UTS Business School gains prestigious EQUIS accreditation 

The accreditation recognised the Business School’s strong practice-based focus and commitment to social impact, placing it among the top 1% of business schools worldwide.

Bestowed by the Brussels-based European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), EQUIS is one of the world’s leading accreditations for business and management schools. The UTS Business School joins 215 business schools in 45 countries to receive accreditation, following a comprehensive review of the School’s teaching and learning programs, research impacts and connections with industry and practice.  

Notably, the School was commended for its strong focus in leading education and research that enables business and organisations to contribute to the public good, and reflected in its deep connections with industry throughout its activities.

Professor Carl Rhodes, Dean of UTS Business School, said EQUIS accreditation acknowledged the School’s scholarly excellence centred on addressing the grand challenges of our time such as social and economic inequality, climate disaster and populist extremism.  

“EQUIS recognises our School’s unique offering as a public university committed to social justice, one that is focused on developing and sharing knowledge for an innovative, sustainable and prosperous economy in a fairer world,” Professor Rhodes said.  

“This is testament to our staff and partners’ ongoing commitment to educating tomorrow’s leaders and professionals to perform the functions of business at the highest standard, and have a broader social and political understanding of the role of business and management in creating a better and more equal society on a global level.”  

The Business School’s focus on social impact can be seen across the Business School’s postgraduate programs and flagship MBA program, and highly popular undergraduate programs. The School’s Bachelor of Business continues to be the most popular business degree for the sixth year in a row, and the second most preferred course overall among NSW school leavers who are drawn to the School’s strong focus on real-world industry experiences. Students are also attracted to innovative courses such as new undergraduate majors in Strategic Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Sustainability and Social Impact, Business Data Analytics and postgraduate areas of study such as Artificial Intelligence in Finance.  

The School’s strong connections to practice and longstanding reputation for innovative industry collaborations were also acknowledged. Most recently the Business School’s collaborations have included partnering with Australian Ethical to help consumers reduce their carbon footprint through behavioural change and more sustainable investment choices, working with global FMCG leader Unilever to evaluate the world’s longest trial of the Four Day Work Week , and exploring potential benefits of a proposed eAUD central bank digital currency in collaboration with the Reserve Bank of Australia.  

This successful bridging of the worlds of academia and real-world practice has also seen appointments of key industry professors including trailblazing author and journalist Anne Summers, Greater Cities’ Economic Commissioner John Lydon, and former Saatchi + Saatchi global CEO Chris Kay. Professor Summers’ groundbreaking work with the Business School, investigating the devastating impacts of domestic violence, led to key policy changes in this year’s Federal Budget estimated at $1.9 billion over four years in additional support for more than 57,000 single parents, particularly women, experiencing extreme financial hardship.  

EQUIS accreditation is the latest accolade recognising the Business School’s status as a leading global Business School. The Business School performed strongly in 2023 Shanghai Subject Rankings, with all subjects areas ranking in the top 100 globally, including Business Administration and Management (51-75) and Economics and Finance (76-100).    

UTS is the third Sydney university to be awarded EQUIS accreditation, and one of 13 universities in Australia to be recognised as both EQUIS and AASCB accredited schools.