Corporate Social Responsibility as Contextual Responsiveness for Engineering Education in Africa

Abstract

Context is the interrelated condition in which something exists or occurs. It can also be seen as the parts of a discourse that surrounds a word or passage and can help shed light on its meaning. So, in carefully understanding context in engineering education, it will be prudent to examine all the dimensions that surrounds it and these spans environmental, political, cultural, disciplinary, social and economic dimension. This study provided considerable insight on what contextual responsiveness is and understand the impetus for it, while making the case for corporate social responsibility as a tool for contextual responsiveness in engineering education in Africa. Findings from the study revealed that that contextual responsiveness in engineering education seeks to consider how overall changes influences the discipline and how the discipline responds to it. Corporate social responsibility was seen as a management strategy that seeks to consider social and environmental perspectives in business processes and it has immense benefits for stakeholders, society and the organization itself. The study conceptualized corporate social responsibility as contextual responsiveness for engineering education in Africa and the elements within it were considered. The study recommended that there should be an overhaul to the practice of corporate social responsibility so as to have guidelines and standards to follow when engaged in it.