Recent trends in sustainability reporting by German universities

Voluntary sustainability reporting in the higher-education sector is still in its early stages. To better understand it, we looked at all 401 German universities to examine the specific contents of disclosure; methodologically, we applied content analysis using a university-specific indicator system. This study covers 40 sustainability reports that were published by 21 universities prior to August 2016. The results provide insights into recent trends in universities’ voluntary sustainability reporting by comparing the current results to international studies as well as an earlier study using the same population, which was published in 2014. Our findings indicate significant differences in reporting as well as an overall trend towards a broader and deeper coverage of reported content. In general, there is a strong focus on the university dimension, whereas the social dimension attracts much weaker attention. The reason for such emphasis on the university dimension can be traced back to self-profiling or attracting potential students and young scientists as well as to foster a positive public perception, for example, to increase the chances to acquire third-party funding.