Graduate ability to show workplace sustainability leadership: demonstration of an assessment tool

Information associated with the assessment of graduate attributes, in the workplace, is limited. Yet if the many environmental and social problems that confront communities are to be managed, we need to ensure that graduates, who have been exposed to sustainability insights through their studies, are applying those insights. To contribute to information for the future this paper reports the development, and trial, of a tool for the assessment of graduates’ leadership regarding the inclusion of sustainability principles in their employment. Based on assessment literature, a tool was developed and applied to a sample of graduates in the construction profession. Generally, results show that graduates have not shown leadership for sustainability in their workplaces; rather, they are prepared to be directed by managers, or be content to limit themselves to being informed. Occasionally graduates have been able to take a lead on sustainability, mainly in relation to minimising impacts on the physical and social environments. The graduates are knowledgeable and supportive of sustainability actions but are constrained in the workplace. However, the participants demonstrated a strong connection to sustainability, indicating they would be capable of promoting sustainability action to others, where they had freedom to do so. Consequently, If graduates are to be expected to act as leaders for sustainability in their workplaces, it appears that their educational institutions would need to develop curriculum to help students resist the opposing influences of the workplace (e.g. market/end-user, clients, colleagues).