Universities’ Social Responsibility through the Lens of Strategic Planning: A Content Analysis

Maria Teresa Nardo, Georgiana Cristina Codreanu and Fabiana Roberto
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Maria Teresa Nardo: Department of Political and Social Science, University of Calabria, 87036 Rende, Italy
Georgiana Cristina Codreanu: Department of Political and Social Science, University of Calabria, 87036 Rende, Italy
Fabiana Roberto: Department of Economics, Management Institutions, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80126 Naples, Italy

Administrative Sciences, 2021, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: This paper examines the degree of social responsibility integration in Italian public universities’ medium and long-term planning documents. We adopted a qualitative approach, applying the content analysis technique to a selected sample of 20 strategic plans issued by Italian large and mega universities. The coding instrument was developed considering the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contained in the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Therefore, we identified 17 categories and 103 key symbols. The analysis undertaken showed that to date, Italian public universities still pay little attention in their planning documents to objectives regarding the multiple dimensions of Social Responsibility, mainly in relation to environmental issues, a failure detrimental to University Social Responsibility implementation and achievement. However, there is a greater sensitivity to Social Responsibility issues in some universities’ planning documents, therefore also more mature practices can be identified, showing universities that have institutionalized the concept of sustainability in their planning documents.

Keywords: universities; strategic planning; university social responsibility; sustainability; Sustainable Development Goals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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