review · Discover Sustainability
Higher education institutions face growing pressure to equip graduates with both sustainability literacy and global communication skills. Synthesising literature from 2016 to August 2026, this review examines how sustainable development education and English language proficiency interact to influence graduate employability, particularly within developing nations and English as a second or foreign language contexts. The evidence indicates that sustainability literacy and English proficiency serve as complementary rather than isolated assets, working together to prepare graduates for a greening, globalised labour market. However, existing research is heavily fragmented, largely concentrated in high income and Anglophone adjacent environments, and rarely evaluates both domains as an integrated employability concept. This creates notable knowledge gaps for learners in the Global South, highlighting the need for joined up curriculum design, language teaching, and university industry collaboration.
As industries shift towards environmentally sustainable practices globally, workplace demands are evolving rapidly. Understanding how sustainability competence combines with international language skills helps educators in developing regions design better training programmes. This alignment ensures graduates are equipped with relevant green skills and the communicative capacity necessary to secure employment in an interconnected, environmentally focused economy.
This work informs higher education curriculum design, language training programmes, and university-industry partnerships seeking to improve workforce readiness for green jobs. Potential users include academic programme directors, educational policymakers, and corporate training providers. As a narrative synthesis of existing academic literature, it represents early-stage conceptual research rather than a tested commercial intervention or product.
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Higher education institutions are increasingly expected to prepare graduates who are not only technically competent but also globally communicative and sustainability literate. This narrative review synthesizes literature published between 2016 and August 2026 on the interrelationship between sustainable development education (SDE), English language proficiency (ELP), and graduate employability, with particular attention to higher education contexts in developing countries and settings where English is taught as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL). Drawing on Human Capital Theory, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) theory, Employability Theory, and Communicative Competence Theory, the review organizes the findings into six thematic areas: sustainable development education in higher education, English proficiency and employability, sustainability competencies and green skills, English communication for sustainable careers, workplace readiness, and the challenges of integrating sustainability education with English language development. The synthesis suggests that SDE and ELP function as complementary rather than parallel employability assets, jointly enabling graduates to participate in an increasingly green and linguistically globalized labour market. However, the literature remains fragmented, is dominated by studies from high-income and Anglophone-adjacent contexts, and rarely examines the two domains together as an integrated employability construct. The review identifies significant gaps concerning EFL/ESL learners in the Global South and proposes an agenda for curriculum design, English language teaching, sustainability education, and university-industry collaboration
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DOI: 10.1007/s43621-026-04533-7
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