Putting your education to use

Are you wondering how you can make a difference in the world? The green MBA, also known as a Sustainable MBA, is worthy of your consideration. Green MBA programs combine leadership with principles of environmental sustainability. With a growing population, rapid climate change, and limited resources, the world needs innovative, caring leaders who manage companies in an environmentally responsible way.

Quality green MBA programs offer challenging, transformational, and cutting edge knowledge that will help students create and lead sustainable organizations. Candida Brush, a professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College, stated, "You have to use entrepreneurial thinking to solve problems without taking away from the environment." 

Green MBA programs cover topics such as environmental regulations, marketing green products, waste management, and how environmental actions affect profit. The term "sustainability," when used in the context of green MBA programs, means economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Sustainable MBAs also cover the major topics of a standard MBA program.

Some MBA programs don't teach students these topics because some schools believe a company's only responsibility is to make profits for shareholders. Thus, companies don't have any obligation to be concerned about environmental sustainability, except for situations in which it increases profits. These schools believe an emphasis on sustainability takes too much time away from the vital core topics of an MBA. Check out this article about why these traditional MBA programs are missing something.

Matt Cheney, chief executive for Renewables Ventures, believes green MBA programs meet a growing demand. He said, "More and more students are interested in socially responsible business. They want to make a difference and there is a confidence that business can produce results quickly and significantly."

Most green MBA students are eager to learn about environmental issues and how to sustain and improve the environment. Let's take a look at how green MBA students should prepare themselves to make a difference:

1. Learn about ecopsychology. According to Marcella Danon, author of the book Ecopsicologia, ecopsychology is a discipline that promotes growth in order to open a path toward a higher awareness and allow people to first become self realized persons and then free, creative, and responsible citizens of the planet. There's more to a green MBA program than studying.