Sustainability in management undergraduate courses: mapping the Brazilian higher education institutions

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to analyse the insertion of Sustainability in Management undergraduate courses in Brazilian higher education institutions (HEIs). Design/methodology/approach Through content analysis, the authors have mapped the curricular grids of the Management courses simultaneously best classified in an independent national ranking and with the highest scores in the Brazilian Government’s assessment instruments. Afterwards, the authors carried out both network and cluster analyses. Findings Among the main findings, the authors can highlight the exclusive presence of public universities in the sample, the absence of courses that offer sustainability themes in the Amazon region, the high incidence of Sustainability in elective courses, the prominence of themes related only to the environmental dimension of Sustainability and the considerable difference among the five regions of the country in terms of the content offers. Given these findings, the authors can state that Sustainability via curricular insertion in the studied undergraduate courses in Management is still in its initial stages. The study sheds light on how the Management curriculum can embed Sustainability and provides insights for dealing with this issue in educational policies, both at local and national levels. Practical implications The study confirms that the insertion of Sustainability via curriculum in the undergraduate courses in Management is still in its initial stages and discusses how different Sustainability contents are related or not to their context. Originality/value This study contributes to the theme of Sustainability in HEIs by conveying structured and comprehensive data, besides contributing to studies on the topic in emerging countries, particularly in Latin America.