Green business school league table released

Ethical business leadership organisation Net Impact has published its third guide to "green" MBAs, with the Bainbridge Graduate Institute topping the ranks of institutions that help prepare students for ethical and socially responsible business roles.

Business as UNusual, the non-profit's guide to MBAs with a focus on sustainability and corporate social responsibility, also scored the Presidio School of Management, the International Organisations MBA HEC Geneve, Antioch New England and the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business in the top five institutions most likely to prepare all students for ethical and socially responsible leadership.

Antioch also scored the highest for faculty support of Net Impact themes in both curricular and extracurricular activities.

Both academic institutions and the students who attend them are becoming more interested in corporate social responsibility (CSR), said Net Impact spokeswoman Krista van Tassel.

"We had a lot of calls coming in from undergrads wanting to go back into business school but not understanding what programmes met their needs," she said. "The trend you see is that more people earlier in their careers are weaving these [CSR] ideas into their jobs and career paths."

Organisations are increasingly attuned to students' CSR requirements, and as a result the green MBA space is becoming more crowded, she added. "There may be a whole course or set of courses dedicated to CSR issues," she said. "You may also see it included as a case or discussion point for some of the core courses. And then we're also seeing it in the extracurricular activities, such as student clubs.”

Profiles on educational institutions in the guide are produced by leaders of Net Impact chapters – students generally elected by their classmates. The report also included a survey of 1,552 Net Impact student members.