Corporate Knights Magazine, the award-winning magazine for clean capitalism, released the findings of its inaugural听, the definitive annual list听examining how universities around the world are faring at integrating sustainability into the academic experience. The Leeds School of Business ranked 16th out of 30 international MBA programs, and landed sixth among the U.S. schools who made the top 30.
The purpose of this study is to highlight innovation in sustainability initiatives, to promote program development and to further the integration of sustainability into the MBA experience. The survey, which had focused on Canadian schools over the past decade, was expanded internationally this year to encompass MBA programs from 17 countries. Participating schools were assessed in the areas of institutional support, student initiatives and coursework.
The top MBA program is the Schulich School of Business at York University. While strong in every category, it also managed to receive the only perfect grade in one of the three categories: institutional support. The John Molson School of Business at Concordia University came in second, with best standing in student initiatives. The University of Exeter Business School placed third, on the strength of a curriculum built to produce 鈥渂usiness leaders focused on preserving our natural environment.鈥�
The survey rankings revealed interesting regional trends. Although Canadian schools made up three of the top five programs, the results grew more diverse further down the list. The United States had 11 programs in the top 30, followed by Britain with three. France and Australia each had two programs. The highest ranked schools based in Asia were the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, followed by the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University.
鈥淭he findings suggest that MBA programs are experimenting with different approaches to sustainability education,鈥� says Global Green MBA project director Jeremy Runnalls. From programs embracing an integrated management approach to MBA programs dedicated entirely to sustainability, there has never been more choice for today鈥檚 prospective business students, Runnalls noted. 鈥淲e found that there was a remarkable amount of innovation happening around the world, and expect this to accelerate.鈥�