Narrating profit: how business education reproduces hegemonic economic paradigms

Narratives are widely recognised as powerful in shaping economic imaginaries and educational worldviews. Yet in business education, narrative capital is frequently, and often unconsciously, mobilised in ways that reproduce hegemonic paradigms centred on rational self-interest and profit maximisation. This study aims to advance empirical understanding of how such narratives function in everyday teaching practices. Drawing on narratology, this study analyses full-lecture transcripts from a bachelor’s business programme in the Netherlands, examining plot, events, and narration to make implicit assumptions in classroom narratives analytically visible. Although classroom narratives in this case initially appear open to both social benefit and financial gain, their operationalisation reveals a consistent orientation toward financial gain, often through vague and ostensibly positive formulations such as “adding value”. In addition, rhetorical strategies are employed that normalise reductive views of human nature, while directive questions guide students toward predetermined responses. As a result, in this case, narrative capital reinforces established logics rather than enabling critical exploration, even among educators who express reservations. Transforming business education toward greater social and ecological sustainability must therefore begin at the core, by helping educators recognise and rethink how narrative capital and ideological assumptions shape foundational teaching.