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Ethics and your career

Understand how to incorporate ethics, values and sustainability into your career.

An ethical career involves pursuing work that aligns with your values and helps make the world a better place, whether it’s by tackling social problems, helping the environment, or making sure everyone is treated fairly. These careers involve making decisions that consider the well-being of all stakeholders, including employees, customers, communities, and the environment. What you consider an ethical career is personal to you and may look different for everyone.

Defining an ethical career

"You might immediately think of working in the environmental sector, but an ethical career can have a much wider scope. In the broadest sense, it means working for a company or organisation that has a positive impact on the world. This can be through employment, social enterprise or by setting up your own company.”
Jobs.ac.uk (2024) 'An ethical career - how you can make a positive impact'

Sustainability, which means using resources in a way that doesn’t harm people, the planet or future generations, plays a big part in ethical careers. The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals provide a useful overview of the key sustainability priorities globally, covering things like ending poverty, fighting inequality, and protecting the environment for the future. You may come across the three pillars of sustainability, which highlight the need to balance and integrate environmental, social and economic considerations:

  • Environment sustainability – this pillar is about protecting the planet’s resources. You might seek job opportunities with organisations that prioritise sustainability in their operations and supply chains, or charities and non-government organisations (NGO) who focus primarily on improving or protecting the environment
  • Social sustainability – this pillar focuses on ensuring everyone gets a fair shot at a good life, no matter who they are. You might explore roles with organisations that prioritise diversity and inclusion, corporate social responsibility and community engagement
  • Economic sustainability – this pillar highlights the importance of making sure our money and resources last. You might explore opportunities with organisations that prioritise fair wages, fair labour standards and responsible resource management

An ethical or sustainable career is personal to you. In line with our Code of Ethics and Impartiality, Student Futures is committed to ensuring that all students are empowered to making informed career decisions about their future career paths based on each individual’s own principles, values and beliefs.

You should reflect on your own values, beliefs and interests to evaluate the importance of ethics and sustainability in your own career. How you choose to incorporate ethics and sustainability into your career will depend on your personal views, choices and circumstances. You may choose to work specifically in a job that is focused on sustainability and improving society or the environment. An ethical career for you might mean researching employers’ values, ethics and policies so you are aware of any work they do that has a societal or environmental impact.

Researching the ethics and values of employers

Before applying for any role, it’s important to do your research. Not only will this help enhance your applications by demonstrating your commercial awareness, but it will also help you to check that the employer is a good fit for you. You might also want to research the values and ethics of an organisation you are looking to join. Being ethically, socially and environmentally aware is also a key attribute you are developing whilst at Cardiff University.

Use the resource below to identify ways to research employers’ ethics and sustainability commitments:


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Stand out in the ethical and sustainable jobs market

If you are passionate about a career in sustainably, there are positive steps you can take to gain more experience and advance your knowledge in this field.

Here are a few ways to help you stand out:

Even if your degree is in an unrelated subject, there are opportunities to learn more about sustainability. You could:

Try to gain first-hand experience working in this field while you are at university.

Look for volunteering opportunities with sustainability-focused organisations. Many NGOs, charities and businesses are working on sustainability issues and welcome volunteers. Volunteering is a great way to gain relevant work experience and make a direct, positive impact. Explore available opportunities in your Student Futures Account.

Many universities also have sustainability offices or student groups that organise projects and events. Some examples at Cardiff University include the Sustainable Fashion Society or the Wildlife and Conservation Society. A lot of student societies do incorporate ethical and sustainable initiatives that focus on making a positive impact to the environment or society – find your perfect student society on the Cardiff Students’ Union website. You could also apply to work on an on-campus internship over the summer.

Professional bodies or membership organisations offer specialist information, events and networking. Some also provide training to their members. Membership is usually discounted for students too. Some particularly relevant ones include the Institute of Management and Assessment, Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management, British Ecological Society and Institution of Environmental Sciences. Professional bodies in other sectors or fields may also have environmental or sustainability-focused groups.

There are also specific programmes and initiatives you can get involved with in the UK, such as:

Further resources

Use the below resources to explore this topic further: