On the Sense and Nonsense of Assessing Sustainability in Course Content: Lessons Learned from a French Business School

This chapter focuses on the sense and nonsense of monitoring and quantifying sustainability course content in university curricula. Based on previous research on sustainability assessment in higher education, it discusses the experience of a French business school and its method to assess sustainability in course content. This chapter offers insights into the institutional context of sustainability in higher education in France, and identifies the challenges encountered at TBS Education, between 2019 and 2022, when systematising its assessment of sustainability in course content. A reflection is provided on the (non)sense of the method, the role of professors and the importance of an integrative approach towards sustainability integration. By stressing the importance of thorough pedagogical reflection resulting from the assessment, of finding synergies between internal and external stakeholders’ reporting needs and of involving and supporting professors, this chapter aims at guiding educators and sustainability practitioners on the challenging topic of assessing sustainability in (management) education, valuable for schools in France and other regions around the world.