What is the role of economics and business studies in the development of attitudes in favour of sustainability?

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to find out what attitudes Economics and Business students have towards sustainability and what they expect from their education in relation to the achievement of economic, social and environmental sustainability. The objective is to find out if the studies of Economics and Business favour the development of pro-sustainability attitudes, taking into account factors such as the gender of the students, the course in which they are enrolled and the economic training received before entering university.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was designed covering ecological, social, cultural, economic and political aspects. The survey was conducted among students of the Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Management and the Bachelor’s Degree in Economics. The authors used discriminant analysis and analysis of variance to test the research hypothesis.

Findings

Students are concerned about environmental problems and are aware of the need for action, but there is little consensus on the actions needed to overcome them. Some negationist traits are detected: those who rely more on technology give less importance to environmental problems and to the possibility of a major ecological catastrophe. Girls are more in favour of sustainability than boys, and students who have previously studied economics consider that their training has enabled them to evaluate the resources available and necessary to perform any job more than those who have not studied economics, regardless of their sex and year.

Originality/value

Many articles have focused on the importance of sustainability in higher education, but hardly any have analysed the role of economic education in achieving sustainability. Given the importance and the proven inter-relationship between economics and sustainability, with this article, the authors contribute to fill the gap in the literature. It is necessary that current students and future professionals receive adequate economic education.

Citation

Cifuentes-Faura, J. and Noguera-Méndez, P. (2023), "What is the role of economics and business studies in the development of attitudes in favour of sustainability?", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 24 No. 7, pp. 1430-1451. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-10-2022-0324