The Sustainable Development Goals and Business Students’ Preferences: An Exploratory Study

James W. Westerman; Yalcin Acikgoz; Lubna Nafees; Emmeline dePillis; Jennifer Westerman

ORDER ARTICLE PERMISSIONS/REPRINTS/OFFPRINTS/

To order inspection copies, and/or permissions to include this article in textbooks, edited volumes, course booklets, online/digital course packs, etc., and/or to order multiple individual hard copies for classroom use, please use the secure online payment, or the appropriate form available on the Order Forms page, or alternatively, contact the Publishing Editor, Peter Neilson, pneilson@neilsonjournals.com directly.

The Sustainable Development Goals and Business Students’ Preferences: An Exploratory Study

James W. Westerman, Yalcin Acikgoz, and Lubna Nafees

Appalachian State University, USA

Emmeline dePillis

University of Hawaii at Hilo, USA

Jennifer Westerman

Appalachian State University, USA

Volume 17: 2020 pp. 99-114: ABSTRACT

To effectively teach the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to enhance corporate social responsibility, we need to understand the predictors of business student predispositions towards the SDGs. We examine whether location, authoritarianism, religiosity, and individualism influence university business student SDG preferences. Results (n=262) indicate authoritarian and religious business students emphasize SDGs with an orientation towards the health and economic well-being of their local communities. The results also indicate the most significant factor in predicting SDG preference was university location. Southeastern U.S. students were more supportive of people/prosperity-oriented SDGs, indicating greater concern with the social safety net and basic human needs, whereas Hawaiian students were more supportive of planet-oriented SDGs indicating greater concern for environmental issues. Implications for teaching SDGs to university business students are discussed.