ESG Concentration

ESG Concentration & Programming

Bearded white man smilling, speaking to a tatooed white man, in a crowd of blurred out individuals

Michigan Ross continues to innovate in the social impact space with its new ESG concentration. The Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Concentration prepares MBA students to confidently navigate a rapidly changing business world with strong foundations in sustainability, social impact, and ethical leadership.

Modern businesses need leaders prepared to transform how enterprises engage with the natural environment and climate change, address the needs of a changing workforce, and provide increased accountability to investors and other stakeholders. The Full-Time MBA Concentration in ESG at the Ross School of Business prepares students to lead in each of the three pillars that support contemporary business and educates leaders to take on the major challenges of our time.

The ESG concentration includes both formal coursework and optional co-curricular activities, including workshops (e.g., how to work with ESG data) and speakers.

Requirements

To complete the concentration, students must fulfill a minimum of 12 credits:

Foundations: complete each of these required courses:
- STRAT 564/EAS 512 – Strategies for Sustainable Development I (1.5 credit hours)
- STRAT 565/EAS 513 – Strategies for Sustainable Development II (1.5 credit hours)
- STRAT 615 – Equity Analytics (2.25 credit hours)
Electives: complete at least 6.75 credit hours, with a minimum of one course from each of the three breadth areas (Environmental, Social, Governance).

See the current list of electives on the official Ross ESG Concentration page.

For questions about the concentration, or to express interest in the concentration, contact an academic advisor at [email protected].

ESG Workshop & Speaker Series

The Ross ESG Speaker & Workshop Series is open to all students, regardless of concentration. See below for upcoming and previous events in this series:

Upcoming Events:

See the complete ESG Workshop Series

Previous Events:

Podcast: Is ESG Just a Marketing Scam?
ESG Data Workshop for Net Impact Symposium – held January 19th, 2024
ESG Data Workshop for Erb Undergraduate Fellows – held January 16th, 2024
ESG Corporate Panel – held Nov. 27, 2023 – Watch Video
Understanding ESG: what is ESG data, and how can I use it? – held Oct. 30, 2023
Webinar: Sustainability Expert Panel Agrees: The Time for Board ESG Education Is Now – Tues, June 27, 2023 @ 11 am – Read Article
ESG Reporters’ Bootcamp 2022 – In May 2022, the Ross School of Business and the Knight-Wallace Fellowships for Journalists at the University of Michigan presented three engaging and interactive sessions for journalists on understanding and evaluating industry claims around ESG. We heard from newsmakers, corporate leaders, and Michigan faculty experts on how to look beyond the corporate gloss, dig into data, and bring transparency to this complex and often politicized topic.