Climate change knowledge and its impact on awareness and attitudes among social work students: the role of educational experiences

Purpose This study aims to empirically examine climate change awareness and attitudes among social work students and to assess the role of climate change knowledge and educational experience in shaping these factors, providing evidence for integrating climate change education into social work curricula. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was conducted with 263 social work students from 12 universities in the Busan and Gyeongnam regions of South Korea. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21.0, including descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, independent samples t-tests, Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. Findings The results showed that 68.8% of students had no prior climate change education in their major curriculum. Climate change knowledge was positively associated with educational experience and significantly influenced both awareness and attitudes. Gender was also a significant factor affecting awareness and attitudes, while knowledge emerged as a key explanatory variable. Research limitations/implications This study is limited by its cross-sectional design and its focus on social work students in the Busan and Gyeongnam region, which may restrict generalizability. Future research should expand the geographical scope and adopt longitudinal approaches to examine how educational experiences influence changes in awareness and attitudes over time. Despite these limitations, this study provides initial empirical evidence linking social work education with climate change responses and offers foundational insights for redefining the role of social welfare professionals in building a sustainable welfare state. Practical implications The findings highlight the need to integrate climate change and climate justice into social work education. Practice-oriented and interdisciplinary approaches should be strengthened to enhance students’ capacity to address climate-related social risks. Originality/value This study contributes by focusing on social work students, a relatively underexplored group, and demonstrates the importance of climate change knowledge in shaping awareness and attitudes. It provides empirical evidence supporting the integration of climate change education into social work curricula.