Abstract
Environmental sustainability is recognized increasingly as one of humanity’s greatest imperatives, with thousands of companies and other organizations incorporating sustainability principles into both internal operations and supply chain practices, and adopting other practices to reduce their unsustainable impacts. But this acceptance is not universal, and scientific evidence shows that the harmful effects of climate change (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2018), loss of biodiversity (Barrett et al., 2018), and other environmental problems are greater than previously recognized, with the time horizon for addressing these issues narrowing dramatically.
Over the past three decades, most business schools have introduced at least one course focused on sustainability, and scores of schools have initiated programs of study and research institutes with a sustainability emphasis. At some schools, teams of business students have participated in projects to study and improve the sustainability of their university and/or local business, nonprofit, and governmental organizations.
This special issue builds upon an extensive body of prior work focused on Sustainability in Management Education (SiME) published in Journal of Management Education and elsewhere. SiME has been the subject of several special journal issues (e.g., Egri & Rogers, 2003; Mintu-Wimsatt, Lozada, & Polonsky, 1993; Rusinko & Sama, 2009; Springett & Kearins, 2005; Starik, Rands, Marcus, & Clark, 2010) containing multiple articles (e.g., Benn & Dunphy, 2009; Kearins & Springett, 2003; Pesonen, 2003; Rands, 2009), and books (e.g., Arevalo & Mitchell, 2017; Wankel & Stoner, 2009), as well as articles and chapters in volumes not fully dedicated to SiME (e.g., Rusinko, 2010; Starik, Kanashiro, & Collins, 2017).
Notwithstanding the above, our aim for the special issue is to develop a literature of evidence-based studies about the effectiveness of different SiME approaches that will help guide faculty SiME efforts in the future. As such, authors are encouraged to do so by
highlighting innovations in SiME teaching practices, including evidence of methods’ and techniques’ effectiveness;
enhancing our understanding of the major challenges in course and program design and integration, and how best to respond to these challenges;
sharing research on business students’ learning outcomes and knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs), and the impacts of various SiME practices on these outcomes; and
extending our understanding of the impact of sustainability initiatives in management education on managerial practices among alumni and other external stakeholders, and vice versa.
In this vein, we encourage submissions that address evidence of effectiveness of SiME concepts, resources, and efforts rather than mere description. We welcome a variety of articles, including quantitative and qualitative empirical manuscripts, theoretical discourses and models, literature reviews, and general or specific appraisals of approaches to individual SiME learning, its integration, and assessment.
Some research questions, issues, and topics that contributions might address include the following, among many others:
What exercises and assignments are most effective in developing sustainability KSAs in business students, including experiential approaches either inside or outside the classroom? Do pedagogical approaches vary in effectiveness in different national/regional contexts or student demographics?
What KSAs do faculty, sustainability advocates, sustainability practitioners, and students perceive to be most critical for improvement in sustainability practice? Does attention to and modeling of individual sustainability behaviors enhance these KSAs?
To what extent are the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) specifically addressed in SiME courses? What impact does consideration of the SDGs have on students?
What SiME efforts involve application to the university and/or community context, and how do those impact student learning?
What sustainability learning goals are most common in SiME courses and programs? How are these goals being assessed? What measures do different institutions use to assess sustainability in program effectiveness?
What roles do outside stakeholders (e.g., executives, managers, sustainability practitioners, alumni, faculty from outside the business school, campus sustainability staff, etc.) play in SiME efforts, and what are the exemplars that others may use to do the same?
What co-curricular opportunities exist for students interested in sustainability, and what impact has involvement in such activities had on students’ KSAs?
How does involvement in student sustainability clubs or outside organizations/associations affect business students’ sustainability KSAs?
How have both the recruitment and placement of business-and-sustainability students been enhanced at various levels of business education? How have practices such as sustainability certification influenced this? How have SiME students fared in developing sustainability careers and in advancing the sustainability profession after they have graduated?
These questions are just examples, so authors should not feel constrained by them. A longer list of potential topics is available from the guest editors upon request. Addressing sustainability in management education will benefit from thoughtful, high-quality contributions from many perspectives and of many kinds. Accordingly, we seek submissions across all of the Journal of Management Education’s sections: Empirical, Theoretical, and Conceptual articles; Essays; Rejoinders; Instructional Innovations; and Instructional Change in Context. Submissions should be original, not submitted to or published in any other outlets, and fit the length and other requirements specified on the journal website. Please follow the Journal of Management Education submission guidelines available online at: https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/journal-of-management-education/journal200931#submission-guidelines.
Your manuscript may be submitted online via the SageTrack system at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jome.
Prospective authors and potential reviewers are invited to contact any of the guest editors about this special issue. The submission deadline is September 1, 2019, but earlier submissions would be welcome from June 1, 2019 onwards. The following are the Guest Editors:
Jorge A. Arevalo (e-mail:
Shelley F. Mitchell (e-mail:
Gordon Rands (e-mail:
Mark Starik (e-mail: