The nexus of digital-environmental habitus: Examining the intersection of digital and environmental capital in higher education

This study examines the intersection of digital capital and environmental capital in higher education, drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of practice (2017) and the emerging concept of digital–environmental habitus (Ruiu et al., 2021, 2023). Twenty‑five UK‑domiciled students from a research‑intensive and a post‑1992 university in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, were recruited and interviewed using the Biographical Narrative Interpretive Method. Reflexive thematic analysis combined with a critical realist lens was applied to the narratives to trace how resources and dispositions were accumulated, converted, and recognized within institutional and disciplinary fields. Findings showed that students developed two distinct, but subfield‑specific forms of digital capital: functional (technical, STEM‑oriented) and practical (expressive, exploratory, humanities‑oriented). Where sustainability was embedded in the curriculum, functional digital capital and environmental capital reinforced one another, yielding a strong digital–environmental habitus. In fields that prized practical digital capital, exploratory online practices incidentally broadened environmental awareness. Conversely, when disciplinary doxa valorised functional skills but ignored ecological concerns, environmental capital eroded, and climate apathy was misrecognized as individual preference. The study concludes that the conversion of digital into environmental capital is contingent on both institutional commitment to sustainability and curricula that reward critical, exploratory digital engagement. Embedding cross‑disciplinary ecological content within digital skills teaching can therefore cultivate graduates who are simultaneously technologically proficient and environmentally responsible.