Journals / Beykent Üniversitesi Fen ve Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi / 2025 / Cilt: 18 Sayı: 2

Evaluating Sustainability Reports of Universities in Turkey Using Textual Data Mining

METİNSEL VERİ MADENCİLİĞİ İLE TÜRKİYE’DEKİ ÜNİVERSİTELERİN SÜRDÜRÜLEBİLİRLİK RAPORLARININ DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ

Ülker Başar(İSTANBUL ESENYURT ÜNİVERSİTESİ)0009-0000-6720-4161
Merve Doğruel(İSTANBUL ESENYURT ÜNİVERSİTESİ)0000-0003-2299-7182
Pages
75–95
Publication Date
2025-12-29
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

The findings reveal that universities adopt sustainability not only as a "Green Campus" but as a hybrid model focused on education and societal contribution.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

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Objective & Hypothesis:The purpose of this study is to quantitatively reveal the strategic tendencies and priority areas in the 2024 sustainability reports of Turkish universities using text mining techniques.
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Key Findings & Data:Within the scope of the research, Turkish sustainability reports from 65 universities were examined, and the sustainability reports published by 26 universities in 2024 were selected as the dataset.
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Conclusion & Impact:The findings reveal that universities adopt sustainability not only as a "Green Campus" but as a hybrid model focused on education and societal contribution.
🔬Design:Modeling & Simulation
📍Scope:2024 Verileri
⚙️Variables:metin madenciliği · sürdürülebilirlik raporları · ui greenmetric

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to quantitatively reveal the strategic tendencies and priority areas in the 2024 sustainability reports of Turkish universities using text mining techniques. The study aims to objectively measure the sustainability discourse in higher education by analyzing unstructured textual data. Within the scope of the research, Turkish sustainability reports from 65 universities were examined, and the sustainability reports published by 26 universities in 2024 were selected as the dataset. Text preprocessing and thematic coding for PDF documents were carried out using MAXQDA; term frequency and TF-IDF calculations were verified using Python (pandas, scikit-learn). Following stop-word cleaning and normalization, the study was subjected to Term Frequency (TF) and Code Co-occurrence analyses. The resulting data were classified using a dictionary approach based on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria. Analysis of 19,446 semantic terms revealed that the sustainability approach of Turkish universities is structured in the hierarchy Social (45.71%) > Environmental (39.39%) > Governance (14.90%), contrary to the general expectation in the literature. The terms "Energy" (n=1,597) and "Waste" (n=875) indicate an operational focus, while the strong relationship between "Education" and "Sustainability" (n=151) shows that universities are integrating their core missions with sustainability goals. In contrast, the weakness in the governance dimension indicates that the process has not yet been fully integrated into the strategic planning level. The findings reveal that universities adopt sustainability not only as a "Green Campus" but as a hybrid model focused on education and societal contribution.

Özet

Bu çalışmanın amacı, Türkiye’deki üniversitelerin 2024 yılı sürdürülebilirlik raporlarındaki stratejik eğilimleri ve öncelik alanlarını, metin madenciliği teknikleri kullanarak nicel verilerle ortaya koymaktır. Çalışma, yapılandırılmamış metinsel verilerin analizi yoluyla yükseköğretimdeki sürdürülebilirlik söylemini objektif bir şekilde ölçmeyi hedeflemektedir. Araştırma kapsamında, 65 üniversiteye ait Türkçe sürdürülebilirlik raporları incelenmiş, 2024 yılında 26 üniversite tarafından yayımlanan sürdürülebilirlik raporları veri seti olarak belirlenmiştir. PDF formatındaki dokümanların, metin ön işleme ve tematik kodlama aşamaları MAXQDA ile yapılmış; terim frekansı ve TF-IDF hesaplamaları ise Python (pandas, scikit-learn) ile doğrulanmıştır. Çalışma, durak kelime (stop-word) temizliği ve normalizasyon işlemlerinin ardından Terim Frekans (TF) ve Kod Eş-Oluşum (Co-occurrence) analizlerine tabi tutulmuştur. Elde edilen veriler, Çevresel, Sosyal ve Yönetişim (ESG) kriterlerine dayalı bir sözlük (dictionary) yaklaşımıyla sınıflandırılmıştır. Toplam 19.446 adet anlamsal terimin analizi sonucunda, Türk üniversitelerinin sürdürülebilirlik yaklaşımının literatürdeki genel beklentinin aksine Sosyal (%45,71) > Çevresel (%39,39) > Yönetişim (%14,90) hiyerarşisinde şekillendiği tespit edilmiştir. "Enerji" (n=1.597) ve "Atık" (n=875) terimleri operasyonel odaklanmayı gösterirken; "Eğitim" ve "Sürdürülebilirlik" kavramları arasındaki güçlü ilişki (n=151), üniversitelerin ana misyonlarını sürdürülebilirlik hedefleriyle bütünleştirdiğini kanıtlamaktadır. Buna karşın, yönetişim boyutundaki zayıflık, sürecin henüz stratejik planlama seviyesine tam entegre edilemediğini göstermektedir. Elde edilen bulgular, üniversitelerin sürdürülebilirliği sadece "Yeşil Kampüs" olarak değil, eğitim ve toplumsal katkı odaklı hibrit bir model olarak benimsediğini ortaya koymuştur.

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Cite This Article

Başar, Ü., Doğruel, M. (2025). Evaluating Sustainability Reports of Universities in Turkey Using Textual Data Mining. Beykent Üniversitesi Fen ve Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi, Cilt: 18 Sayı: 2, 75–95. https://doi.org/10.20854/bujse.1842519

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