Education," Scientia Moralitas Journal, Scientia Moralitas, Research Institute, vol. 10(1), pages 230-241, July.
    3. Fortune Aigbe & Clinton Aigbavboa & Lebogang Ayobiojo & Patrick Ehi Imoisili, 2025. "Adaptive Learning for Inclusivity, Sustainable Development, and Societal Impact: A Case Study of Community Engagement at the University of Johannesburg," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-15, May.

    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. Sharifah Nurlaili Farhana Syed Azhar & Noor Adelyna Mohammed Akib & Suzyrman Sibly & Saidatulakmal Mohd, 2022. "Students’ Attitude and Perception towards Sustainability: The Case of Universiti Sains Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-17, March.
    2. Lovely S. Mores & Jeongwoo Lee & Woongkyoo Bae, 2019. "University-Community Partnerships: A Local Planning Co-Production Study on Calabarzon, Philippines," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-16, March.
    3. Haoyi Huang & Eddie W. L. Cheng, 2022. "Sustainability Education in China: Lessons Learnt from the Teaching of Geography," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-19, January.
    4. Carla Farinha & Sandra Caeiro & Ulisses Azeiteiro, 2019. "Sustainability Strategies in Portuguese Higher Education Institutions: Commitments and Practices from Internal Insights," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-25, June.
    5. Jam Shahzaib Khan & Rozana Zakaria & Siti Mazzuana Shamsudin & Nur Izie Adiana Abidin & Shaza Rina Sahamir & Darul Nafis Abbas & Eeydzah Aminudin, 2019. "Evolution to Emergence of Green Buildings: A Review," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-20, January.
    6. Kassi, Diby Francois & Li, Yao, 2025. "Does green financing benefit the development of renewable energy capacities and environmental quality? Evidence from Chinese provinces," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    7. Diego Bonilla-Jurado & Ember Zumba & Araceli Lucio-Quintana & Carlos Yerbabuena-Torres & Andrea Ramírez-Casco & Cesar Guevara, 2024. "Advancing University Education: Exploring the Benefits of Education for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-27, September.
    8. Thomas J. Lampoltshammer & Valerie Albrecht & Corinna Raith, 2021. "Teaching Digital Sustainability in Higher Education from a Transdisciplinary Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-21, October.
    9. Ruo-Lan Liu & Hsin-Chang Tsai, 2020. "Action Research to Enrich Learning from Conflict to Collaboration: Bridging the First-Year Students and the NGOs Agencies in Service Learning Program," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 295-309, June.
    10. Lou, Yanqiang, 2024. "Sustainable education index and copper trade interconnections," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    11. Gabriel Rodríguez-Puello & Ariel Arcos & Benjamin Jara, 2022. "Would you Value a few More Hours of work? Underemployment and Subjective Well-Being Across Chilean Workers," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(2), pages 885-912, April.
    12. Shen-Ming Lee & Mei-Jih Gee & Shu-Hui Hsieh, 2011. "Semiparametric Methods in the Proportional Odds Model for Ordinal Response Data with Missing Covariates," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 67(3), pages 788-798, September.
    13. Gaea Morales & Erin Bromaghim & Angela Kim & Caroline Diamond & Alejo Maggini & Avery Everhart & Sofia Gruskin & Anthony Tirado Chase, 2021. "Classroom Walls and City Hall: Mobilizing Local Partnerships to Advance the Sustainable Development Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-9, May.
    14. Edwards Jr, D. Brent & Asadullah, M. Niaz & Webb, Amber, 2024. "Critical perspectives at the mid-point of Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality education for all—progress, persistent gaps, problematic paradigms, and the path to 2030," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    15. William H. Greene & David A. Hensher, 2008. "Modeling Ordered Choices: A Primer and Recent Developments," Working Papers 08-26, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
    16. Cornelius K. A. Pienaah & Isaac Luginaah, 2024. "The Impact of Village Savings and Loan Associations as a Financial and Climate Resilience Strategy for Mitigating Food Insecurity in Northern Ghana," Risks, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-21, March.
    17. Bingfeng Meng & Zhihao Hao, 2024. "Role of green finance and higher education in fostering the sustainability and energy transition practices," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-8, December.
    18. Alberto Paucar‐Caceres & Melissa Franchini Cavalcanti‐Bandos & Silvia Cristina Quispe‐Prieto & Lucero Nicole Huerta‐Tantalean & Katarzyna Werner‐Masters, 2022. "Using soft systems methodology to align community projects with sustainability development in higher education stakeholders' networks in a Brazilian university," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 750-764, July.
    19. Novika Adi Wibowo & Sumarmi Sumarmi & Sugeng Utaya & Syamsul Bachri & Yayoi Kodama, 2023. "Students’ Environmental Care Attitude: A Study at Adiwiyata Public High School Based on the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-18, May.
    20. Ucbasaran, Deniz & Westhead, Paul & Wright, Mike, 2009. "The extent and nature of opportunity identification by experienced entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 99-115, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:14:p:5829-:d:1431415. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.