Acting responsibly as a business school can take myriad forms, from what we include in our curriculum to the pedagogical approach we take. Here at the School of Management, our commitment to Research4Good runs through all we do – including our degree programmes.

We have been signatories of the UN’s Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) since 2015 and are delighted to be acting as hosts for the 2026 PRME UK & Ireland Chapter Conference.

We’re proud to be home to the International Centre for Higher Education Management, and our dedication to excellence, sustainability and social good is consistently recognised in our performance in rankings and accreditations.

In an increasingly polarised world, facing geopolitical instability, financial uncertainty and climate crises, ensuring that our education equips students for the future is more important then ever. With that in mind, we asked academics from across our faculty: what does responsible management education look like to you?

1. Going beyond profit

“To me, responsibility in relation to management education encompasses three core duties. First, the duty to develop in our students an appreciation that management is not just about profit or value maximisation, but is also about offering dignity and meaning through work; contributing to regeneration of the natural environment; and creating and sustaining vital communities.

“Second, the duty to support our students to succeed in the world, to be organisation- ready, and to have the capacity to generate change through their contributions. Responsible management education has to be practice-oriented.

“Third, the duty to encourage students to have high aspirations for themselves and for each other, and to develop the capabilities to pursue ambitious goals confidently yet respectfully.”

Professor Steve Brammer, Dean of the School of Management

"Responsible management education is not only about what we teach, but also how we teach and who we teach. I believe we have a responsibility to prepare the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs to cope responsibly and resiliently with uncertainty, while also helping them to develop sustainable attitudes to prosperity that protect both people and planet.

“By using inclusive teaching approaches – such as amplifying diverse voices through the cases and readings we select – we can therefore model the importance of sustainability, equity and ethics in managerial practice.

“Anticipating and removing barriers to inclusion across the student journey is critical to improving access, outcomes, and representation.”

Professor Layla Branicki, Director of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (Management)

"Responsible management education implies the application of situated knowledge produced by researchers who can justify their choices in the research process. This knowledge, in turn, serves as a basis for learners to change the conditions under which said knowledge was created. This encourages them to develop a stake in how learning shapes social practice – something that AI cannot develop.

“That means that learning is conditional: it is both confined by environmental factors under which it takes place, but also seeks to change these factors in ways that corresponds to the principles of responsible management education (PRME). That is why the UN’s PRME highlights that ‘to be responsible is to be attentive to impact and time’.”

Professor Dirk Lindebaum

“If we are to practise responsible management education, we need to pay as much attention to the pedagogic process as we do to the content. Of course, the pedagogic process must be student-centred. In designing it, we should think about the diverse backgrounds, needs and approaches to learning that our students represent, and about how to create the most inclusive and engaging learning environment for all.

“Decisions about the content of responsible management education should be guided by a vision to facilitate students’ development as professionals and citizens who will know what needs to be done in order to make organisations and societies better places to work and live, and will feel the urgency to implement this knowledge.”

Professor Martyna Sliwa

“For me, a responsible management education is that a student walks in on day one and continues throughout their education to learn that what they will be given is a position of privilege, where they get to decide on how resources and opportunities are distributed in the systems of enterprise that they will govern.

“I think we should be emphasising that our students are stewards of resources. We need to be working with them on what this form of stewardship would look like, because there’s no template for responsibility. There isn’t a textbook with the answers, for when you get out into your job, of how to be responsible so I think we need to orient them around this notion.”

Dr Annie Snelson Powell, Director of the International Centre for Higher Education Management

“My recent work has focused on the role of the viva in responsible education. In the age of generative AI, it is increasingly important to have vivas as part of the doctoral examination process to ensure that candidates have mastery of their thesis. Given that doctoral requirements are constantly evolving, and with the number of stakeholders attempting to shape their outcomes ever increasing, it is important to capture, reflect upon and even codify expected outcomes.

“Without this, the growing expectations set upon doctoral work risk overwhelming participants with additional layers and perhaps contradictory requirements that – given the relatively short time span of the examination process – cannot be realistically achieved. The focus must remain on candidates demonstrating their competence, and encourage them to go beyond a formulaic approach in their thesis.”

Dr Ludovic Highman

“Responsible management education is often framed in terms of essential content, such as societal issues, grand challenges, or exemplary leadership. Yet it also requires attention to how we teach and learn. It is about creating space to educate, not merely train: fostering curiosity, cultivating critical thinking over time, and developing knowledge for long-term growth rather than immediate solutions.

“In this sense, responsible management education is not only preparation for a first job; it lays the foundations for lifelong learning about the multidimensional and complex world we inhabit, and which we must learn to look after together.”

Dr Igor Pyrko, Director of MRes and PhD Studies

“Responsible education in a business school means actively addressing structural inequities by widening access for underrepresented and disadvantaged communities. This year, the School of Management achieved an important milestone – with an uptick in undergraduate recruitment from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

“Yet sustainable progress requires deeper reforms in our values, systems and culture to embed widening participation – not only in access but in how we support these students, reconciling educational integrity with social justice. For example, with a team of marketing and professional services staff, I am leading a research project exploring how to make the marketing of our courses more accessible to prospective applicants in order to reshape perceptions and highlight our commitment to diversity and inclusive student voice.”

Dr Monia Mtar

“Responsible management education focuses on preparing future leaders to make fair, ethical and well-judged decisions in an increasingly complex world. It extends well beyond environmental concerns, engaging with issues such as children living in poverty, animal species at risk of extinction, and gender equality within organisations. It encourages students to reflect critically on power, responsibility and the long-term consequences of organisational decisions, which often extend well beyond the firm.

“As today’s students will shape the organisations and markets that influence society, it is essential that they develop a strong sense of responsibility. By emphasising core principles, responsible management education prepares graduates to lead with integrity and a genuine commitment to the wider world.”

Dr Soheil Davari, Director of Accreditations