Joint Nordic Statement to AACSB
Together with 32 other business schools across the Nordic region, NHH has submitted a joint statement to the accreditation body AACSB in response to its recent change to one of its ten guiding principles.
AACSB
- Founded in the United States in 1916
- AACSB – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business – is the world’s largest accreditation organisation for business schools
- AACSB is part of NHH’s “Triple Crown” accreditation, alongside EQUIS and AMBA
The joint statement reads:
"Education and research must always remain independent of political influence and uphold the principle of academic freedom for all.
Across cultural contexts, it is essential to promote diversity and inclusion in order to create equitable learning environments and prepare future leaders to navigate an increasingly complex and globalised world. On behalf of the Nordic business schools that are members of AACSB, we express our concern over the organisation’s decision to replace “Diversity and Inclusion” as one of its ten guiding principles and accreditation expectations with “Community and Connectedness.”
As Nordic business schools, we will continue to uphold our core values and prioritise diversity and inclusion in our education, research, and institutional culture.
We recommend that AACSB retain its guiding principles and clearly signal that diversity and inclusion remain valuable – also for accreditation purposes – outside of the United States.
Among the signatories are NHH’s CEMS partners CBS and Aalto, our partner in the Engage.EU alliance Hanken, as well as BI Norwegian Business School.
AACSB has responded to the statement, emphasising that the change reflects a need for broader global flexibility in the face of differing cultural and regulatory contexts. The organisation states that diversity and inclusion are still expected to remain a central focus for many business schools worldwide and confirms that such efforts will continue to have AACSB’s full support".
`At NHH, our mission and strategy place significant emphasis on diversity and inclusion, and these values will continue to guide our development efforts across all three of our international accreditations – AACSB, EQUIS, and AMBA´, says Rector Øystein Thøgersen.