Students’ Perceptions and Attitudes toward University Social Responsibility: Comparison between India and Croatia

Abstract

In addition to teaching and research, the “third mission” has become one of the major societal challenges faced by higher education institutions worldwide. This is related to the university’s efforts to contribute to the economic and social development of the community in which they operate. One of the major concepts focused on this issue is university social responsibility (USR). This study aimed to compare students’ perceptions of and attitude toward USR in two different countries, India and Croatia, and contribute to the research gap in cross-cultural aspects of USR. Since students are the most important stakeholders of the university and today’s students are known as Generation Z–altruistic, caring about the environment and social issues on one hand, and knowing that social responsibility is highly contextual regarding environment—it makes sense to study and compare students from two different countries. The research was conducted at Indian and Croatian universities, with a sample of 1340 respondents. It is based on Carroll’s pyramid of social responsibility regarding levels of USR (economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic) and the ISO 26000 standards regarding areas of USR. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, correlation, and regression analysis indicated some differences in perceptions of USR in the two countries but also the significant impact of knowledge about USR and having a course on social responsibility built into the curriculum on perceptions and attitude toward USR. The results show that universities in both countries need to focus on their third mission—specifically, contributing to local community development in creating their USR policies.

University Social Responsibility as Part of Sustainable Development in Latin America: A Study of Scientific Production in the Last 20 Years

“…Cluster 3 identified related descriptors that highlight research on corporate social responsibility and universities as stakeholders and the contribution to strategic decisions [45] mentions that universities are more committed to the dissemination of information on corporate social responsibility which generates greater policies and incentives to promote the dissemination of USR; finally cluster 4 is linked to trainings on social responsibility and its importance in universities; based on that [23] refer that social responsibility has become the third mission after teaching and university research; which implies that it is important that courses linked to USR are considered in the curricula to generate awareness of the importance of university social responsibility.…”

The University and the Neighbourhood—Opportunities and Limits in Promoting Social Innovation: The Case of AuroraLAB in Turin (Italy)

“…In this sense, university institutions not only reflect on the topic of social innovation from a theoretical point of view but are also more and more implicated in it from a practical point of view as part of their "third mission" [37]. The university's third mission includes activities of a different nature and has so far been understood more in terms of technology transfer to territories, while only more recently is the idea of an "engaged university" [38] towards territories gaining momentum [39,40]. However, access to funding is often demanding as it requires responding to complex and highly competitive calls.…”

“…In this sense, university institutions not only reflect on the topic of social innovation from a theoretical point of view but are also more and more implicated in it from a practical point of view as part of their "third mission" [37]. The university's third mission includes activities of a different nature and has so far been understood more in terms of technology transfer to territories, while only more recently is the idea of an "engaged university" [38] towards territories gaining momentum [39,40]. Assuming, therefore, that the university can be an essential element in supporting territorialised processes of social innovation that are sustained through institutional funding resources-as, for example, in the emblematic case of the European UIA programme (now relaunched under the new EUI-IA programme)-it becomes crucial to understand better how this happens using case study analysis.…”

Social Responsibility in Ukrainian HEIs: Sociological Analysis of Current Situation and Key Trends During the Wartime

“…(TEMPUS ESPRIT ;Farnell, 2020;Benneworth, 2013;Petersen Il-haam & Kruss Glenda, 2021); -USR as knowledge transfer, cooperation with employers and business, as transformation of research finding into innovations (Piirainen, Dahl Andersen &Andersen, 2016;Etzkowitz & Leydesdorff, 2020;Laredo, 2007); -USR as a HEI contribution to sustainable development and attainment of SDGs (Riabchenko, 2021, Riabchenko & Chervona, 2022Khovrak, 2021;Rome Ministerial Communiqué, 2020;Meseguer-Sánchez, Abad-Segura, Belmonte-Ureña Luis Jesús, Molina-Moreno, 2020, Impact Rankings 2023Ribeiro et al, 2019); -USR as an obligation of universities to contribute "to improvement of soceity as a whole" due to generation and dissemination of new knowledge and their application in different spheres (UNESCO, 1998;UNESCO, 2009;UNESCO, 2021;Giuffré & Ratto, 2014;Hall & Tandon, 2021); -USR as compliance with international law and national legislation, bylaws and rules that a HEI has conscientiously adopted and formulated in the forms of university strategies, policies, codes etc. (Leko Simic, Sharma & Kadlec, 2022;EU-USR, 2015); -USR as an obligation to deliver high quality education that is assured by efficient university governance, excellence in teaching and learning, relevant and responsible research, exciting and multifaceted student experience, cooperation with employers etc. (Ogneviuk & Lugovyi, 2022;Grishnova & Bekh, 2014;Gomez, 2014).…”