Assessing curriculum alignment with SDGs in construction management courses through natural language processing

Purpose This study aims to investigate the extent to which undergraduate construction management curricula in Australian higher education align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By highlighting the gaps, it addresses the growing imperative to embed sustainability competencies within built environment education. Design/methodology/approach A comparative cross-sectional analysis was conducted, examining 75 academic units across three Australian universities from three different states. The research used natural language processing (NLP) using the sdgBERT model to systematically classify unit descriptions for SDG alignment across SDGs 1–16. The analysis incorporated statistical testing, similarity analysis and network examination to identify institutional patterns and strategic approaches. Findings The analysis reveals limited and uneven SDG integration, with SDG 4 (Quality Education) dominating at 86.7% of units, while environmental SDGs remain severely underrepresented. Statistically significant differences exist between institutions, yet all universities occupy lower-performance quadrants in strategic positioning analysis. Network structures demonstrate hub-and-spoke patterns centred on educational themes rather than integrated sustainability frameworks. Originality/value This research presents the first systematic examination of SDG alignment in construction management education, utilising NLP techniques. The study develops a scalable methodology for curriculum analysis and establishes baseline measurements for sustainability integration, informing both theoretical understanding and practical curriculum development strategies across the higher education sector.