Prof. Dr. David Bendig (l.), Dr. Thomas Schäper (m.l.), Dr. Katharina Hennes (m.r.), Dr. Colin Schulz (r.)

As climate pressure grows, many firms are paying closer attention to how their business models and value chains can adapt to climate-related risks. Published in Research Policy (VHB-JQ3: A; ABS: 4; IF: 8.0; FT50), this study examines how top managers' educational backgrounds are associated with firms' reported engagement in corporate climate adaptation and resilience. Drawing on the attention-based view, the authors theorize that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education may shape managerial attention toward climate-related risks and opportunities. The study draws on a panel of 273 large, listed U.S. firms from 2013 to 2020, measures corporate climate adaptation and resilience through a text-based analysis of Carbon Disclosure Project disclosures, and reports results consistent with its hypotheses.

The key findings:

• STEM-related human capital at the top is associated with more reported climate adaptation and resilience: Top management teams with more STEM-educated executives report more climate adaptation and resilience. STEM stands out from other educational backgrounds, with the association most pronounced for engineering and computer science.
• The organizational context matters: The association is weaker in highly inventive firms with established innovation routines and stronger in firms with less established innovation routines, where STEM expertise may provide more incremental attention and problem-solving capacity.
• External climate-related signals are associated with a stronger link: The STEM-corporate climate adaptation and resilience association is stronger when climate change receives greater attention in earnings-call discussions and when firms are exposed to more local physical climate hazards.

Overall, the study suggests that STEM-educated executives may help top management teams interpret climate-related information and discuss adaptation and resilience strategies, particularly when internal innovation routines are less established or external climate-related signals are salient.

For practice, the study points to implications for executive hiring, leadership development, and policy design. Rather than relying only on a single chief sustainability officer, firms may consider strengthening STEM-related expertise across the executive team and giving technical, problem-solving skills appropriate weight in hiring and development. Policymakers may support capacity building through incentives or university partnerships.

The study "From expertise to action: STEM-related human capital in top management teams and corporate climate adaptation and resilience" by Prof. Dr. David Bendig, Dr. Thomas Schäper, Dr. Katharina Hennes, and Dr. Colin Schulz (all University of Münster) is available here (open access): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2026.105516.

Contact for inquiries: 
Dr. Thomas Schäper
University of Münster
Institute for Entrepreneurship 
Leonardo-Campus 9, 48149 Münster
E-Mail: thomas.schaeper@uni-muenster.de