Exploring the Hidden Curriculum in Responsible Management Education

This exploratory study analyzes to what extent the formal and hidden curriculum in responsible management education (RME) are aligned. Based on case study evidence of a PRME signatory school, we find that there was poor alignment between the school’s explicit RME claims and students’ lived experiences. While the formal curriculum signaled to students that RME was important, the school’s hidden curriculum sent a number of tacit messages to students which made them question the relevance and applicability of responsible management. The tacit messages that students received occurred along three “message sites”: (a) related to how the formal curriculum was delivered, (b) related to how students and lecturers interacted, and (c) related to how the school was governed. Based on these findings, we develop a proposition that can guide further research in this area: the connotative level of language use is an important site of misalignments between what actors say related to RME (e.g., in a syllabus) and what others interpret they mean with it. We also discuss further implications of our findings for reforming business schools and how to strengthen the alignment between school’s formal RME claims and their hidden curriculum.