L'émergence des comportements pro-environnementaux en milieu du travail : une recherche exploratoire dans divers contextes organisationnels

Les organisations - publiques, privées et à but non lucratif - sont responsables pour une large part des impacts environnementaux. Selon certaines estimations, les activités manufacturières représentent 30 % des émissions mondiales de CO2, alors que les services commerciaux et publics représentent 10 % de ces émissions. Étant donné que cette pollution est le résultat d‘activités humaines au sein des organisations, une attention accrue doit être portée aux comportements individuels des employé(e)s. En favorisant et en encourageant les comportements plus écoresponsables chez les employé(e)s, il est possible de minimiser l‘impact négatif des organisations et s‘assurer d‘un avenir plus durable. Cependant, la transformation des comportements individuels nécessite l‘examen minutieux d‘un grand nombre de facteurs, dont certains ont été peu ou pas explorés dans la littérature scientifique. Composée de trois études distinctes mais étroitement liées, cette thèse entend contribuer à la littérature sur les comportements individuels proenvironnementaux dans les organisations. Spécifiquement, la thèse est centrée sur la question de recherche suivante : Pourquoi certain(e)s employé(e)s sont-ils(-elles) plus enclins que d‘autres à adopter des comportements verts dans leur milieu de travail et quelles mesures peuvent être prises par les organisations pour stimuler les initiatives pro-environnementales de leur personnel? Le premier article de la thèse propose une revue systématique de la littérature sur les comportements pro-environnementaux des employé(e)s. Cet article a démontré que peu d‘études dans le domaine étaient basées sur les théories comportementales, ce qui est surprenant en considérant la nature comportementale du phénomène. Aussi, seulement quelques études ont été faites en dehors des entreprises, démontrant l‘impossibilité de généraliser les résultats à d‘autres contextes organisationnels. Finalement, les études démontraient également une séparation entre les suggestions pratiques et les barrières qui influencent les comportements, ce qui peut entraîner des actions promotionnelles inefficaces au sein des organisations. Les deux autres articles de la thèse répondent à ces lacunes à partir d‘études empiriques. Ainsi, l‘objectif du deuxième article est d‘évaluer l‘importance de chaque obstacle associé aux comportements verts des employé(e)s non académiques d‘une université. Basée sur la théorie du comportement planifié, cette étude examine les croyances des employé(e)s envers deux types de comportements pro-environnementaux : l‘utilisation des transports alternatifs et la suggestion d‘idées écologiques. Les résultats de cette recherche démontrent qu‘il est possible de prédire l‘intention des individus d‘exercer des actions vertes au travail, mais aussi de les amener à modifier iii ces actions grâce à des interventions. Plus important encore, les facteurs associés au milieu de travail, tels que l‘opinion des collègues et la nécessité de remplir des formulaires officiels afin de changer les routines administratives, ont joué un rôle significatif dans les décisions des employé(e)s de s‘engager à accomplir des comportements verts. Cela signifie que les organisations sont en mesure d‘accroître la fréquence des comportements pro-environnementaux en ciblant ces facteurs à travers des pratiques de gestion qui sont expliquées dans l‘article. En ce qui concerne le troisième article, celui-ci porte sur les facteurs qui entravent l‘émergence d‘innovations pro-environnementales de la part des employé(e)s dans des ministères et organismes publics québécois. Les résultats de cette recherche indiquent que deux aspects contextuels déterminent les facteurs qui influencent de telles innovations : le type d‘organisation et l‘initiateur de l‘idée. En lien avec la littérature, les innovations initiées dans les organismes publics où le développement durable est profondément intégré dans les pratiques quotidiennes faisaient face à moins de barrières en comparaison avec les organismes où le développement durable est intégré de façon superficielle. Simultanément, contrairement à ce qui était initialement prévu, les employé(e)s travaillant sur des tâches en lien avec l‘environnement ont eu plus de facteurs à considérer avant de lancer les innovations (par exemple, la nécessité d‘être transparent(e)s aux yeux de la population et la prise en compte de l‘agenda politique), comparativement aux employé(e)s qui travaillent dans d‘autres départements. Cette recherche met en lumière deux types d‘innovations proenvironnementales (proactives et contributives) et donne quelques conseils pratiques afin de favoriser l‘émergence de ces idées. Bien que les trois recherches portent sur des contextes organisationnels différents, elles offrent des perspectives complémentaires au même phénomène. Généralement, les résultats de cette thèse sont les premiers pas vers une vue plus nuancée des comportements verts exercés par les employé(e)s, comportements qui ne doivent pas être considérés comme un seul type monolithique d‘actions.Various types of organizations (public, private, non-profit) bear a large part of responsibility for the constantly deteriorating environment. According to some estimates, manufacturing activities account for 30% of global CO2 emissions, and commercial/public services account for 10% of such emissions. As this pollution is the result of human activities within organizations, an increased attention should be paid to individual behaviors of employees. Greening daily actions of employees can minimize negative impacts of organizations and lead to a more sustainable future. However, the transformation of individual behaviors requires a careful examination of a large number of factors, many of which have not been explored in the academic literature. In this context, this thesis, composed of three distinct but tightly connected studies, is dedicated to the following research question: Why some employees are more inclined to perform green behaviors in the workplace than others and what steps can be undertaken by organizations to increase the likelihood of voluntary pro-environmental activities among personnel? The first article of the thesis is a systematic review of the literature on pro-environmental behaviors in the workplace. It provides a comprehensive mapping of the literature on previously explored obstacles to such behaviors and managerial practices that are applied to encourage these individual actions. Also, this article points out several literature gaps that require further investigation, notably: the lack of studies based on behavioral theories (which is surprising given the fact that individual actions should be studied through the lens of psychological frameworks), the quantitative nature of most research in the domain (which means a relatively limited critical approach), the lack of articles with samples of employees working outside of the private sector (which points at the impossibility of generalizing results to other types of organizations), as well as the disconnection between practical suggestions and barriers that influence behaviors (which might lead to inefficient promotional measures within organizations and, as a consequence, useless expenditures). The two other articles of the thesis address these issues. The objective of the second article is to evaluate the relative importance of each obstacle associated with green behaviors of non-academic university employees. Based on the theory of planned behaviour, this study examines employees‘ beliefs towards two pro-environmental behaviors: the use of alternative transportation and the suggestion of ecological ideas at work. The results of this research demonstrate that it is possible to predict the intention of employees to perform green behaviors, and, as a consequence, they can be changed through an intervention. More importantly, v various factors linked with the workplace context (for example, the opinion of colleagues and the necessity to fill in forms to change administrative routines) played a significant role in the decision of employees to get involved in green behaviors. This signifies that organizations are capable of increasing the frequency of pro-environmental behaviors by targeting these factors through a range of managerial practices described in the article. Concerning the third article, it is based on a qualitative approach and discusses factors that impede the emergence of employee-driven pro-environmental innovations within ministries and public organizations in Quebec. The results of this research indicate that two contextual aspects determine which factors influence such innovations: the type of organization and the initiator of the idea. In line with the literature, innovations initiated in public organizations where sustainability was profoundly integrated in daily practices faced fewer barrriers in comparison with organizations where sustainability is taken into account superficially. At the same time, and contrary to the initial expectations, employees with environment-related duties have more factors to consider prior to launching innovations (for instance, the necessity of being transparent in the eyes of the population and the existence of the political agenda) in comparison with their colleagues from other departments. This study sheds light on two types of pro-environmental innovations (proactive and contributory) and the aspects that determine the likelihood of these ideas emerging in public organizations. Although the three studies of the thesis discuss different organizational contexts, they offer complimentary perspectives on the same phenomenon. In general, the results of this dissertation are one of the first steps towards a more nuanced view of workplace green behaviors that should not be considered as a monolithic type of individual actions performed by employees

CHALLENGES TO TEACHING AND LEARNING ONLINE: LESSONS LEARNED, REFLECTIONS, AND STAKEHOLDER PERSPECTIVES

Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science pivoted to online teaching and learning in March 2020, due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were significant challenges: pedagogical, technological, logistical, and affective. I will use the example of a first year chemistry unit to illustrate how we addressed these challenges. We re-imagined interactive lectures, workshops, and tutorials for online implementation. Live and asynchronous approaches were used to facilitate and support student engagement with these activities. The hands-on nature of the degree presented specific challenges for the online delivery of the laboratory classes, which were addressed flexibly and adroitly through videos, animations, and data processing tasks. Assessments were re-conceptualised to balance three overarching goals: the evidence for the attainment of learning outcomes, academic integrity, and student well-being in the face of technical and personal challenges. The largest challenge for the online learning in the course designed for on-campus delivery was fashioning and maintaining a supportive relationship with and between students. To this end, we used a range of approaches, in particular we relied on small-group coaching – a mechanism established in 2018-2019 and adopted in 2020 in online format. This presentation will include perspectives from multiple stakeholders: students, teaching associates, teaching fellows, and academics

Evaluating determinants of employees’ pro-environmental behavioral intentions

Purpose – The aim of this study was to identify and quantitatively assess the importance of psychosocial and organizational factors that influence employees’ intentions to engage in pro-environmental behaviors at the workplace. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire based on the theory of planned behavior was completed by 318 employees. To validate three suggested hypotheses, a series of path analysis models were constructed using AMOS software. Findings – The theory of planned behavior explained 79 percent and 37.7 percent of variance in predicting intentions of employees to travel to work using alternative transportation and to make eco-suggestions directed toward the workplace, respectively. While organizational barriers did not play a significant role in predicting intentions to use alternative transportation, some organizational obstacles (opinion of colleagues, required paperwork) influenced workers’ intention to make eco-suggestions. Originality/value – This is one of the first articles in the field of pro-environmental workplace behaviors in which the theory of planned behavior is implemented in a systematic manner (qualitative exploration of beliefs followed by their quantitative evaluation). This article contributes to the existing literature by shedding light on the disproportionate influence of organizational and psychosocial factors on pro-environmental workplace behavior

TEACHING ASSOCIATES’ AND STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES OF ONLINE LEARNING IN A SCIENCE DEGREE

BACKGROUND COVID-19 restrictions have caused instructors and students to quickly adapt to the online environment, familiarising themselves with internet-based technologies and online education tools (Huang, 2020). AIMS To delineate approaches to synchronous online classroom facilitation and analyse students’ and teaching associates’ (TA) perspectives of online learning. DESIGN AND METHODS Seven semi-structured interviews with TAs and surveys of 118 students from the Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science (Monash University) degree were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively, following Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis guidelines. RESULTS While discussion forum and untimetabled pre-recorded lectures were perceived as ineffective, a well-outlined course structure and a regular two-way communication between students and instructors, as observed in Zoom sessions and weekly activity tables, successfully promoted student engagement. TA interviews revealed possible improvement areas, namely, the use of technology solutions to observe students’ problem-solving processes, persistent camera use during classes, and resources/support in improving TAs’ preparedness to teach online. CONCLUSION By keeping the successful online teaching approaches in an online environment while implementing improvement strategies to address the barriers to not-so-effective approaches and/or shifting these approaches to face-to-face classrooms, instructors would be able to create more effective and meaningful learning experiences for students through blending learning. REFERENCES Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. doi:10.1191/1478088706qp063oa Huang, J. (2020). Successes and Challenges: Online Teaching and Learning of Chemistry in Higher Education in China in the Time of COVID-19. Journal of Chemical Education, 97(9), 2810-2814. doi:10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c0067

Teaching Associates' perspectives of online teaching and learning in a Pharmaceutical Science degree

BACKGROUND COVID-19 restrictions have forced instructors to quickly adapt to the online environment by familiarising themselves with various strategies for teaching online (Epps, Brown, Nijjar, & Hyland, 2021). One of the online teaching strategies employed at Monash University in the Pharmaceutical Science course was the combination of breakout rooms in synchronous ZoomTM meetings with Google DocsTM, which replaced the small face-to-face workshops. AIMS This project aims to identify approaches used by teaching associates (TAs) to facilitate small synchronous workshop-style online classrooms by analysing their perspectives of online teaching and learning. DESIGN AND METHODS Seven semi-structured interviews with TAs teaching in the Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science degree were examined qualitatively using the abductive thematic analysis approach. RESULTS The results show that setting expectations and having a structured workshop with judicious group formation and instructor-prepared Google DocsTM were considered effective for facilitating small synchronous online classrooms. However, non-compulsory classes that were not assessed and student-prepared Google DocsTM were perceived as less effective. Identified areas for improvement included: promoting camera use during class, holding TA briefing sessions prior to workshops earlier to allow more preparation time, and expanding training for online facilitators. Barriers to improvement were also revealed, such as students’ unfamiliarity with their peers and lateness of facilitator notes provided to TAs by academics. The former discouraged students from using cameras during class while the latter led to the TAs feeling under-prepared for the workshops which they were facilitating. CONCLUSION By keeping the identified successful teaching approaches while implementing strategies to address both the not-so-effective approaches and barriers to improvement, instructors would be able to create more effective and meaningful online learning experiences for students. REFERENCES Epps, A., Brown, M., Nijjar, B., & Hyland, L. (2021). Paradigms lost and gained: Stakeholder experiences of crisis distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 37(3), 167-182. https://doi.org/10.1080/21532974.2021.192958