UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY SELF-ASSESSMENT AT A MEXICAN PRIVATE UNIVERSITY

Unesco states that universities have the responsibility to contribute to the education of ethical citizens who will apply their knowledge and skills into solving their communities’ problems; in other words, universities have the responsibility to encourage critical thinking and an active citizenship of their students, in order to promote sustainable development, peace, wellbeing and human rights.

The purpose of this study is to analyse undergraduate students’ self-assessment of their social responsibility competence at a Mexican private university. Findings will provide meaningful insight into the design of development plans for the promotion of service learning at the aforementioned university and similar higher education institutions in México and Latin America.

The study was carried out using a quantitative research approach, applying a survey questionnaire to a sample of 99 students majoring in Communication Studies, International Business, Management, Engineering, Law, Nutrition and Medicine. The instrument was designed building on Vallaeys (2006), Navarro (2010) and Davidovich (2005) and adapting the items to the local context. The instrument is comprised of 13 items measuring the variable “individual social responsibility” –personal responsibility, citizenship, self care and personal development- and 17 items measuring “collective social responsibility” –volunteering, social service, social interaction, care for the environment and respect for shared spaces-, as well as items measuring the socio-demographic attributes of respondents. The reliability of the instrument was evaluated with Cronbach’s alpha 0.83.

Findings show that students’ perception of their own social responsibility is moderate, and there is no significant difference between their perception of their individual social responsibility and their collective social responsibility. The paper recommends changes that could be made in order to further social responsibility in undergraduate students. It also proposes a guide to plan, organize, implement and assess educational projects focusing on entrepreneurship and social responsibility.

Value from this paper is derived in three ways: first, it outlines what should be emphasized in the university’s courses in order to foster social responsibility of their students; second, it proposes a reliable instrument to measure students’ self-assessment of social responsibility in the Mexican context; and finally, it shares the experience of the application of the aforementioned instrument.