Monash Business School implements learning methods that provide opportunities for students to equip themselves for life, ‘not solely for their own benefit but for the benefit of the whole community’. This is a challenge espoused by the University’s namesake, Sir John Monash. Through their studies in a range of programs students apply their learning to business and societal challenges, and work closely with a range of for-profit and not-for-profit entities to assist them to implement solutions.

For example, accounting students learn about sustainability issues including integrity and inclusivity, ecology, human rights, and governance. In 2022, students studying ‘Accounting for Sustainability’ partnered with textile recovery and textile waste recycling company, Upparel, to organise a Textile Waste Day on campus which showcased the transformative power of accounting in facilitating real socio-ecological change to staff, students and the wider community. Organising the ‘Textile Waste Day’ required students to take an integrative approach, with students producing an on-campus and virtual accounting narrative of textile waste, an impact statement, and a sustainability report for the industry partner. In the words of the subject leader Dr Annemarie Conrath-Hargreaves: “we are using authentic problem-based education to enhance and assess critical and creative thinking skills, aiming to provide learning experiences with impact.”

Final year students worked for the ‘Edgars Mission’, a Melbourne-based not-for-profit organisation that rescues and protects animals in need, and provides education, outreach and advocacy. Contributing to the strategic effectiveness of Edgars Mission, students developed a performance measurement system that enabled the organisation to successfully communicate both financial and non-financial performance and achievements to external stakeholders, supporting application for government funding, donations and sponsorship to enable them to continue their important work. This example illustrates the school’s holistic learning methods which are particularly appreciated and recognized by students.