The Cranfield Doughty Legacy Scholarship: Evaluating the impact of sustainability education

There is an urgent need for education for sustainability that changes the cognition and actions of individuals in ways that drive positive social and environmental impact within organisations. This Doughty Legacy Scholarship funds up to £60,000 for doctoral research which evaluates the impact that education for sustainability has on individuals and their organisations. The proposed focus for the research is Cranfield’s part-time MSc Sustainability which attracts executives who aim to embed sustainability into their business practice.

The research will involve tracking and evaluating the changes that executive students bring about in their organisations and wider systems through applying their learning and developing their personal knowledge and competencies. The Sustainability MSc is an ideal programme to evaluate, providing the opportunity for longitudinal study of sustainability-oriented professionals working within organisations whilst completing their studies part time over 2 ½ years. The aim is to identify what works and how, so that education for sustainability can be improved, and achieve the radical, necessary, and hugely urgent changes in business and society. This will involve identifying and evaluating links between learning activities and interventions, the development of knowledge, skills and behaviours and ultimately evaluating the impact achieved through their application.

Project outcomes:

We envisage that the findings from this research will be published in leading management education journals (Academy of Management Learning and Education, Management Learning), as well as having wider relevance in the general management literature. The findings will have relevance for Cranfield University, and the wider Higher Education sector. The research will have important implications for bodies which govern the provision and quality of Higher Education (QAA, Advance HE) and specifically the provision of apprenticeship education (IFATE).

About the sponsor:

This PhD project is supported by Cranfield School of Management and will be supervised by academics with expertise in sustainability, and experience in designing, delivering, and evaluating education for sustainability at the postgraduate level. The Doughty Legacy Scholarship recognises the huge contribution to the development of sustainability thought leadership at Cranfield made possible by the generosity of the Doughty family, who supported Cranfield’s Doughty Centre for Corporate Sustainability from 2007 to 2017.

Entry requirements:

PhD applicants are required to hold a first or upper-second-class UK Bachelor's degree, a taught Master's degree, or an equivalent international qualification, in a related discipline. This project would suit a student with experience in a sustainability-related role in industry, or the public sector. Experience of teaching in an academic context, or of training and/or communications in the private sector, and a demonstrable track record in engaging in education for sustainability is desirable.

Candidates are required to prepare a research proposal for this opportunity. Please upload your research proposal and personal statement in the same document on the Applicant Statement section of the application form. Please include the following reference number: SOM0014 along with your research proposal.