Trends in Higher Education

This study conducts a systematic literature review (SLR) of 406 peer-reviewed studies on sustainability in higher education published between 2014 and 2025. Guided by the PRISMA 2020 framework and the PICo criteria, this review identifies thematic patterns, institutional enablers, and barriers shaping sustainability integration. Data were manually screened and thematically coded using a structured extraction template. The findings reveal a conceptually active yet uneven field, with curriculum and pedagogy dominating discourse, while leadership, policy coherence, transformative learning, and global citizenship are less examined. Barriers such as institutional inertia and fragmented policies persist, but enabling factors, including digital agility, collaborative governance, and community partnerships, are attracting attention. Resilience and climate change education remain underexplored, indicating a gap between institutional strategies and sustainability goals. This review contributes by (i) identifying critical under-researched areas, (ii) refining a keyword framework to guide future inquiry, and (iii) introducing the Sustainability in Higher Education (SHE) Institutional Maturity Matrix (SHE-IMM), a conceptual model categorising institutions into foundational, transitional, and transformative stages of sustainability integration. The review received no external funding, and the authors declare there are no competing interests.

Transitioning to university can be challenging for young adults, and urban universities play a critical role in supporting them. The COVID-19 pandemic introduced additional challenges, especially for underrepresented minority (URM) students. The present short-term longitudinal study examined URM college freshmen at an urban university in Spring 2020 to investigate how the onset of the pandemic affected their psychological status, mental health, and resilience and whether these effects differed by first-generation versus continuing-generation college status, operationalized via parental educational attainment. We examined whether two pre-pandemic psychological factors, perceived stress (a risk factor) and perceived parental support (a protective factor), predicted depression and anxiety symptoms, psychological harm from the pandemic, and pandemic resilience differently by the end of the semester among first-generation and continuing-generation students (operationalized by parental educational attainment). Using linear and hierarchical regressions and moderation analyses, results indicated that perceived stress and parental support played distinct roles in students’ mental health trajectories. First-generation students reported higher levels of anxiety before the pandemic and patterns linking pre-pandemic mental health to later psychological harm differed by group. Parental support also operated differently across groups, and for first-generation students, pre-pandemic mental health was more strongly linked to psychological harm during the pandemic. Together, findings show the importance of considering students’ educational backgrounds and lived contexts when developing mental health supports at urban universities.

In Philippine state universities and colleges (SUCs), faculty are mandated to balance instruction, research, and extension as “trifocal” functions. Yet, research often competes with heavy teaching loads, administrative work, and community engagement, especially in science disciplines that demand laboratory-based and fieldwork. This qualitative multiple-case study examined how twelve science faculty members across academic ranks in a Philippine SUC system enact the research function within their trifocal roles. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, institutional and policy documents, and cross-case analysis, this study employed a case study design through the lens of systems thinking to identify how research function is embedded in institutional structures and professional life-worlds. Findings show that faculty construct research as (1) a catalyst that propels instruction and anchors extension programs; (2) a strategic requirement intertwined with promotion and career progression; and (3) a relational and infrastructural practice dependent on collegial networks, mentoring, and institutional support systems. Feedback loops link these themes wherein research output fuels promotion and time protection, which, in turn, shape opportunities for further research and mentoring. Additionally, verbatim accounts reveal how faculty members navigate structural pressures, such as bureaucratic processes and workload policies, while framing research as a moral and professional responsibility. This article argues that designing research support in SUCs requires moving beyond compliance-driven metrics to system-level arrangements that honor research as a form of scholarly work deeply connected with teaching quality and community impact. Implications are suggested for workload policy, mentoring, and research-capable learning environments in the Philippines and comparable higher education contexts.