ENFORCING THE SOCIAL PILLAR OF SUSTAINABILITY: HOW MANAGEMENT EDUCATION COULD ADDRESS HUMAN CONCERNS?

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with the social pillar of sustainability and how management education can assist in ensuring the equity among people that is necessary to achieve sustainability. The chapter considers how a sense of responsibility towards ensuring equity and fairness is derived and the sources of this. It argues that early education teaches aspects of fairness, but at a higher education level, further education is a working context continues to be necessary but is very often absent. It is at this stage that the educators in management have a role and responsibility. Unfortunately in a work context, people tend to be considered merely as operands within a production process and not as real people, and thus considerations of fairness and concern tend to be eliminated, with a tendency towards exploitation. This of course is not sustainable, and the chapter argues that at the higher education level this can be addressed with noticeable effect.