The phenomenon of “greenwashing” in European Business Schools: an exploratory study of student’s perceptions

Nova SBE Leadership for Impact Knowledge Center began a series of Master Thesis Showcase. This one was developed by Fluvia Iannotta, advised by our Associate Professor Adjunct Milton de Sousa.

‍

How do students perceive “greenwashing” attitudes in European business schools? With the current increasing expectations for business schools to foster and teach sustainability, this question is a fundamental one. Surprisingly, however, empirical research on this topic is scant – most of the contemporary literature focuses instead on greenwashing attitudes among firms. The goal of this dissertation is to initiate a scientific inquiry on the topic of greenwashing in the educational context. To this end, a theory explaining how students perceive greenwashing in European business schools is developed by utilizing a qualitative research methodology.