Green supply chain management in education: Elevating sustainability knowledge and proactivity

This study examined how Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) content in supply chain courses related to two student outcomes: Sustainable Development Knowledge (SDK) and Sustainable Development Proactivity (SDP). Survey data were collected from 264 third- and fourth-year undergraduate students at an international university in Vietnam and were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling, followed by a multiple group analysis comparing students who completed a GSCM session with students in traditional supply chain courses. The results were selective rather than uniform. Green procurement was positively associated with SDK, whereas green manufacturing and environmental performance were positively associated with SDP. Green distribution showed a negative and marginally significant association with SDK. The multiple group analysis indicated that the paths from environmental performance to SDK and SDP, from green manufacturing to SDP, and from green procurement to SDP differed significantly between the two groups. These findings suggest that GSCM education operated unevenly across knowledge-related and action-oriented outcomes. The study offers a framework for embedding GSCM into curricula and identifies the content domains that required stronger pedagogical support.