AACSB Conference Examines the Virtues of Environmental Sustainability in MBA Programs
Turnout at this year's AACSB Conference was consistent with previous years – 125 professors, deans and higher education professionals attended the event hosted in Charlotte, N.C. from June 15th through 17th. But the topic was new: Sustainability and business education. Dr. Linda A. Livingstone, Dean and Professor of Management of Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business, chaired the event. In an interview with VisionPoint Marketing, she says the topic has become unavoidable. "This past two years, more MBAs and faculty are asking for more sustainability focused curricula."
Attendees ran the gamut from professors who felt that they were the lone wolf in their program in regards to sustainability issues, to academics in programs where sustainability was a major focus. And this parallels the level of interest among business schools — some are more focused on sustainability than others. "Finding common patterns was a challenge," Livingstone says.
Some themes the conference addressed:
- What are the barriers to making environmental sustainability a strategic priority for an MBA program?
- What are the barriers to attract students with a sustainability focus?
- Can MBAs find work in this space?
- Is the topic itself legitimate or a fad? Are there outlets for professors doing research in this space and for these researchers is it harder getting tenure?
- How do business schools partner with businesses to convince them that MBAs with sustainability focused degrees are a great addition to their team?
Attendees learned a lot from programs where sustainability is a large focus. For instance, Graziadio School of Business offers a certificate called the Social Environment Ethical Responsibilities program (SEER.) MBAs must still complete traditional finance and marketing courses but the SEER program teaches the core issues in environmental sustainability and how this impacts business. This includes extra curricula activities, like joining Net Impact and also devoting time to a charity.
Because of their strong focus on ethics in business, attracting students interested in sustainability is not hard, Livingstone says. The MBA program at the University of Nebraska-Omaha made sustainability a strategic priority and offered a new conference case study. Their program operates from a LEED certified building.
Attendees at the conference concluded that job prospects for MBAs seeking sustainability focused work will improve. Livingstone even thinks MBA graduates would fare best by convincing employers they need a sustainability focus and becoming a champion, a catalyst for moving the company forward in this space.
How business schools can market themselves
“Business programs wanting to be environmentally focused should be straight up with what these skills can and cannot do,” Livingstone adds. Business schools must show the ROI—through case studies and testimonials from both graduates and companies— showing how students with this experience will add value. “This way the prospective student sees the business community and the university cares.”