Gaining legitimacy? Sustainable development in business school curricula

Abstract

AbstractExploring reasons why sustainable development remains largely at the margins of business school curricula and seeking to develop courses of action to embed its ethos more firmly in the institutions in which they work, the authors review international evidence and reflect on their experiences.A number of related factors appear to contribute to the marginalization of sustainable development in business school curricula. There is the tendency for the tertiary sector to follow the corporate world in market‐driven values and goals, with concomitant reluctance on the part of many business school academics to step outside mainstream orthodoxy. A degree of resistance to interdisciplinary and non‐traditional pedagogical approaches and evaluative methods required by sustainable development is also manifest within many business schools. Encouraging signs are seen, however, in a burgeoning academic literature and growing opportunities for collegial support internationally.Means by which business studies curricula can incorporate the concept of sustainable development are considered in conjunction with their implications for traditional conceptions of organizational theory, and for tertiary institutions more generally. A modus operandi for a national programme for environmental responsibility in New Zealand tertiary institutions is outlined as an example of a possible way forward. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment