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Values, gender and attitudes towards environmental policy: A study of future managers

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  • Asit Bhattacharyya
  • Mohammed Lutfur Rahman

Abstract

This study explores if the value priorities and their impact on future managers' attitudes towards environmental responsibilities vary with gender. While relevant prior studies mostly focus on gender‐based variations of individuals' personal values in developed economies, we concentrate on both personal values and pro‐environmental attitudes in an emerging economy. This study is built on MBA students (a proxy for future managers) in India since India is characterized as a male‐dominated society and a producer of larger number of MBA graduates. Overall, our results show that personal values and attitude towards environmental responsibilities do not vary significantly with gender. Only two values (among the 21 values) and one value type (out of 10 values) get significantly higher ranking from females compared with males. Further, although ‘universalism’ and ‘benevolence’ are found to have a statistically significant impact on respondents' attitude towards environmental responsibility, the latter is invariant to the respondents' gender. Our findings may indicate India's transformation from a male‐dominated society towards a more gender‐balanced society. These findings can be used to operationalize a pro‐environmental recruitment policy and to formulate strategies to improve female participation in MBA cohorts of business schools.

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  • Asit Bhattacharyya & Mohammed Lutfur Rahman, 2020. "Values, gender and attitudes towards environmental policy: A study of future managers," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2514-2527, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:29:y:2020:i:6:p:2514-2527
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.2517
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    Cited by:

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    2. Barbara Kump, 2021. "When do threats mobilize managers for organizational change toward sustainability? An environmental belief model," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2713-2726, July.
    3. Maria Jose Murcia & Pilar Acosta, 2023. "Accounting for Plural Cognitive Framings of Growth and Sustainability: Rethinking Management Education in Latin America," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(2), pages 299-313, June.
    4. Kai Tang, 2022. "The Effect of Left-Behind Women on Fertilizer Use: Evidence from China’s Rural Households Engaging in Rural-Urban Migration," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Simona Cosma & Paola Schwizer & Lorenzo Nobile & Rossella Leopizzi, 2021. "Environmental attitude in the board. Who are the “green directors”? Evidences from Italy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 3360-3375, November.
    6. Monika Wawer & Kalina Grzesiuk & Dorota Jegorow, 2022. "Smart Mobility in a Smart City in the Context of Generation Z Sustainability, Use of ICT, and Participation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-30, June.
    7. Md. Aftab Uddin & Shetu Ranjan Biswas & Swadip Bhattacharjee & Mouri Dey & Monowar Mahmood, 2021. "Inspiring employees' ecological behaviors: The roles of corporate environmental strategy, biospheric values, and eco‐centric leadership," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2367-2381, July.

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