Sustainability as a lens to explore gender equality

Abstract

This chapter examines the links between sustainable development and gender equality empirically through the experience of women; theoretically through the lens of feminism; and through the case. Progress in achieving gender equality in addressing the United Nations's Millennium Development Goals on hunger, education, political representation and health remains problematic, and these challenges disproportionately affect women. If feminist theory is not persuasive, one can use a business case argument for the need for businesses and organizations to address sustainability and gender issues. Ecofeminism emerged in the 1970s bringing together aspects of feminism and ecology. The chapter evaluates the extent to which responsible management education addresses gender equality through the lens of sustainability, by carrying out an analysis of the extent of disclosure and interaction with gender issues within the reports of UK Schools, which are signatories to the Principles for Responsible Management Education initiative.