Integrating sustainability into software engineering education

Abstract

Software systems are not only the backbone of the knowledge economy but also powerful forces shaping society. Their rapid expansion over recent decades has driven innovation and efficiency across sectors, yet this growth comes with significant environmental and socio-political costs. Software mediates critical aspects of life - from education and healthcare to communication and commerce - while algorithmic systems influence public opinion, amplify bias, and shape policy decisions. At the same time, the emissions from data centers, cloud infrastructure, and energy-intensive software applications are rising sharply, making digital systems a growing contributor to global carbon footprints. Despite these far-reaching impacts, software engineering education remains narrowly focused on technical proficiency, largely ignoring sustainability concerns. There is an urgent need to embed sustainability competencies - ranging from ecological awareness and ethical design to social responsibility - into core curricula to prepare professionals capable of building digital systems that are both innovative and sustainable.

This doctoral thesis addresses a key gap in software engineering education. It explores which sustainability skills and competencies are necessary to practice software engineering with sustainability at the center. It also examines how these skills can be effectively taught within both existing and emerging software engineering curricula. This research was done through an exhaustive analysis of literature and practice reports, case studies of sustainability focused software engineering courses, and experience reports from interventions implemented in software engineering courses towards development of sustainability skills and competencies. Building on this knowledge, this thesis then offers three major contributions to sustainability education in software engineering: 1) a sustainability mindset framework for engineering education; 2) analyzes the deployment of this framework in software engineering education at master’s level courses; and 3) it advances the understanding of how to integrate sustainability education in to software engineering education in an effective manner, and in tune with the existing technical curriculum.