Current Perceptions, Prominence and Prevalence of Sustainability in the Marketing Curriculum

Abstract

As the sustainability movement continues to gain a foothold in industry, it is imperative that higher education takes an active role in educating future business leaders. This paper seeks to address the prevalence and prominence of sustainability in the marketing curriculum and attitudes of program administrators (department chairs/deans) regarding the importance of including sustainability within marketing programs, the business curriculum and within undergraduate education in general. The sample includes department chairs/program directors of Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AASCB) schools with undergraduate marketing programs. Rusinko’s (2010) model is used to map current undergraduate sustainability offerings in both marketing and business programs. The results help create an understanding of where we are today, and create the need to further investigate how to foster top-down support, faculty expertise and student demand for integrating sustainability in marketing and business courses in the future.