Social values and sustainable development in business education
Business education has been criticised for overlooking social values despite the critical role that social values play in promoting sustainable development (SD) and equipping future business leaders to tackle global challenges. Against this background, this paper examines the incorporation of social values and SD into business education. The study employs a mixed-methods approach including a bibliometric analysis of 637 publications and an analysis of 15 international case studies. The findings indicate significant progress in incorporating social values such as fairness, justice, accountability, and responsibility into business education. Nevertheless, there is still a significant amount of uncertainty regarding the integration of these values across institutions. The case studies, in particular, elucidate prevalent challenges, providing educators and policymakers with actionable insights. Ultimately, this study contributes to the development of business leaders who can promote positive social and environmental change by emphasizing the critical role of social values and SD in business education and providing evidence-based recommendations to improve their integration.
Authors
- Gert‐Olof Boström (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9574-3856)
- João Henrique Paulino Pires Eustachio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6782-3904)
- Rosley Anholon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3163-6119)
- Tony Wall (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2334-3279)
- Ann Hindley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8510-0718)
- Mike Ryder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3917-4609)
- Noé Aguilar–Rivera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7833-6749)
- Halima Begum (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6424-4966)
- Walter Leal Filho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1241-5225)
- Enrique Nuñez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3018-4037)
- Laís Viera Trevisan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3673-6573)
- Sue Cronshaw (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9004-823X)
- Alice Annelin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7893-9139)
- Kent A. Williams (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0302-461X)
- Jan Brown (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4072-3698)
- Eszter Gedeon
Institutions
- Manchester Metropolitan University (GB)
- Dalhousie University (CA)
- Universidad Veracruzana (MX)
- Universität Hamburg (DE)
- Ramapo College (US)
- Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) (BR)
- Université de Bretagne Sud (FR)
- Azerbaijan State University of Economics (AZ)
- WSB Merito University in Torun (PL)
- Liverpool John Moores University (GB)
- Lancaster University (GB)
- HAW Hamburg (DE)
- Umeå University (SE)
- Northern University of Malaysia (MY)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Environmental Sciences Europe
- Published
- 2025-12-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-025-01253-z
- Primary Topic
- Sustainability in Higher Education
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00