Collaborating for Change: Embedding Sustainability into Early Careers

The new PRME UK & Ireland Chapter report Sustainability in Early Careers highlights a growing challenge: students are eager to apply their sustainability knowledge in the workplace, yet opportunities that explicitly support these values are often hard to find. This report, the result of an innovative collaboration between academia, industry, and student-focused platforms, uncovers the gaps and solutions needed to better align education with sustainable employment.

Dr. Karen Cripps, Associate Professor in Responsible Management and Leadership, and Dr. Jonathan Louw, Associate Professor in Management Education and former Chair of the PRME UK & Ireland Chapter, both at Oxford Brookes University Business School, convened an official PRME UK & Ireland Chapter Working Group on 'Careers and Sustainability'. This group explores the intersection of work on sustainability, careers, employability and the rapidly evolving green jobs sector.

The Partnership That Brought The Research To Life

The collaboration was initiated through Working Group discussion with members that span academic, career and professional services roles. Ten universities collaborated on the research through engaging their network of business contacts (see listing at the end of the report). The collaboration expanded further with Windō, a sustainability reporting platform aimed at Gen Z students and graduates, whose founder, Oli Coles, had been an entrepreneur-in-residence at Oxford Brookes.

The collaboration extended to the UN Global Compact (UNGC) Country Network UK, with which the PRME UK and Ireland Chapter enjoys a close working relationship with Executive Director Steve Kenzie, a member of the Steering Committee. Jonathan explains, "We were in the fortunate position of having a good connection to the UN Global Compact Network UK, who were available as a collaborator on this report in disseminating the research to its members." Collaboration with the UNGC became the essential bridge between academic inquiry and industry reality. Their extensive membership base, spanning from SMEs to major corporations, provided access to the very employers students were trying to reach. This key connection to a substantial industry network endorsing allowed the research team to achieve the representative sample that made their findings so robust and actionable. This three-way partnership between academia, industry network, and student-focused platform, created a unique ecosystem for understanding and addressing the sustainability careers gap.

A Student Driven Mandate

The inspiration behind the project was simple but powerful: students. Year after year, more students expressed a desire to apply their sustainability knowledge in the workplace, yet struggled to find internships and graduate roles that explicitly acknowledged or supported these values.

“Students are passionate and prepared, but when they go looking for placement opportunities where they can apply that sustainability learning, they often hit a wall,” said Karen.

This reality was echoed through student feedback and confirmed by Jonathan’s work preparing over 700 students annually for placements. It became clear that despite growing demand for green skills, many employers were not highlighting sustainability opportunities in job descriptions or placements.

Uncovering the Gap and a Missed Opportunity

Through their research, which involved collaboration with 10 universities, the UN Global Compact Network UK, and Windō, the team found a troubling mismatch.

On the one hand, employers emphasized that sustainability was central to their operations. On the other hand, few job postings reflected this in a way that would signal relevance to students. Even more concerning: around 20% of surveyed employers offered unpaid internships lasting up to 11 months - significantly restricting access for students without financial means.

“The data revealed a systemic issue,” Jonathan explained. “It’s not just a disconnect between education and employment - it’s a visibility issue. Opportunities exist, but they’re not being communicated in a way that students can recognize or act on.”

From Insight to Action

The report doesn’t just diagnose the problem, it offers tangible solutions. These include:

• Encouraging universities to embed sustainability requirements in placement reflections and career readiness programming.

• Urging employers to explicitly signal sustainability in job descriptions and conversations with students.

• Promoting collaborative creation of internships that support sustainability skill development.

• Advocating for fair access to paid opportunities, reducing reliance on unpaid internships.

The early reception has been promising, with clear demand for practical application. As Jonathan noted, "We know that we're getting feedback from university careers departments who are receiving the report because it's obviously gone out very widely within that network, saying these, we want to show these to the employers we work with, because we think this is directly relevant to their work." Career services, employer networks, and business school leaders have begun using the findings to initiate internal discussions, update student placement materials, and inform employer engagement strategies.

A Model for Global Collaboration

While this project was rooted in the UK & Ireland Chapter, its approach and findings offer a blueprint that can be adapted by PRME Chapters around the world. The initiative demonstrates how collaboration between universities, employer networks, and student-focused platforms can generate insights with wide-reaching impact. It also showcases the value of aligning teaching, research, and external engagement to address real-world challenges.

“This is the real value of PRME,” Karen reflected. “It’s not just a network, it’s a platform for shared learning, collaborative research, and ultimately, shared impact.”

The success of this research underscores the role of PRME Chapters as platforms not just for local networking, but for collaborative, research-informed innovation. By working together across institutions and involving students, educators, and employers alike, Chapters can develop projects that address complex sustainability topics from multiple angles.

The working group now hopes to inspire other PRME Chapters to launch similar initiatives, share best practices, and co-develop a richer picture of what sustainable career pathways look like across different regions.

The Path Forward

The report’s formal launch event is set for October, bringing together stakeholders from business, academia, and civil society to explore the findings and chart a path forward. But already, its influence is being felt, in revised placement protocols, enriched career services, and new conversations between students and employers.

Congratulations to Karen and Jonathon, and all those involved for providing a compelling example of what’s possible when we move from shared values to shared action.

Explore the full report.

With special thanks to colleagues who supported the research:

United Nations Global Compact UK - Steve Kenzie (Executive Director)

and university partners:

University of Bristol - Michelle Powell (Employer Relations Manager)

University of Exeter - Matthew Taylor (Accreditation and Rankings Manager) and Steve Wallers (Employer Engagement & Student Employment Manager)

Keele University - Helen Millward (Lecturer in Marketing)

Nottingham Trent University - Vicky Harvey (Employee Engagement Coordinator), Richard Howarth (Senior Lecturer in Marketing)

Oxford Brookes University - Euan McCall (Careers Consultant), Heather Woodruff (Placements and Partnerships Manager), Laura Attewell (Employability Manager)

Richmond American University London - Inma Ramos (Associate Professor Business, Management and Law)

University of Surrey - Katie Carlin (Employer Engagement Officer)

University of Stirling - Craig Anderson (Senior Lecturer in Law)

University of Warwick - Clare Franklin (Employer Services Manager)