The latest student survey at Linköping University shows that students at the Bachelor´s Programme in Environmental Science are very satisfied with their education. The questionnaire was sent out to those students who are in their second semester or more, during the spring semester 2022. The question "In summary, how satisfied are you with the education you have completed so far at LiU?" received 4.7 out of 5.0 in grades for Environmental Science. Students evaluation of the teachers' ability to teach received the same high marks. In this latest survey, the answers about Environmental Science received more positive remarks than any previous year.
– We have worked more with the connection to working life in our education. Students get to meet potential employers during the education and, among other things, do tasks that companies and organizations actually use. Many of our students now get jobs even before they have completed their education and there is a great demand for the skills they receive. This may be part of the explanation for the results of the survey. We work continuously and actively to develop the education from previous students' and working life representatives' development proposals. This hopefully means that the education is always a little better, says Erik Glaas, teacher at the Environmental Science program at Linköping University.
Erik Glass argues that Environmental Science leads to a future profession where you have a great opportunity to make a difference in order to deal with the climate and environmental problems facing society. In their studies, the students in the Environmental Science program also meet many teachers who do actively research on the very issues they study.
– This is inspiring for the students and shows that we are at the forefront of our knowledge building. We always work with contemporary challenges that are talked about a lot in society and the media. The students are in the process of investigating how problems that are raised in, for example, the media should be solved and notice that companies and organizations are looking for staff with the knowledge and abilities they train.
What career opportunities are there after graduation?
– Better than ever I would say. Fewer people with training in Environmental Science are trained than needed. We see an extremely high demand for the students who graduate and they also get more qualified jobs than before. Several students go directly into leading and coordinating roles at companies and organizations. Many can choose which jobs they want. We have always had a high proportion of students who get jobs, but now it is more so than ever before. We will have a green transformation of the world and Environmental Scientists will lead that work!
What is it like to be a teacher at the programme?
– What is so fun about teaching at Environmental Science is that the students have such different backgrounds and come in with different experiences. Some have studied science and already know the basics of labs, but have less knowledge about, for example, politics. Others come with a lot of knowledge about, for example, finances but have not held a test tube for a long time. In an interdisciplinary education programme such as the Environmental Science, it means that students have a lot of exchange from each other, get to practice a lot of working in groups and lead and work in projects where everyone has different strengths. It is fun as a teacher to support such processes and see how students grow with the tasks. They become good at connecting things and speaking different "expert languages". It is a good basis for understanding problems in new ways and finding innovative solutions.
