This article analyses social representations of climactic change among university students. The study was designed to test the hypothesis that the academic field or training may influence students' knowledge and beliefs. The sample consisted of 284 students from four different Bachelor's degree programs at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Two programs were from the physical-natural sciences (Biology and Chemical Engineering) and two were from the humanities (History and Education). The results showed that a majority of the student sample recognized human causality in the source of the problem, the main consequences and possible solutions. This fits the standard scientific interpretation of climactic change. There was also greater social representation of the consequences rather than the solutions, and a persistence of mistaken beliefs such as a causal connection with the ozone layer and the perception of low scientific consensus on this matter. The statistical analysis only revealed significant differences among degrees and courses for three of the variables examined. Finally, particular identities to the academic culture were of special interest as factors that conditioned representations of climactic change.
education; climate change; social representations; scientific culture
