Rethinking Undergraduate Business Education: Liberal Learning for the Profession (Jossey-Bass Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching)

Business is the largest undergraduate major in the United States and still growing. This reality, along with the immense power of the business sector and its significance for national and global well-being, makes quality education critical not only for the students themselves but also for the public good. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching's national study of undergraduate business education found that most undergraduate programs are too narrow, failing to challenge students to question assumptions, think creatively, or understand the place of business in larger institutional contexts. Rethinking Undergraduate Business Education examines these limitations and describes the efforts of a diverse set of institutions to address them by integrating the best elements of liberal arts learning with business curriculum to help students develop wise, ethically grounded professional judgment. Praise for Rethinking Undergraduate Business Education

"With business the most popular undergraduate major for more than 30 years, this book meets a long overdue need to carefully evaluate the state of undergraduate business education in the United States and provide frameworks for improving it. The authors argue forcefully for a balanced approach—one that integrates applied learning with liberal arts models of inquiry. Only with this kind of integration can we educate leaders who can reason both concretely and creatively."
—Sally Blount, dean, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

"The authors have provided the most thoughtful and systematic study of under-graduate business education since the famous Ford Foundation and Carnegie Corporation reports of the 1950s. It is difficult to imagine a more bold and timely study that also offers a path for revitalizing America's undergraduate business schools and, in turn, our nation's business leadership."
—Rakesh Khurana, Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development, Harvard Business School, and author, From Higher Aims to Hired Hands

"This book effectively dismantles the argument that there is no time or need for the liberal arts in modern business education. The authors correctly point out that the world needs business leaders who can manage complexity, think creatively, and leverage the insights of others—skills honed far more explicitly in the liberal arts than in business. Their call for a thoughtful balance between mastery of business disciplines and exploration of alternative perspectives is one I wholeheartedly endorse."
—Roger Martin, dean, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and author, The Opposable Mind

"This book is from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching's three-year effort developed in response to concerns about the failures of business education to prepare undergraduates for their responsibilities in society, including in their business practice. Business leaders stress the importance of liberal learning but most liberal arts courses are not well-integrated with the business curriculum. This important resource reports on examples of how the two can be integrated and offers solid recommendations for improvement. The authors also address the value of some perspectives that business can offer to the liberal arts"-- Provided by publisher