Corporate Knights magazine goes global with MBA rankings based on sustainability

Corporate Knights magazine has cast its net internationally this year with its MBA sustainability rankings. The list now includes 30 business schools from 11 countries based on their efforts to promote sustainability in learning. The list accompanying the feature is led by two Canadian business schools - York University's Schulich School of Business, followed by Concordia's John Molson School of Business.

In an editorial, managing editor Jeremy Runnalls says that schools are only beginning to respond to changing corporate conditions, although MBA program rankings are done by a number of magazines in Canada and elsewhere, such as Canadian Business, Maclean's, Financial Times and The Economist.  

"Each ranking is slightly different, but they all end up rewarding programs that place graduates in the highest-paying jobs possible".

(Part of the reason that Corporate Knights expanded its annual listings this year beyond Canada, he said, was to fill a void left when the one international MBA ranking that paid attention to sustainability, the Aspen Institute's Beyond Grey Pinstripes, was suspended.) 

"The goal was to identify which of these programs – viewed as leaders in the field – are leading the pack on sustainable business education. Schools that wished to participate were sent a survey that asked detailed questions related to institutional support offered to MBA candidates and relevant student-led initiatives on campus, along with coursework dedicated to social or environmental impact management and/or non-profit management."