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To address deficiencies in STEM and sustainability in business management and intra-university curricula, we developed and implemented an interdisciplinary STEM-based sustainability curriculum at a university in the Western United States. Six classes participated in curricular efforts including in-person and online sections of a business management course, in-person and online sections of a general elective STEM course, and a matched control course for each ( n = 214). We systematically designed, developed, and implemented curricular interventions—multi-week STEM-based business sustainability modules—using the case teaching method. A comprehensive evaluation with pre- and post-tests was conducted to assess student sustainability cognition and affect. Significant results emerged for sustainability cognition including the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability. Counterintuitively, student sustainability affect did not improve. However, sustainability cognition and affect were significantly correlated on the post-test for treatment students, an indication that cognitive and affective changes share the same directionality. Discussion, implications, limitations, and future research directions are provided.
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Advancing STEM-Based Business Sustainability: Mending the Curricular Gap
Businesses are increasingly facing economic, social, and environmental sustainability challenges. Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are needed to address business sustainability needs, yet such competencies are noticeably absent from academic literature and business curricula. To mend the curricular gap, we make the case for developing cross-disciplinary STEM-based business sustainability curricula that enhance students’ sustainability literacy and cognitive abilities related to STEM and sustainability. A literature review is provided that documents curricular gaps specific to STEM and sustainability in the academic literature and in business sustainability program offerings. We then present a framework that can be used to integrate STEM and sustainability across the curricula and to evaluate curricular implementation. This review provides timely and relevant information that can help business management educators, instructors, and administrators justify, design, develop, implement, and evaluate STEM-based business sustainability curricula.
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- PAR ID:
- 10549141
- Publisher / Repository:
- SAGE Publications
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Management Teaching Review
- Volume:
- 5
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2379-2981
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 82-93
- Size(s):
- p. 82-93
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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