Creating a Green Business World with a Sustainability Degree

What exactly is sustainability when it comes to business? This emerging field of management isn't just about putting recycle bins and energy-efficient lighting in the workplace—rather, it's a holistic approach to managing a business that incorporates socially and environmentally responsible practices while also benefiting a company's bottom line. More facts about sustainable business and sustainability degree programs:

• Sustainable business practices reduce energy and resource costs and promote innovation.
   
• A focus on sustainability fosters a more progressive and global approach to business strategy, and encourages businesses to stay up on worldwide social and environmental trends.
   
• Sustainable and socially responsible practices increase employee engagement and customer loyalty, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article.*
   
• 93 percent of CEOs surveyed in a recent study by the UN Global Compact and Accenture say that "sustainability will be critical to the future success of their companies."**
   
• Sustainability degree programs are on the rise, and the percentage of business schools requiring a course on business and society issues has doubled since 2001 (research by Beyond Grey Pinstripes).

For business majors with a passion for green—the environment, that is—a sustainability degree is an innovative and increasingly marketable option with a uniquely focused curriculum. Topics of study include ethics, social justice, environmental and fiscal responsibility, energy policies and sustainable enterprise, as well as mainstream business subjects. Many sustainability degree programs also include networking and internship opportunities within the green business world.

At the undergraduate level, there are a handful of bachelor's and associate's degree programs in sustainability listed by the Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). Several more schools offer certifications, minors or concentrations in related topics such as corporate social responsibility or sustainable entrepreneurship. A wide variety of sustainability degree options are available at the graduate level, from MBAs concentrating on sustainable business to advanced certificates in sustainability management, some of which are offered online. Green MBA degrees include courses in advanced topics such as:

• Sustainable Business Strategy
• Renewable Energy
• Natural and Organic Resources
• Leadership for Sustainable Management
• Values and Business Ethics
• Environmental Economics & Policy
• Corporate Social Responsibility

Growth throughout the job market means increased opportunities in the area of corporate sustainability as well, with one article citing a 33 percent rise in green job postings during the 4th quarter of 2009.** Among the jobs available to sustainability degree grads are positions in green business consulting firms, research institutes and government organizations as well as private corporations, many of whom are making room for experts in sustainable business practices. Graduates of sustainability degree programs are also marketable in a wide range of other positions, from resource management to energy to logistics.

The ultimate goal, of course, is to incorporate green practices throughout the business world so that they're no longer the Next Big Thing, but simply the norm.

_{*Evans, Julian, "Good Intentions," Wall Street Journal, February 3, 2010
**Cohen, Elaine, "Will Green MBAs Save the Planet?" CSRWire.com, July 20, 2010}