Czarnecka, Barbara, Baxter, Katherine and O'Rourke, Grace ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2069-364X (2025) Educating responsible business leaders: organizational hypocrisy in British universities’ commitment to environmental sustainability education. Journal of Management Education (JME). ISSN 1052-5629 (Print), 1552-6658 (Online) (doi:10.1177/10525629251372152)

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Abstract

This study examined the commitment of British universities to educating responsible business leaders capable of addressing grand challenges related to environmental sustainability. Specifically, it investigated the extent to which environmental sustainability topics are embedded in the course descriptions of business-related programs, and how these descriptions relate to universities’ formal commitments to sustainability and selected organizational characteristics. This is the first study to provide a systematic analysis of 2,758 business-related courses offered by all British universities, thereby contributing comprehensive new insights to the ongoing debate on education for environmental sustainability. The analysis focused on evaluating both the frequency and depth of integration of environmental sustainability topics within course descriptions. Findings indicate that all universities—regardless of their formal sustainability commitments or organizational characteristics—offer a similar amount of sustainability-related course content. Notably, a university’s formal commitment to sustainability at the organizational level does not correlate with a greater inclusion of environmental sustainability in course content. This suggests a degree of organizational hypocrisy in the delivery of environmental sustainability education within British universities.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	responsible business leaders, organizational hypocrisy, sustainability education
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Greenwich Business School Greenwich Business School > Networks and Urban Systems Centre (NUSC) Greenwich Business School > School of Business, Operations and Strategy
Last Modified:	10 Oct 2025 15:47
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/51097

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