Logo

MIT Launches Certificate in Sustainable Business for MBA Students

Published: Feb 23, 2010

 CSR       

Vault.com's Education Editor, Carolyn Wise calls this the new black in business schools. A couple of weeks ago I discussed why business schools are failing to address the human side of sustainability. Now MIT Sloan gives hope. It is the latest entrant to join the growing ranks of MBA schools offering sustainability courses. MIT Sloan's School of Management is the latest to begin offering a new Sustainability Certificate for its MBA students, which will emphasize balancing economic growth with environmental sustainability, starting this year.

<>MBA in Sustainability

MIT's official take on the new course: "The new Certificate in Sustainable Business views sustainability as a function of the interdependent dynamics of economic, societal, and environmental systems, where success overall is influenced by success across all areas and not upon a single factor." The thinking behind some of the new classes that are being offered seems to address the very core of CSR: That it be inherent in every company and organization's long term business strategy. Classes like System Dynamics and Strategies for Sustainable Business are right on target and should do well as they play on MIT's traditional strengths of entrepreneurship and business values of technology and social sciences. Also offered is a lab and and seminar class.

What will probably make the decision easier for students still unsure of the value of an MBA in Sustainability is the emphasis on being able to do a summer internship in sustainability, since the importance these internships play in getting full-time offers from recruiters continues to remain high in a slowly recovering economy.

Read more details on the MIT Sloan's Sustainability Certificate here. Get more info on internships in sustainability by visiting Vault's Articles section and read an in-depth overview of having an internship in the environmental field. If Consulting is where you want to be after your MBA, read what is involved in working as a Sustainability Consultant!

***