HRD and social justice: Education in support of the UN sustainable development goals

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly established the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with three major global initiatives: end poverty, fight inequalities, and combat climate change. Partnership is a central component of such efforts, with the UN calling everyone to get involved in large and small ways to accomplish the SDGs. The purpose of this study was to explore if and how HRD graduate education programs in U.S. colleges and universities are engaged in critical discourse that incorporates the SDGs through course offerings and program goals. We explored the visible ways that HRD programs in higher education institutions contribute to the advancement of the SDGs’ global agenda. From our review of graduate courses at HRD Program Excellence Network (PEN) institutions, we found limited evidence of courses that significantly address HRD's role in advancing the global agenda for human rights, social justice, and environmental health.