Earth Week Spotlight: World’s Most Sustainable MBAs

In commemoration of Earth Week 2022, we are featuring Corporate Knights’ annual Better World MBA Top 40 ranking, which highlights the business schools that are most successfully embedding the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) into their research and curriculum.

Australia’s Griffith Business School took the top spot in the rankings for the second year in a row.  One of the drivers of Griffith’s success is a holistic evaluation of its core courses relative to the United Nations’ 17 SDGs.  For example, accounting courses still teach balance sheet foundations but also integrate accountability and unique sustainability concepts such as how to value water resource consumption.

York University’s Schulich School of Business, the top Canadian business school in the Better World rankings and #4 overall, decided to elevate sustainability as one of eight core areas in the MBA starting in fall 2022.  Interim dean Detlev Zwick notes, “we are a business school, and we are not advocating an end to capitalism; we need to be at the forefront of developing knowledge and approaches to save capitalism and the environment.”

University of Vermont’s Grossman School of Business, a mainstay of the Better World rankings and #8 this year, is known for its Sustainable Innovation MBA (SIMBA).  The SIMBA program has been in existence for eight years; however, this year’s fall enrollment reached an all-time high of 47 students, representing the demand for sustainability as a critical differentiator for today’s business leaders.

As ethics, sustainability, and governance continue to challenge business school curriculum and the skillsets of future business leaders, rankings with relevant metrics will increasingly need to provide evidence that ESG truly supports the bottom line.

A snapshot of the top 10 Better World MBA business schools:

The Corporate Knights Better World MBA rankings analyze accredited business schools across core course integration of sustainability (30%), research publications per faculty member on sustainability (20%), percent of total faculty publications on sustainability topics (20%), number of sustainability citations per faculty member (10%), sustainability-focused research institutes and centers (10%), faculty gender diversity (5%) and faculty racial diversity (5%).

To view the Better World MBA rankings, click here.  If you’re interested in starting your business school application journey, contact Admitify today!