An exploratory study on awareness towards institutional social responsibility in Indian higher education institutions

Institutional Social responsibility (ISR) in context to a Higher Educational Institution has been defined as the ethical practice in transference of knowledge, and the active participation in betterment of quality of life in the society. It is an offshoot of the concept of Corporate Social responsibility (CSR), but unlike CSR, it is neither mandatory nor actively monitored or researched in Indian context. However, awareness towards aspects of ISR has been increasing, especially in Indian Universities. Indian Universities adopt practices related to Adoption of Villages, Awareness Drives, Environmental Care and rural Education initiatives. Critics often see ISR as an unnecessary burden; review of literature from around the world suggests that ISR practices contribute to increased accountability towards exploitation of resources by Educational Institutes as well as better reputation of Educational Institutes in the society. The purpose of this paper is to examine the perception towards the concept of ISR in Educational Institutes in India. The paper opted for a questionnaire-based exploratory survey of 50 faculty members, across Private Universities in Rajasthan. The findings suggest lacking awareness but a significant acceptance of need of ISR practices. The paper includes implications for the Universities to include ISR practices in their strategy to address its obligations to the society and simultaneously gain a competitive advantage.