New INSEAD MBA Curriculum Will Focus on Sustainability
Credit: Image Credit: Big Shot Theory / 500px Plus / Getty Images- The international business graduate school INSEAD is launching new master of business administration (MBA) curriculum with a focus on sustainability.
- The new curriculum will launch in January 2024.
- Sustainability will be a focus in all 14 of the degree’s core courses. INSEAD also offers more than 75 elective courses for students.
- INSEAD’s focus on sustainability comes amid a larger push across business schools and from students.
The international business school INSEAD’s new master of business administration (MBA) curriculum will focus on sustainability, the school announced in April.
The new curriculum will feature sustainability in all 14 core MBA courses, according to a press release from INSEAD, and will also feature a sustainability-focused capstone that will allow students to play the roles of company leaders as they integrate sustainability into company operations.
“Business schools have an important role in cultivating future leaders,” Ilian Mihov, INSEAD dean and professor of economics, said in the release.
“At INSEAD, we strive to provide our MBA students with rigorous and relevant business education to develop them into responsible leaders who will not only deliver prosperity, but also embrace sustainable practices to lead businesses that are a force for good.”
Students will also have flexibility to tailor their degree around their own interests: INSEAD offers more than 75 elective courses, according to the release.
“The renewed curriculum aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools so that they can make the right choices and have their own positive impact during their careers,” Urs Peyer, INSEAD dean of degree programmes, said in the release.
“When they make and create solution for a business, they will take into account the social and environmental impact. When they lead a business and appreciate the financial performance, they also keep in mind progress.”
INSEAD, or the Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires, is a nonprofit graduate business school with campuses across the globe, including a U.S. campus in San Francisco. INSEAD is one of the world’s largest graduate business schools — and its decision to focus on sustainability follows a larger trend.
Climate change entered the top 10 most sought-after topics for prospective MBA students for the first time in a recent Tomorrow’s MBA report compiled by the United Kingdom-based consulting firm CarringtonCrisp, BestColleges previously reported.
Andrew Crisp, the co-founder of CarringtonCrisp and author of the survey, previously told BestColleges that the surge in climate interest among prospective MBA students comes as companies embrace sustainability-focused positions, like chief climate officers.
“They’re having to have a policy of all of these issues because that’s what their customers are asking them for, or that’s what governments are requiring of them in terms of compliance,” Crisp said, “and so the students, as much as it’s a trend amongst a certain age group, are also very aware that if they have some knowledge and experience of these matters, it’s going to help their employment prospects.”
INSEAD isn’t the only institution to embrace sustainability in its MBA curriculum. Tulane University announced a new sustainability concentration area in revamping its own curriculum to focus on tech and data, BestColleges previously reported. That curriculum will include a focus on energy sustainability, social inequities, and the environment.