The Financial Times recently shined a light on the relative lack of meaningful data on business schools’ social impact initiatives. Without such data, they report, it is difficult for the schools to analyze, benchmark, and improve upon their efforts. Still, the Times acknowledges signs of progress in current aggregated reporting efforts. These may help move the business school community towards a more focused discussion on the outcomes of sustainability and social impact initiatives.
Two organizations, Responsible Research for Business and Management (RRBM) and the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) have taken a lead in calling upon business schools to update their curriculums to equip future leaders to take on climate change, inequality, and other societal and environmental challenges, reports the Times. The RRBM and others, including the Financial Times itself, have recently led competitions that highlight strong individual examples of ESG courses and research. The PMRE requests regular reports from members, although the responses are not easily measurable or comparable between schools.
In September 2022, the Association to Advance the Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), a nonprofit organization that provides trustworthy accreditation, published its first outcomes-based report on business schools’ initiatives mapped to the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. The AACSB noted that just 74 schools, predominantly in the U.S. and the U.K., submitted reports, and few went beyond describing activities. Most submitted initiatives focused on quality education, decent work and economic growth, and gender equality. The AACSB described the report to the Financial Times by saying, “Schools are quite immature in their societal impact plans. Most…are just figuring out the areas in which they want to concentrate their efforts.” They continued, “[They] need to progress beyond a list of service activities.”
In contrast to other countries, in the U.K. all universities must provide case studies and research papers to demonstrate their actions and impact to the Research Excellence Framework (REF), reports the Times. The REF then provides an external assessment of each submission and assigns a grade to the universities based on the “originality, significance, and [rigor]” of the initiatives. However, critics of the REF note that the time and resources used for reporting social impact might be better spent on pursuing social impact.
As we blogged in January, environmental and social conscientiousness is indeed becoming a bigger part of business school curriculums. This is necessary in part because corporations themselves value these things more and more, and students must understand the modern work culture. "Profit, equity, sustainability, and inclusion must co-exist," Federico Frattini, dean at MIP Politecnico di Milano told BusinessBecause. New reports bolster the importance of schools addressing social issues on campus too, lowering their carbon footprint and caring for students' mental health.
BusinessBecause interviewed 17 business school deans about the key trends they expected would influence business education in 2022. The deans noted that, among other trends, climate change and social issues will play an important role in the future of MBA education. Specifically, they pointed to the need for schools to update their curriculums to better reflect businesses’ expanding views on creating value and the importance of considering their own operational sustainability.
Related: MBA Curriculums Expand to Include Content in Environmental and Social Conscientiousness