Abstract:

The ‘Principles for Responsible Management Education’ (PRME), supported by the United Nations, provides a global platform for partner Universities to equip business students with the capacity to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. Yet, educating students on the philosophy and practice of sustainable development requires educators’ and students’ understanding of the Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes (KSA) of people which shape behaviours and responsible decision making. The UK’s ‘Quality Assurance Association for Higher Education’ and ‘Advance Higher Education’ (2021) apply competencies for sustainability (UNESCO 2021) through learning outcomes linked to KSA dimensions. This coupling recognises that effective learning extends beyond cognitive outcomes to practical behaviours and emotional engagement.

These learning dimensions are captured in the sustainability mindset, defined as “a way of thinking and being that predisposes individuals to act for the good of planet and people” (Rimanoczy & Klingenberg 2021: 43). This notion can be embedded into management education learning environments by addressing principles that fall within 4 content areas: ecological worldview, systems perspective, spiritual and emotional intelligence. Building the principles into teaching activities generates students’ self-awareness and reflective insights that help shape their attitudes and behaviours. For example, insights might be offered beyond knowledge-based aspects of a course that prompt consideration of individual contributions to addressing environmental challenges.

The research presented is set in both an undergraduate and postgraduate context and draws specifically upon the ‘Sustainability Mindset Indicator’ (SMI); a pioneering online tool that provides developmental insights to participants by identifying their respective areas of their mindset they draw on most and least (see https://smindicator.com). The class instructor receives an overall group profile of results, mapping mindset principles against KSA indicators, enabling teaching activities to be flexed to develop mindset areas according to whether the group shows a higher propensity to draw on cognitive knowledge, physical skills or attitudinal dimensions of mindsets. This activity enables transformational education and change through enhancing personal well-being and students’ employability, while also focusing on planetary challenges. Thus, an individual’s sense of purpose might be ignited being emotionally connected with a subject, meaning, in theory, that they are better positioned to contribute to an organisation’s purpose in their working life.

The research applies the SMI through a research informed teaching approach. Students act as research collaborators, progressing our understanding as to how students’ learning is influenced through engaging with the SMI. This approach builds on literary debates that call for an increased, systematic integration of competencies for embedding the concept and practice of sustainability by students across the formal and informal curriculum (Blasco 2012). The findings will build the case and call to action for higher education’s engagement with and attention on the sustainable development agenda by enhancing the intrinsic importance of a person’s mindset in shaping society’s future.

Keywords:

Education for Sustainable Development, Sustainable Development Goals Principles of Responsible Management Education, Sustainability Mindset.