The Perceived Contribution of Online Learning Environments to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Higher Education: A Field Study Using PLS-SEM

Higher education institutions face a dual imperative: expanding access while reducing their environmental and operational footprint. Grounded in Triple Bottom Line theory and the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) interlinkages framework, this study examines faculty and postgraduate students’ perceived associations between online learning—across environmental, economic, educational, and health dimensions—and five SDGs (SDG3, SDG4, SDG8, SDG12, and SDG13), and how these perceived dimensions interrelate to form a coherent structural model. Data were collected from 306 faculty members and postgraduate students via a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). All nine direct and four specific indirect path relationships were statistically significant at p < 0.001. Perceived economic rationalization exerted the strongest direct path coefficient on perceived responsible consumption (β = 0.648) and the strongest specific indirect effect on perceived climate action (β = 0.371), while perceived health and well-being served as the central pathway statistically linking perceived online learning benefits to perceived quality education and decent work outcomes (β = 0.557 and 0.608, respectively). The structural model statistically accounted for 42–54% of the variance in these perceived SDG-related outcomes. These findings suggest that online learning may be perceived by faculty and postgraduate students as an integrated structural lever—rather than a source of isolated benefits—for advancing interconnected dimensions of the 2030 Agenda in higher education; objective verification of these perceived associations (e.g., using institutional records or environmental metrics) remains an important direction for future research. Theoretical and practical implications for university leaders and policymakers are discussed.