Examination of sustainability awareness in university students as potential entrepreneur

Sustainability, as one of the most important issues of today, is a concept that determines the responsibilities of both individuals and societies for the future. Building a society based on sustainable development principles involves not only environmental but also social and economic sustainability. In this study, considering the importance of sustainability awareness, the level of awareness of university students on this issue was analysed. The aim of the study is to examine the sustainability awareness of university students. In addition, whether sustainability awareness differs according to demographic characteristics and whether they have entrepreneurial tendency is another issue addressed in this study. The research was carried out on university students because they are the entrepreneurs of the future, employees and the generation that will shape both society and the economy. Easy sampling was used as the sampling method and the study was carried out with Düzce university students. Data were collected from a total of 470 through face-to-face questionnaires. In the study, sustainability awareness is considered in three dimensions: knowledge, environmental awareness and behaviour. The data were analysed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, Version 27) software. As a result, it was seen that the university students participating in the research have sustainability awareness, but they show a lower tendency especially in the behaviour dimension compared to other dimensions. In addition, it was found that sustainability awareness differed according to variables such as age, class level and educational status of parents. In particular, it was determined that sustainability awareness of students over the age of 25 and senior students was higher. These findings, in terms of the participants seeing themselves as an entrepreneur candidate and having a perception that they have entrepreneurial characteristics, the group with the highest sustainability awareness was found in those who did not have a clear idea about this issue. Sustainability awareness was higher in those who had a low perception of starting their own business and having entrepreneurial potential.