Review of empirical research on university social responsibility

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to systematically review the university social responsibility (USR) implementation from the empirical studies, which published during the period from 2004 to 2020.

Design/methodology/approach

The bibliometric method has been employed to review prior empirical research on higher education social responsibility topics.

Findings

These synthesis results confirmed that USR initiatives as an excellent tool to attain sustainability and enhance university performance worldwide. Universities in developed nations underline paying more attention to the core values in the long-term; meanwhile, their counterparts in transitional countries to pay more attention to short-term activities by focusing on stakeholders.

Research limitations/implications

The notable limitation is that in terms of the number of empirical papers employed as the data to analyze in this manuscript.

Practical implications

This paper's findings have described the USR implementations and how well to define USR adoption from the empirical studies globally. Thus, it has theoretical implications in enriching the USR knowledge and providing useful guidance for universities, then recommend new research directions in the future for other scholars.

Originality/value

This research is an initial attempt to systematize studies on USR implementation in universities between developed countries and developing nations.

Citation

Huang, Y.-F. and Do, M.-H. (2021), "Review of empirical research on university social responsibility", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 35 No. 3, pp. 549-563. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-10-2020-0449