Today, business leaders are embracing the complex social, environmental and economic challenges posed by climate change as opportunities for investment and growth.
This new departure radically changes the landscape for graduates who need to understand how sustainability is redefining traditional business models if they are to land roles in organisations that are proactively responding to the social, regulatory and technological changes that are already underway.
It’s for this reason that Cork University Business School (CUBS) at University College Cork places an emphasis on exposing students to developmental opportunities provided by industry experts and organisations that are engaged in a sustainable transition.
In fact, right across its suite of undergraduate programmes, CUBS is determined to provide students with engaging, experiential learning opportunities through internships and placements so that they can gain first-hand knowledge of how business is engaged in sustainable change.
By placing students with companies who are either embedding sustainability into their business strategies or developing plans to incorporate it, CUBS graduates offer employers real world insights that reflect this new business environment.
For BSc Accounting students in particular, of whom 80 per cent are retained by their respective placement organisation after graduation, the kind of institutional knowledge that they are exposed to on placement makes them invaluable to employers.
The immersive environment in which students learn creates a multitude of career options for graduates, even though many may have had no prior knowledge of accounting before enrolling in the programme.
Our newest undergraduate degree, the BSc International Business with Languages, has been developed with this in mind. The course has a global focus and encourages students to recognise how diverse cultures approach business.
Designed to provide students with key insights into international business management and the contemporary issues that are influencing the global economy, the programme combines business and anthropology by enabling students to study language, culture and commerce.
As part of the programme, students spend their third year studying in an immersive environment overseas. Enrolled in one of the Business School’s prestigious partner universities, students gain an international perspective on business while understanding the intricacies of language and culture.
Similarly, the BSc International Development also introduces students to a host of cultures and societies by providing them with the opportunity to undertake a five-month work placement and apply their learning in practice with a development agency in Africa, Asia or Latin America.
Developed with the aim of introducing students to issues surrounding human rights, health, education and the environment, this is the first undergraduate programme in Ireland to have a primary focus on international development and draws upon the unique focus on shaping leaders for a sustainable future in Cork University Business School.
The same can be said of BSc Food Marketing and Entrepreneurship students who already find themselves at the forefront of an industry developing sustainability strategies, working in collaboration with food entrepreneurs under the umbrella of Musgrave's Food Academy programme.
These emergent and local food businesses are the future of a sustainable food industry that innovates in the face of climate change. At every phase of their degree programme, our students learn from working in partnership with these companies, helping them address and overcome many of the challenges that food entrepreneurship entails.
Likewise, Bachelor of Commerce students are introduced to the world of business and ethics so that they gain a holistic understanding of the world beyond balance sheets and the role that business needs to play in the sustainable age.
As a result, graduates are able to exceed the expectations of employers that are looking for talented people who have an informed understanding of the moral and ethical standards that modern businesses need to uphold if they are to be recognised as being at the forefront of sustainable change.
Being able to articulate how those standards inform business decisions forms a key part of the Business School's BA Economics through Transformational Learning programme, which encourages students to think independently through diverse learning experiences.
Shortlisted for the Irish Education Awards Best Career Impact Strategy Award in 2019, the Economics programme also includes a unique three-way university–industry collaboration that is designed to help students make the transition to professional employment by encouraging them to practically participate in their professional development.
That ambition to nurture students so that they can recognise the civic responsibility of business can also be found in the Business School's BSc Business Information Systems (BIS) programme where over 2,000 students have gained valuable placement experience with companies who share the Business School's ideals.
Having been conferred with an Athena SWAN Bronze award in 2019, an international accreditation framework dedicated to the transformation of gender inequality, BIS faculty and staff are passionate about supporting female graduates to gain access with the same opportunities as their male peers.
Open to everyone, the programme does not demand that prospective students require honours maths, or any prior computing or business knowledge, recognising instead that a broad spectrum of skills and experiences will be required to develop sustainable information systems and technologies.
Globally focussed, our renowned BSc Finance programme is among the top courses in University College Cork, with graduates that are highly sought after by financial companies in Ireland.
With an ambition to help shape leaders for a sustainable future, CUBS is offering talented undergraduate students the opportunity to become the business leaders that will place sustainability at the heart of the organisations that will shape our global future.
Find out more about Cork University Business School - www.cubsucc.com