Provoking Sustainability: The Evolving Role of Management Educators

Abstract

Despite JME’s impactful pedagogical presence, we still fail to motivate change in a world where our planet degrades, available resources are imbalanced or unavailable to marginalized communities, and business schools goad students into mindsets of never-ending individual greed. As management educators, we have opportunities to invert the norms of our curriculum and business schools that have prioritized the profit and growth maximization models of neoclassical economists. Seizing opportunities to transform our teaching to move toward a more sustainable vision of our future is critical at this juncture. We can prioritize and teach outcomes of fairness, equity, and the health of our planet. If management educators do not align with a vision of globally sustainable business practices, we risk preparing our students for a world that no longer exists. To that end, JME’s 50-year anniversary offers an opportunity to look back on how the management educator’s role has evolved in view of sustainability education and pedagogical techniques, highlighting areas where JME’s contributions have either excelled or fallen short. The critique offers concrete guidance for educators to create a path for transformational change. The “moonshot” hope is that management educators will trigger much-needed, bottom-up transformation in their business schools and greater institutions.