Integrating Sustainability into Business School Curriculum: Understanding the Impact
Date
2020-07-27
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Abstract
This multi-case study examined the impact of integrating sustainability in two different undergraduate business programs at Royal Roads University. The research considered how including sustainability in business school curriculum contributed to changes in students’ conceptualization of sustainability and their sustainability-related attitudes and behaviours. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Findings emerged that suggest a combination of approaches to integration are most effective in enhancing students’ sustainability orientations. Although sustainability was, for the most part, conceptualized in a multidimensional manner, an environmental bias was evident as was a tendency to frame the concept from within the business paradigm. Stronger, more robust conceptualizations were lacking. Recommendations include: (a) maximizing integration by embedding sustainability throughout the curriculum in both disciplinary and cross-disciplinary coursework; (b) moving beyond a disciplinary conceptualization and introducing students to deeper sustainability discourse and varied conceptualizations; (c) introducing powerful sustainability pedagogies that maximize experiential learning and cultivate deep connections to place and; (d) ensuring that the formal and the informal curriculum mutually reinforce a positive sustainability agenda by paying careful attention to context and institutional commitment.
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Education for Sustainability
Citation
Fearon, L. P. (2020). Integrating Sustainability into Business School Curriculum: Understanding the Impact (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.