How do business schools report on social sustainability issues?
Business schools are at the forefront of research into corporate social sustainability practices. However, their reporting processes are heterogenous and face significant challenges.
When Esade’s Mar Vila and Soledad Moya examined the reporting practices of the 20 highest-ranked European business schools they discovered a lack of common standards, limited resources and disjointed processes.
The research, which was published in the Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, measures reporting in social sustainability and highlights as relevant areas the following: diversity and equal opportunities; ethics, integrity and human rights; good health and wellbeing; social performance; and society issues.
The findings, say Vila and Moya, enable a better understanding of the measures that need to be taken to improve comprehensiveness and comparability of social sustainability reporting in business schools.
The need for review
Researchers have been calling for an urgent review of the sustainability reporting processes of corporations and institutions for almost 20 years. It’s an area with widespread impact: employees, customers and communities are all affected by the social sustainability practices of organizations.
Current social sustainability reporting lacks consistency and comparability
Business schools cannot remain oblivious to these review processes due to their responsibility regarding the generation and transfer of knowledge to society and the education of future professionals.
Despite this, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) lack consistency and comparability in their own social sustainability reporting. Multiple frameworks have been developed to encourage sustainable development reporting practices among organizations but they are not specific for HEIs
The evolution of sustainability reporting frameworks
The United Nations implemented a Decade of Education for Sustainable Development from 2005 to 2014, with the aim of integrating principles and practices into education. Research has found little evidence of their impact.
In 2007, the six principles of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (UNPRME) were founded to raise the profile of sustainability in global schools, but none of them focused exclusively on the social dimension.
The Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI), an open partnership between United Nations entities and the higher education community, was launched in 2012. This initiative has had some success: HESI holds an annual global forum to tackle topics related to higher education and several HEIs have indicated their commitment to adopting the commitments.
The United Nations’ Guidance for Corporate Reporting on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) has also enjoyed some success within HEIs. Some European business schools have adopted the guidelines and are linking teaching and research to specific goals — a key recommendation from Vila and Moya.
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, a set of voluntary standards that support the reporting of sustainability initiatives, have been adopted by some HEIs. However, these are not specific to education.
Lack of common standards
This varied and sometimes vague collection of guidelines, introduced over the course of two decades, has led to wild variations in the reports produced by HEIs. Their levels of innovation, size and visibility, leadership style and ownership structure all influence the style and content of sustainability reports.
The ranking and image of a school also impact reporting, Vila and Moya found. Those ranked higher by the Financial Times issued more sustainability information, while the social values the school wanted to be associated with — related to aspects such as gender identity, race or disability — received more attention. The researchers note that such attention may be linked to marketing practices rather than true social responsibility goals.
Communication channels also differed by school. While some did publish sustainability reports, many schools limited their reporting to the informal content published on their websites. This lack of consistency makes it difficult to compare like with like and results in different expectations among individual institutions, limited detail and poor strategic implementation of standards.
A framework for future reporting
In light of this fractured background, how do business schools formalize their sustainability responsibility reporting? Incorporating UNSDG and UNPRME social sustainability issues into courses and research programs would be a good place to start, say Vila and Moya.
This information should also be included at a strategic level and involve a wide range of stakeholders and partnerships with other schools, they add.
A collaborative and interdisciplinary approach for managing, measuring and reporting should be a priority
However, to be truly effective, regulatory bodies should take the lead in developing a common reporting standard specifically for business schools. Such a standard would enable the schools to engage in effective dialogue with stakeholders and enhance the legitimacy and visibility of their sustainability goals and reporting, say Vila and Moya.
In the meantime, schools should take the initiative to standardize their own sustainability reporting. A collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to developing systems for managing, measuring and reporting the impact of sustainability measures should be pursued as a priority.
Business schools have a responsibility to deliver sustainable education, the researchers conclude. After many years of discussing sustainability, it is now time for action.
