Ethics and Social Responsibility: A Contribution to the Training of Leaders for Sustainable Development

Abstract

Training leaders who are committed to sustainability is one of the major challenges facing higher education. This paper presents a pedagogical approach to integrating Ethics and Social Responsibility (ESR) into the training of management students, promoting learning aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The experience, developed at ISCAL, combined active methodologies such as project based learning (PBL), group work with external entities, and inter-institutional open classes. Students applied the concepts in real contexts, developing proposals with social and environmental impact, which reinforced the link between theory and practice. The open classes promoted interdisciplinarity and contact with different organizational realities, bringing students closer to the diversity of ethical and social challenges in the world of work. At the end of the semester, an anonymous online questionnaire was administered to gather students' perceptions of the experience. The results indicate that students associate ethics with values such as integrity, justice, and respect, recognizing its relevance in management. They understand social responsibility as a voluntary commitment by organizations to social, economic, and environmental well-being, valuing it as an integral part of organizational strategy. The teaching and learning experience proved effective in developing skills such as teamwork, critical thinking, communication, and collective responsibility. This communication highlights the role of higher education in training more conscious leaders who are capable of contributing to more ethical, sustainable organizations that are aligned with the global challenges facing society.