Integrating sustainability in the economics curriculum: challenges and impact on future decision-makers

Abstract

Research background: Scientific evidence has shown the impact of environmental degradation on human well-being, demanding that political and economic decision-makers address the challenge of reversing this process. In this context, the economic education provided to future policymakers and business managers is crucial, because it can accelerate or impede the transition towards sustainability. What is taught in university economic courses, particularly introductory ones, shapes the ideas and the worldview of economic agents, influencing the decisions they will take in their professional activities.

Purpose of the article: The main objective of this paper is to determine how sustainability is addressed in introductory economics courses, where the foundations of the discipline are laid. Specifically, the goal is to uncover what ideas are conveyed about sustainability in these courses, how they are taught, and whether there have been any changes in the last decades.

Methods: Text Mining and Reflexive Thematic Analysis are applied to examine data from university syllabi and the most commonly used economic textbooks through the lens of a deconstruction of the complex concept of sustainability.

Findings & value added: The main contribution of this paper is a proposal for a deconstruction of the complex concept of sustainability that guides the empirical analysis. The results reveal that sustainability is practically absent from introductory economics courses; notably, no progress has been made on ethical issues or in addressing the impact of nature and environmental degradation on human well-being. Moreover, certain conceptions and models that work against the understanding of sustainability are conveyed in the most used textbooks. Although the role of economics discipline in understanding sustainability and in designing and implementing policies for an equitable sustainable transition is key, the teaching of economics offers resistance to change, remaining part of the problem of unsustainability. The integration of sustainability into the university economic courses still represents a major challenge with implications for future decision-makers.