Editorial Board

A Refereed Monthly International Journal of Management

Commerce Educators Perspectives on the Green Skills Needed for Undergraduates in Kerala

Samyuktha Paliathuparambil Suresh

Lecturer

College of Economics and Business Administration

University of Technology and Applied Sciences Al Musannah

Sultanate of Oman

email: Samyuktha.Santhosh@utas.edu.om

Sangama Paliyathparambil Suresh

Research Scholar

 Bharathiar University

Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu

email: sangamashenoy@gmail.com

Dr. Santhosh Nithyananda

Lecturer

College of Economics and Business Administration

University of Technology and Applied Sciences Al Musannah

Sultanate of Oman

email: Santhosh.Nithyananda@utas.edu.om

Abstract

India is in a stage of green transition meeting the demands of Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) and a flourishing green job market.  It has become mandatory to embrace green skills that are transforming the future of the employment system all over the world. A high demand for green skills that fit various job profiles has necessitated empowering the students of Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) with suitable green skills. The present study focuses on the perception of commerce educators of HEIs in Kerala state, about the green skills required for undergraduates, their status of the green skills, and various approaches that can be implemented to improve their green skills. Using a descriptive research design, the study collected responses from 132 commerce educators from various HEIs based on purposive sampling, and the survey questionnaire was tested for reliability with a Cronbach alpha score of 0.7. Friedman’s test and chi square test revealed a minimal awareness of the green skills among undergraduates. According to the educators all the generic green skills are equally needed for undergraduates and in soft skills it is communication skill. Also, the educators recommended measures to upskill the students with the identified skills through short-term training programs by industry experts and other feasible approaches. This study calls for action from the stakeholders of the educational system, educational planners, and policymakers to further look into the matter to bring up a workforce that meets the demand of the green job market.

Keywords:Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), Green Economy, Green Skills, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), undergraduates, and commerce educators.

Introduction

India is one of the countries that committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations in the year 2015. The country has developed national plans to achieve the SDG goals, identify future challenges, and embark on a continuous review of current practices, at the state and district levels. India maintains its own SDG index which comprehensively documents and ranks the progress made by the different states and territories (NITI Aayog, 2021). Achieving SDGs will require targeting specific areas within India, including the industries that prompt society to adopt new skill profiles, qualifications, training, etc. They are together known as green skills which are considered as awareness, capability, ethics, and skills knowledge to improve and support a sustainable green society. The need for a comprehensive green labour market and skill policies is in high demand now, which will force the workforce to work in greener ways to shift to a greener economy. The reports from the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), say that the skills shortage is a major issue and the transition towards a greener economy has created the need for new skills or new blends of familiar skills. According to the OECD, dedicated green education and training programs support the employee community to partake fully in the green growth of the country (OECD, 2022) This poses high expectations on the education system of the country to develop green skills among the younger generation. A green economy will transform the future of the employment system and concurrently the demand for employees with green skills. Green skills development is one of the key priorities of India, there are skilled manpower shortages in the areas of forest, climate change, environment, and other related sectors, which have not been addressed adequately. In June 2017, the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC), introduced a Green Skill Development Programme (GSDP), which was conducted at ten different locations all over the country. This program offered some basic courses and an advanced course to skill the youth of the country (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change). By 2047 green jobs are expected to grow to 35 million in India. Since the number of job postings in the field is on the rise, skills required are to be improved, and so as the curriculum updates in the higher education institutions, to meet the shortage of skilled talents (Business Insider, 2023). According to Piyush Nangru Co-founder & COO of Sunstone Eduversity, India’s top companies are adopting recruiting strategies, that focus on soft skills which enables the companies to bring together the knowledge and technical skills of prospective employees. Some of such key soft skills are leadership, proactiveness, cooperation, and empathy. (Mathrubhumi, 2022)

The role played by Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in crafting a sustainable green future is substantial as they are the ones who can impart the necessary know-how, skills, values, and attitudes to the students to bring up a sustainable green economy. They can help to develop reasoning and innovative thinking skills, participate in multidisciplinary learning activities, and thereby cultivate a sense of obligation to themselves, other fellow beings, and the planet as a whole (Blessinger, Gupta, & Makhanya, 2018) Henceforth this transition of society to green is necessitating the significance of empowering undergraduate students with required green skills so that they can cope with the challenges of green jobs in the market.

The various environmental challenges faced by India like deforestation, pollution, climate change and loss of biodiversity has led to the need for resilience which can be mitigated by green skills. The government of India has recognized the need for skilling the youngsters through investing in green skills. The country identifies the need for aligning the academic programmes and courses for the youth, with specific requirements of the green economy (Shendage,2024) Individuals and organizations in India lack proficiency and knowledge of technical and soft skills and green career opportunities, which is overcome through investments in education and training programs (Malani, 2024). The workforce with green skills in business enables cost savings, compliance with environmental regulations, redesigning business models to reduce wastages, accessing new markets, creating ecofriendly products, and managing environmental risks (Lal & Jadaun, 2024). For a better green transition, India needs to bridge the current green skills gap, through integrating green skills into curriculum and through collaboration of industry and academia (Tripathy, 2025; Nandini Keshari, 2025) Despite the commitment of the country towards SDGs, there exist a green skills gap among the youth of the country. Even when the southernmost state of India- Kerala, is famous for its commitment to the implementation of SDGs and has ranked first in the SDG index of India, very little is known about the green skills demand in the labor market of the state. Not much information is available on how Kerala’s higher education system contributes to the green transition through students, considering the green skills gap throughout the country. Therefore, this research aims to identify green skills, the most needed green skills for undergraduates, and the present status of green skills awareness and adaptability among the students of Kerala’s HEIs based on the commerce educator’s perceptions. Also, recommending measures for further improving green skills among the students. These observations of commerce educators would help to know the skills that are lacking and eventually work on it to address the skills gaps if any. Moreover, it would enable the stakeholders concerned and policymakers to bring guiding actions for the same which would help develop a greener economy in the country. The scope of the research includes commerce undergraduates from various HEIs of Kerala.

Review of Literature

To reduce the negative impacts of green gases and protect the environment from grave implications like climate change, industries all over the world have switched to being more environmentally friendly. Employers are now considering the green skills criterion when hiring new staff members. Research indicates that graduates from HEIs are not equipped to meet industry expectations because they lack green skills. The most sought-after green skills, according to employers, include environmental awareness, Waste treatment expertise, problem-solving and critical thinking abilities, attitude towards the environment, etc.(Kamis et al., 2019). The importance of teaching the public and young people to develop green attitudes was emphasized in comparative research on SMEs in the Pacific and Asia regions. The emphasis was on cognitive competencies, including risk analysis skills, creative thinking, awareness of and readiness for learning about sustainable development, interpersonal skills, and adaptability skills, which involve taking a positive approach to social and environmental characteristics. (Pavlova, 2022). A recent study on entrepreneurs in Nepal revealed that educators should be up to date on the needs of green labor market and equip students with different professional development programs promoting green skills (Lamichhane & Neupane, 2022). Some studies suggested Technical and Vocational Education (TVET) as a means of helping students acquire general green skills, whereas some suggested including a green skills module in the curriculum (Jagannathan ,2013; Strietska-Ilina et al.,2011; Kamis et al., 2019). According to a study on students of two Spanish universities, Interactive and action-oriented teaching methods, such as role-playing, project-based learning, real-life situations, interrogation, discussion groups, and service learning foster non-cognitive skills. Additionally, the instructors should be trained enough to employ a variety of teaching pedagogies (Manresa, Berbegal-Mirabent, Faura-Martínez, & Llinares-Ciscar, 2021).Research done on 900 students of various Chinese colleges discovered that green skills are awareness, competency, application, and development of green knowledge and skills and theuniversity students can theoretically and practically be taught green skills through a variety of courses (Quan Su, Chang, & Chen, 2022). Similarly, a study on 195 students enrolled in various vocational secondary schools in Indonesia, revealed that green skills include environmental awareness, inventiveness, communication, adaptability, and waste management. Even when the students had some of these skills, they still needed to work on their waste management, communication, and inventiveness. Moreover, a demand was highlighted to include vocational education curriculum imparting green skills to the pupils (Handayani, Ali, Wahyudin, & Mukhidin, 2020). 

There are studies which surveyed and interviewed instructors in addition to employers and students to gain insight into their perspectives on the green skills that students should possess. In a research, Malaysian academicians suggested that to raise undergraduate students' understanding of environmental issues, emphasis shall be given to the use of digital course materials and assignments rather than hard copies, which lowers carbon footprints. According to the academicians, the capacity to use e-learning and computer and information technology was deemed vital for contributing to generic green skills (Zolkifli et al, 2016). Similarly, a qualitative study of Malaysian teachers found that schools can only provide a basic education in green skills and that for pupils to apply that knowledge in real life, experienced teachers with competence, abilities, and confidence are required (Kamis et al., 2018, Kennedy and Chow,2013). Some professors believe that children require additional skills such as recycling, material management, and design, which will allow them to create something unique from waste resources. Overall, respondents underlined the inclusion of life skills subjects in the student curriculum. Some of the researchers also discovered that skills such as energy and water saving, low carbon skills, etc. are required for the employment market. (Brown,2013; Dalia,2009). The business studies educators of Nigeria found skills in waste management, ecological consulting, wealth regeneration, climate change mitigation, recycling, water management, and energy management as critical (C. Okereke, Michel, O, & Brown, A, 2018). Similarly, a group of business studies educators from Ogun state, Nigeria, said that the most important talents were waste management, energy and city planning, designing, communication and financial skills, and Waste treatment skills. Above and beyond their standard academic programs, they recommended that business studies students receive training in green skills, as required by the sector (Adegboyega, Nurain Olufemi, Maryam Olubusola, Idowu Emily, & Godwin, 2020).

However, no research has been done in Kerala state of India, to learn about the viewpoint of a commerce educator regarding the green abilities that undergraduate students should have to be competitive in the green job market. Based on the review of the literature done, the researcher has divided green skills into two categories: Generic green skills and soft skills.  Diverse scholars have provided varying definitions of general green skills. Some of them view them as green talents overall, combining soft skills and general green skills (Pavlova, 2014).  These are the abilities that let someone adopt such fundamental behaviors and develop a green attitude, which will lessen their influence on the environment. Some methods treat soft skills differently from general green abilities. Likewise, other studies combine all the skills into a single category called "green skills." Consequently, the researcher has considered a combination of general green talents and soft skills for the current study, as stated below in Table 1:

Table: 1 Green skills

Source: Author (Review of literature)

Research Methodology

A descriptive research design was used for the study and used both primary and secondary data.  Purposive sampling was used to gather responses from 132commerce educators of various HEIsof Kerala state. The respondents were undergraduate students enrolled in the commerce stream. The Cronbach Alpha test yielded a reliability score of 0.7 for the survey questionnaire, created based on a review of the literature. The questionnaire was divided into four main sections: the respondents' (educator’s)demographics; the educators' perceptions of the green skills necessary for undergraduates, the student's current level of green skills awareness and adaptability, and strategies that can help improve the students' green skills. The survey results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Friedman’s test and chi square test.

Results and Findings

According to the objective of the study, respondents were asked to choose the most needed generic green and soft skills for the commerce undergraduates to meet the demand of the green job market. The results are as follows:

1. Opinion of commerce educators about Generic green skills required by commerce undergraduates:

The Friedman test, which is also known as the Friedman Rank Sum test has been employed to study the opinion of commerce educators about green skills required by commerce undergraduates:

Table 2: - Generic green skills

Source: Primary data

As per table 2, the commerce educators opine that commerce undergraduates should have skills in waste management, energy, and water management, recycling of used products, and awareness about the environment respectively. The median score for all variables is greater than 4.5, which indicates that the students are urged to possess all these skills. The Chi square test was used to measure the significant difference in the ranks distributed across the different skills. According to the p value i.e. 0.122 which is more than the typical significance level 0.05, no significant difference was identified between the ranks of the green skills, which symbolizes that all the skills are equally important for the students.

1. Opinion of commerce educators about soft skills required by commerce undergraduates: The same Friedman test was conducted to study soft skills. The result is shown below:

Table 3: Soft skills required for the students

Source: Primary data

According to Table 3, communication skills are vital followed by Problem-solving skills and Teamwork. The median score obtained from the test indicates that all the soft skills mentioned are required for commerce students as the value is 5 for all the variables. According to the p value i.e. 0.014, which is less than the normal significance level 0.05, it can be inferred that the ranks provided by the respondents for soft skills are statistically significant in the order of importance. The highly rated soft skill is communication and lowest rated is creativity.

iii. Status of Generic green skills knowledge and adaptability among undergraduates according to their educators:

Descriptive statistics were used to study the opinion of educators on the status of the generic green skills knowledge and adaptability of commerce undergraduate students. Table IV below shows the results of analysis:

Table 4: Status of Generic green skills among the undergraduates according to the educators.

Source: Primary data

According to Table 4, regarding the opinion of educators, only 6 percent of the students possess Generic green skills knowledge, and adaptability. According to the educators, most of the students do not possess Generic green skills knowledge, and adaptability i.e. 39.4 percent.  A high level of ignorance about generic green skills is reported by educators, which is around 13.6 percent.

1. Status of soft skills knowledge and adaptability among undergraduates according to their educators:

Descriptive statistics were used to study the opinion of educators on the status of the generic green skills knowledge and adaptability of commerce undergraduate students. Table V below shows the results of analysis:

Table 5: Status of soft skills among the undergraduates according to the educators.

Source: Primary data

As per Table 5, regarding the opinion of educators, only 4.5 percent of the students are highly aware and adaptable to the soft skills required for the job market. Most of the educators are neutral about their opinions about the status of soft skills knowledge and adaptability among the undergraduates, which is 31.8 percent. Also, around 12.1 percent of the students are highly unaware and non-adaptable according to the commerce educators.

The Bar diagram below (Figure 1) shows the percentage of level of awareness and adaptability of generic green skills and soft skills of the students according to their educators:

Figure:1

1. Opinion of commerce educators on the best approaches to impart green skills to commerce undergraduates:

Friedman test was employed to study the opinion of educators regarding the approaches required to impart green skills among undergraduate students. The result is shown below:

Table 6: Approaches to improve green skills among undergraduates according to the educators

Source- primary data

Table 6 says that the majority of the educators suggested, arranging short-term training programs by industry experts, as the best method for improving green skills among the undergraduates. This was followed by incorporating green skills education in all the courses in the current curriculum, introducing a new value-added green skills course in the curriculum, and Conducting semester-wise awareness programs on green skills respectively. The Median score supports all approaches to impart green skills among the graduates. Coming to the Chi Square Test Statistics, the preferences differentiated by the educators about the approaches to improve the green skills is statistically significant, with a p value of 0, which is less than the typical significance level of 0.05. Hence the educators consider arranging short-term training programs by industry experts as the effective method for cultivating green skills among the undergraduates.

Discussion of findings

The findings portray the undergraduate students of the country who would be tomorrow’s job entrants in a green market need to have the generic green skills of awareness about the environment, willingness to learn about sustainable development, waste management, water and energy management, recycling of used products and designing innovative products from waste. But the most needed for a commerce student as per the observation of commerce educators is waste management. This is followed by energy and water management, recycling of used products and awareness about the environment respectively, which is in line with (Brown,2013; Dalia,2009) Similarly, the most needed soft skill for commerce students are communication skill which supports the results of the study conducted among educators of the business studies department of Ogun state, Nigeria (Adegboyega, Nurain Olufemi, Maryam Olubusola, Idowu Emily, & Godwin, 2020). This was followed by problem-solving skills and teamwork skills. When the educators suggested the possession of generic green skills and soft skills for the students as mandatory, they also indicated that the awareness and adaptability among the students are not at an acceptable level. They also recommended some approaches for improvement like short-term training programs by industry experts which was the most acclaimed. Moreover, they also opined that incorporating green skills education in all the courses in the current curriculum, introducing a new value-added green skills course in the curriculum, and conducting semester-wise awareness programs on green skills are also the best suitable methods to enlighten the students with green skills knowledge.

Conclusion

Considering India's target for achieving SDGs and as a preparation for meeting the growing green jobs target by 2047, the country shall prioritize skill-based vocational education systems over traditional academic degrees. Most of the educator’s opinion for providing training programs by industry experts for undergraduates is a clear sign that conventional and theory-based education has to be replaced with more practical exposure education. This study which is the first one in Kerala state of India, has examined the insight of commerce educators regarding the green skills looked for in undergraduates to fulfill the rapidly growing needs of the green job market in India. As per their observation, the current status of the green skills among their students is not very satisfactory, which has to be resolved as early as possible. Moreover, the study gathered some of the effective measures that shall be applied to advance the green skills of the students. So, this study is a signpost for the stakeholders, policymakers, or educational planners to seriously think about ways of enhancing or upskilling undergraduates.

Limitations and scope for future research

Based on observations of commerce educators in Kerala, the study aims to better understand the need, type, and status of green skills among undergraduate students. Future research can be undertaken using students and their educators from various disciplines other than commerce to confirm the type of green skills requirements. Even when educators' findings are notable, meaningful explanations can be obtained by students and industry experts in future studies. Also, gender based green skills gap can be studied across the states of India, as some surveys reveal that women are better in acquiring green skills compared to men (CIOB,2025).A state wise and discipline wise comparison of green skills status and type of green skills required for undergraduates will help India to satisfy the current green skills gap. It would be useful to pool additional ways in which the students can be practically upskilled and encounter the demands of the green job market in Kerala as a state and in India.

References

• Adegboyega, A., Nurain Olufemi, M., Maryam Olubusola, N., Idowu Emily, O., & Godwin, C. (2020). Perceived Influence of Generic Green Skills on Business Education Students Self-Reliance for Sustainable Development. Sapientia Global Journal of Arts, Humanities and Development Studies (SGOJAHDS), 3(3), 93–104.
• Blessinger, P., Gupta, E. S., & Makhanya, M. (2018). Higher education’s key role in sustainable development. Retrieved December 12, 2019, from University World News website: https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20180905082834986
• Business Insider. (2023, November 20). India’s green jobs are growing but are colleges ready to supply the talent? Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/indias-green-jobs-are-growing-but-are-colleges-ready-to-supply-the-talent/articleshow/105347567.cms
• (2025). CIOB. https://d8.ciob.org/blog/why-you-need-to-develop-your-green-skills-in-2025
• Okereke, E., Michel, O, O., & Brown, A, I. (2018). Business Educators’ Perception on Green Skills Needed in Business Education Curriculum for Creating A Sustainable Society in Nigeria. Nigerian Journal of Business Education, 5(1), 30–39.
• Handayani, M. N., Ali, M., Wahyudin, D., & Mukhidin, M. (2020). Student’s green skills in agricultural vocational school. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 830(4), 042083. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899x/830/4/042083
• Ibrahim, Z., Lai, C. S., Zaime, A. F., Lee, M. F., & Othman, N. M. (2020). Green skills in knowledge and attitude dimensions from the industrial perspective. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 917, 012025. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899x/917/1/012025[7] Kamis, A., Kob, C. G. C., Mohd Affand, H., Yunus, F., Paiman, & Widihastuti. (2019). The effect of implementing the green skills module on design and technology subject:Assessing the pupil’s green skills pratices. Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, (Special issue on ICEES2018), 18–25.
• Kamis, A., Rus, R. C., Rahim, M. B., Yunus, F. A. N., Zakaria, N., & Affandi, H. M. (2018). Exploring Green Skills: A Study on the Implementation of Green Skills among Secondary School Students. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 7(12). https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v7-i12/3615
• Kutty, S. (2020, September 19). Oman among first countries to submit SDGs to UN. Retrieved from Oman Observer website: https://www.omanobserver.om/article/10188/Main/oman-among-first-countries-to-submit-sdgs-to-un
• Lal, M., & Jadaun, S. (2024). Green Skills: A pathway to Innovation and Sustainability. Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE). https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.27656.84486
• Lamichhane, R., & Neupane, M. S. (2022). Case Study: Nepal. The Inclusion of Green Competences in the Recognition of Prior Learning. Education for Sustainability, 189–210. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2072-1_10
• Malani, A. (2024). Green Careers In India: Addressing Challenges And Seizing Opportunities For Sustainable Development. ANVESAK -UGC CARE Group 1 Journal, 54(1), 100–104.
• Manresa, A., Berbegal-Mirabent, J., Faura-Martínez, Ú., & Llinares-Ciscar, J.-V. (2021). What Do Freshmen Know about Sustainability? Analysing the Skill Gap among University Business Administration Students. Sustainability, 13(16), 8813. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168813
• (2022, September 25). India Skills Report 2022: Kerala’s employability and how we can make our country future ready. English. Mathrubhumi. https://english.mathrubhumi.com/features/specials/india-skills-report-2022-kerala-s-employability-and-how-can-we-make-our-country-future-ready-1.7904583
• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. (n.d.). Green Skill Development Program. The Official Website of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India. Retrieved February 19, 2024, from https://moef.gov.in/moef/division/environment-divisions/environmental-information-ei/green-skill-development-programe/index.html.
• Nandini Keshari. (2025, January 20). Green workforce shortfall risks derailing India’s Net-Zero targets. OutlookBusiness. https://www.outlookbusiness.com/planet/sustainability/green-workforce-shortfall-risks-derailing-indias-net-zero-targets
• NITI Aayog. (2021, March 6). NITI Aayog Releases SDG India Index and Dashboard 2020–21. Pib.gov.in. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1723952
• (2022). Greening jobs and skills - OECD. Retrieved from www.oecd.org website:https://www.oecd.org/greengrowth/greening-jobsskills/greeningjobsandskills.htm
• Pavlova, Dr. M. (2014). Green skills in formal TVET: a reflection on international studies. WFCP World Congress 2014. Beijing.
• Pavlova, M. (2022). Case Study: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People’s Republic of China. Realities of MSME: What Green Skills Are Included in the RVAs? In Education for Sustainability (Vol. 5, pp. 101–128). Singapore: Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2072-1_6
• Quan Su, Chang, Y.-C., & Chen, P.-F. (2022). Design of a green skills scale for Chinese University students. Educational Research and Reviews, 17(12), 288–298. https://doi.org/10.5897/ERR2022.4289
• Shendage, B. V. P. (2024, December 29). The importance of developing green skills among youth in India. The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/education/the-importance-of-developing-green-skills-among-youth-in-india/article68980633.ece
• Tripathy, P. (2025, January 21). Empowering India’s Future Workforce with Green Skills and Technology. National Skills Network-NSN. https://nationalskillsnetwork.in/empowering-indias-future-workforce-with-green-skills-and-technology/
• Zolkifli, H., Kamin, Y., Latib, A. B. A., Buntat, Y., & Awang, Z. (2016). Generic Green Skills: Industry and perspectives on technical education and vocational training (TVET). The Online Journal for Technical and Vocational Education and Training in Asia, (6).