04.28.08 by Bärbel Schwertfeger

Companies: Social responsibility not a priority

Salary is still a high priority for most MBA students at top business schools, but more of them, especially women, also cite companies’ responsibility to society as a top concern. This is the result, published in April, from the “Where Will They Lead? MBA Student Attitudes About Business and Society” study by the American-based Aspen Institute.

1,943 students from 15 business schools were surveyed. The London Business School was the only European school to participate.

“One of the most important findings is that students seem to be taking a more holistic view of the role of business in society,” said Nancy McGraw, Deputy Director of the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program. “But the findings also suggest that many students feel their beliefs are not valued by employers.” For example, only 50 percent of students surveyed felt that recruiters placed a high value on personal integrity, and only seven percent said they think recruiters place high value on their understanding of socio-political issues.

Additionally, while more of today’s students are saying they want a job that has a positive impact on society, this priority decreases in importance as they move through their MBA program – particularly for men.

The findings indicate that the tension between financial compensation and pursuing a job that aligns with personal values is becoming more pervasive, and that recruiters ignore the needs of the students even though this can have a negative impact on their ability to attract top talent, writes the author of the study.

The survey also found that while values, ethics and corporate reputation are increasingly important to MBA students, this is not the case with environmental issues. Indeed, the environmental politics of a company held meaning for only one-third of the students.

The results exhibit not only a scathing report on companies, but also business schools. Ultimately, they show that the efforts of many American business schools to integrate the topic of Corporate Social Responsibility into the MBA curriculum more strongly and better prepare students for the social challenges were largely unsuccessful.
www.aspencbe.org/Executive SummaryMBAStudentAttitudesReport2008.pdf

What do you think about this article?