Why Sustainability-Related Education Does Not Stick in Business Schools—and How to Fix It

Abstract

Despite the many calls for business schools to integrate sustainable development in the curriculum and the many efforts to do so, the content remains largely on the periphery. Scholars and educators have offered numerous explanations, including ranking pressures, misaligned academic incentives, and the dominance of neoliberal ideology. While these explanations have merit, we argue that there is an even more foundational reason: macro-level sustainability topics are at odds with the individual- and organizational-level outcomes of most business disciplines. To address sustainability meaningfully, business schools need to bring macro-levels of analysis into the core curriculum, which can be accomplished by tackling complex business problems. Focusing on complex business problems invokes systems thinking, requiring students to understand the interaction between business and broader environmental and social concerns. By tackling complex problems, business schools will better prepare students for navigating and shaping a future in which economic development remains within planetary boundaries.