Findings disclosed of the Global Network for Advanced Management survey, in which EGADE Business School students participated. 

By COMUNICACIÓN INSTITUCIONAL | EGADE BUSINESS SCHOOL

A survey of more than 2,000 students from business schools that form part of the Global Network for Advanced Management (GNAM), including EGADE Business School - Tecnológico de Monterrey, revealed that business students are increasingly concerned about the climate crisis and want sustainability to be more integrated into their education and their professional lives.

The report Rising Leaders on Social and Environmental Sustainability: A Global Survey of Business Students, led by the Yale Center for Business and the Environment in collaboration with the GNAM network, unveiled four basic findings:

1. Business students believe that corporate leaders should be solving environmental and social issues. They also perceive global warming as more of an economic/business problem (76%), than a health (66%) or moral (53%) one.

2. New business leaders hope that sustainability will be transversally incorporated into corporate strategy. Nearly three-quarters of participants consider that companies should play a leading role by addressing these matters, at the same level as government agencies.

3. Business schools are integrating more courses on sustainability. Moreover, at the same time, students expect more of their programs: 62% of respondents would like the university career services to focus more on sustainable jobs.

4. The majority of business students (51%) claim that they would accept a lower salary if it meant working with an employer who is committed to sustainability. So, companies with poor sustainability practices ought to consider their brand reputation in the face of this reality.

With this in mind, the report concludes that corporations must improve their sustainability practices if they wish to address the multiple global issues and position their organizations as valuable employers that young people aspire to join.

Meanwhile, business schools continue to adopt experiential learning opportunities in their academic proposal, positioning students as agents of positive change.

“EGADE Business School’s vision is based on the preparation of leaders who are capable of anticipating change and contributing to the development of our communities. As such, business transformation is inevitable and demands a paradigm shift around leadership, inspiring innovative executives to design and implement disruptive, sustainable business models,” said Osmar Zavaleta, Interim Dean of EGADE Business School.

Most of the students who participated in the survey are from MBA programs (64%) at 29 business schools on five, and are 26 to 30 years (42%).

EGADE Business School is a founding member of the Global Network for Advanced Management, a network of 32 leading business schools in diverse regions, countries, cultures, and economies in different stages of development, committed to contributing through business education with solutions for the principal global challenges that are so complex.

Download the full survey report here: Rising Leaders on Social and Environmental Sustainability.