Agents for sustainable futures? The (unfulfilled) promise of sustainability at leading business schools

Abstract

Present and future business leaders might be amongst the most important actors in initiating and managing a transition towards a sustainable economy and society in general. Preparing them for such a role has to be a central task of higher education institutions, especially business schools. Our paper maps how business schools frame sustainability in relation to probable and possible futures by examining the external online communication of the TOP100 business schools. Close to half of these institutions do not address sustainability in their education-related online communication, while the other half emphasize its economic dimension almost exclusively. We found little proof in their education-related communication that business schools attempt to stray from the path of the status quo, accordingly they continue to strengthen a neo-liberal worldview, only incorporating those aspects of sustainability which are compatible with this perspective. We also have to acknowledge, however, that business schools are ‘open institutions’ attempting to meet the expectations of their stakeholders. This may result in numerous and even conflicting goals. Choosing only a few of them as a communicative focus, (e.g., promoting individual strategies for career enhancement), wrings out the larger organisational and social issues like sustainability in its holistic sense.