10 SDG 4 – Quality Education – Team 10

Team Reflection

Key Takeaways
There is an unrealistic assumption lingering around that states everyone can afford university. In fact, people who are of lower socio-economic background (e.g. first generation and immigrant) are prone to not going to higher education level. There is also another assumption where people that need loans have guardians that make good money to co-sign for their funding. Thankfully Funding U and CTK are there to innovate and bring a financial impact to the society. Funding U finances college students by giving student loans that are based on their achievement. Meanwhile, CTK gives affordable college admission tutoring services to high school students who are first generation and immigrant students. Their innovations have taught us the empathetic yet optimistic approach to reduce the socio-economic disparities. The salient point from the innovation is to also increase the accessibility to access higher education for some demographics.
Alternatively, being a philanthropy can help in reducing the educational barrier as we were encouraged by Deloitte and Alex Abad’s sustainability initiatives. Deloitte uses a holistic sustainability approach that is aligned with the SDG values. Their social initiatives expand beyond the educational realm as they also support gender equality and decent work to create positive impacts for people. Alex’s unwavering commitment to education serves as a powerful reminder of the impact individuals can have in uplifting their communities. It is very heartening to witness these efforts that can inspire many other businesses to have societal positive transformation. We also learned about the importance of investing in education for the sake of community development.
Businesses can uplift communities while still maintaining profitability. Through Olori and STATE Bags, we learn how to produce such high quality products while still having a social impact to the society. The buyers of Olori and STATE Bags are indirectly donating to the Nigerian women and underprivileged children only by purchasing their bags. The innovation stories are very inspiring for us because this is the proof of an ambidextrous business where they are aiming for profit as well as creating an impact to society. Thus, we can learn that a good business is not necessarily defined by how good is their profitability, but the way they are being impactful to the society and sustainability.
Impacting society from a sustainable perspective in the education sector can be in the form of many things, one of which is to create a conducive environment that supports the learning process. Code Ninjas taught us to create a fun ways to learn how to code for young kids with the aim to adapt with the technological development in the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (e.g. machine learning) by expanding their skills. Whereas Grupo Saberes created an online education platform to fill the education gap in the area where the education was missing. The innovations taught us the importance of educational platforms to expand skills and increase the number of education for more people.

Cultural introduction is a powerful tool for education to transform the world. Through De’Von’s Play Black Wall Street board game sheds light on the challenges faced by Black youth. It weaves real stories and historical figures into business concepts, accessible even to homeschooled students. Meanwhile, cultural revival is being creatively applied by Dong, a Chinese TV advertiser. The engaging events leave lasting impressions and sustain a near-extinct art form. As the next generation, let’s embrace innovation and contribute to quality education to support SDG 4.

Analysis

Olori and CTK have the same social purpose in their businesses, which is to elevate the livelihood of certain demographics in the education sector. Although they chose different approaches to achieve their social aim. Olori chose to achieve a positive bottom line to fulfill the requirement to be financially sustainable in the business operations. Whereas CTK chose to apply different fees to its students based on their economical background, yet still giving them adequate tutoring services. We learned the importance of having an ambidextrous approach to the business, which is to have a holistic view of how our business should impact the firm’s condition and the society. It is very possible and feasible that businesses can earn financial profits while striving for greater good in society. We can see how these businesses were built under a very good ethical foundation as a base to have a sustainable business and we have seen the fruits of their ethics and hard work.

Although the two businesses in the Code Ninjas and Each One Teach One stories are small, they still seem to create Shared Value. This is a concept learned at UofG that involves firms recognizing a need within society that they can address. In turn, if this need is rectified, it can create long-lasting benefits for the business too. The coding program, for example, connects students with industry leaders within the computer science discipline to better foster their learning environment. In turn, the company is able to scout for potential future talent. This has reaffirmed our academic knowledge in the value of CSV and CSR. Another concept learned at UofG, is the connection between Corporate Social Responsibility and Diversity Management. The main idea of this concept is that the higher the CSR and DM participation levels, the more impact the business has on society and the more ethical and fair environment is being created. The Play Black Wall Street and LiT program reaffirms diversity management because it provides resources and skills that are not as openly accessible to people of color. This in turn increases inclusion and diversity not only in the school systems, but in the workforce. Overall, these stories filled in gaps of smaller business contributions to sustainability, as well as added real world examples of these concepts applied.

Both Beijing CTV Media and STATE Bags have their own uniqueness. On the one hand, Beijing CTV Media advertised opera in a creative way to captivate the audience towards the near existing culture which is opera. On the other hand, STATE Bags sold their product with a donation after a purchase had been made. Both companies have something in common which is sustainability and this aligns with everything that I have learned in the university because business should be ambidextrous which means being profitable and sustainable at the same time because if the only parameter of business success is only profit, then businesses will only focus on profit even though they earn the profits in a terrible way which will be harmful not only for our environment, but the society as well. Overall, the stories have reminded me of the sustainable business practice because it is not just a book concept but it is the integrity that we as the youngsters to commit that one day if we become a businessperson, we have to implement all of the positive values that we have learn and keep in mind the consequences if we don’t.

Deloitte and “A Pride of El Segundo” both show how businesses can make money while also doing good for society. They tackle important issues like education, gender equality, and community well-being. This shows that businesses need to be flexible and understand their social purpose to succeed today. These examples prove that companies can make a profit while still making a positive impact on society. They show that making money and helping others can go hand in hand, rather than being separate. Overall, these stories suggest that businesses should follow their lead by being ethical and caring about their impact on society. By doing this, they can help create a better world for everyone.
Providing students with financial support based on their academic success truly did make us think about how this relates to sustainability in an intersectional way. SDG 4 is about quality education and there are other SDGs based on affordability so this article on funding students not based on their FICO was incredibly relevant to the future of sustainability. When students worry less about how they are going to fund themselves they will be able to worry about their quality of education and in turn, flourish.
“The Power of Technological Transformation in Education” story made us reflect on the triple bottom line, this innovation does encompass people, profit and the planet all in one and we think it holds a good balance. The innovation itself focuses on improving the education of students using a triple-impact approach and it holds room to provide jobs to educational content creators, while also bettering how students learn which may impact their future jobs. This is a positive cycle that seems very successful.

Conclusion

A businessperson should be creative and impactful as it shows in the story where innovation leads to the improvement of the education system which provenly contribute to the Quality Education (SDG 4) advancement. In order to achieve that, we need to understand the people, planet, profit concept will enable us to reflect on the business’ impact on the society & environment, and firm’s profitability before the business decisions has been made.

Individual Reflections

Emma
As an engaged member of this team, I felt it to be a very important learning experience. From the beginning, I was anxious about how this would work given the multiple time zones and different work ethics. However, my group had a great work ethic, and we were all able to use WhatsApp to communicate effectively about planning a time to meet to do our group work. For me, it was really interesting to hear examples from their countries and discuss how different systems work in different places of the world (for example we discussed the education system and talked about how funding worked in each of our countries). It was definitely challenging to schedule Google meets considering two of the places were 12 hours apart however all participants were very cooperative, and we were able to find a time that worked for all of us! I’m very thankful to have gotten the opportunity to work on such a cool group project and would be interested in doing another!

Holly
This experience was extremely valuable in applying my knowledge as an International Business minor in a practical setting. One of my favorite aspects of the COIL project was gaining insight and opinions from my peers in Indonesia and Kenya, especially because these are two parts of the world I was not extensively familiar with before this project. One thing I was nervous about in the beginning was the time difference between our countries. As university students, it can be difficult to align schedules even if you are in the same time zone, let alone 12 hours ahead. However, our team was quickly able to navigate this challenge throughout group chat, and were all able to meet every week, which I was very impressed with. Each of my group members worked together on the assignments, and took the project very seriously, which is something I value as well. I believe that overall, this experience taught me how to be aware of cultural differences and expectations, as well as consider others’ experiences with the topics we were discussing. I hope to stay in touch with my group members beyond this project, as I have had a positive experience working with them.

References

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