Caroline Lynch
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Mike Shriberg
Research Mentor School/College/Department: University of Michigan / SNRE
Program:
Authors:
Session: Session 6: 3:40 pm – 4:30 pm
Poster: 34
Abstract
Sustainability leadership programs in higher education are growing in scale, scope, and reach. Outside of academia, organizations are making bold commitments to respond to the interrelated climate, biodiversity, and environmental injustice crises, requiring a diverse and dynamic set of leadership skills and competencies among current and future employees. However, there is scant literature and practice that works backwards from the emerging, urgent needs of employers to the training provided in higher education. And there are few training initiatives directed at building competencies. Higher education programs tend to develop goals and competencies from a theoretical perspective based on learning outcomes derived from environmental education theory rather than from the skills needed in the professional world (with some notable exceptions). Employers rarely have the opportunity to influence sustainability leadership training. To help bridge this gap and drive inquiry, the research project explores the key sustainability competencies and skills that employers are demanding as compared to the skills-building currently provided by leadership programs. The research includes a survey of alumni of several sustainability leadership programs, a literature review of sustainability leadership competencies, and the development of sustainability leadership MOOC for UM.
