Innovation in Management Education: The Mediating Role of Perceptions in Linking Sustainability Attitudes to Career Development

This study examines the relationship between management students' career direction and sustainability attitudes, focusing on the mediating function of perceived importance. Understanding how sustainability-related values transfer into career-relevant outcomes is crucial considering the growing pressure on higher education institutions to incorporate sustainability into curricula and professional training. Based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) framework, the study creates a conceptual model that incorporates attitudinal, perceptual, and career-related factors. It specifically looks at how students' perceptions of sustainability's significance are influenced by positive attitudes toward it, and how these perceptions in turn affect how sustainability information is perceived to have a professional impact. Using survey data gathered from 257 students participating in management programs at a Romanian higher education institution, the model is empirically verified using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that whereas perceptions strongly determine the perceived professional impact, attitudes toward sustainability have a considerable positive effect on views of its importance. Furthermore, the results validate a full mediation effect, suggesting that attitudes function through cognitive assessments of relevance and importance rather than directly influencing perceived career success. These findings demonstrate how important perception is as a cognitive process that converts abstract sustainability values into expectations that have professional significance. The study also adds to the body of literature from a theoretical standpoint by combining cognitive and attitudinal aspects into a cohesive explanatory model of professional orientation in sustainability education. From a practical standpoint, the results indicate that higher education institutions should actively include sustainability into experiential learning, curriculum design, and career development strategies, going beyond awareness-based approaches. Increasing students' perceptions of sustainability's professional significance may boost their involvement and aid in the training of future managers who can handle challenging sustainability issues.