Social responsibility in high education institutions: Evidence from economic faculties in Czech Republic

Abstract

The presented paper shows results of a qualitative survey of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the tertiary education sector. Economically oriented faculties of public universities in the Czech Republic were selected. For the assessment of High Education Institutions’ engagement in CSR activities seven key areas covered by ISO 26 000 standard were used. Analyzed High Education Institutions in the Czech Republic are engaged in many CSR activities but these activities are often untargeted and representing by-products of other activities. The main drawbacks of all assessed faculties in the key area five - “Environment” were discovered The results for the first key area - “Organisational governance” show that integration of the CSR concept in High Education Institutions strategy substantially defines the level of their overall engagement in corporate socially responsible activities.