Social Responsibility: Sustainable Development Goals and COVID-19-Perception Scale of Students from Higher Education Institutions

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Apr 27;19(9):5323. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19095323.

Abstract

Social movements and the consequences of the current health crisis resulting from COVID-19 have deepened social injustices and inequities, which can be addressed through the benchmarks set by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This research is related to the perspective of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) as social transformation agents. The purpose of this research is to create a scale to measure students' perception of the social responsibilities developed by HEIs from the SDGs' perspective. A matrix solution was found after Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) composed of four dimensions. The constructs that form the four dimensions can be used to design strategies which contribute to the SDGs' goals, for which it is necessary to have the opinions of the actors that are part of the educational community. Future research should consider carrying out comparative studies according to sociodemographic variables for a better understanding of the social phenomenon.

Keywords: COVID-19; higher education; social responsibility; student; sustainability; university.

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19* / epidemiology
  • Goals
  • Humans
  • Perception
  • Social Responsibility
  • Students
  • Sustainable Development*

Grants and funding

The authors would like to express their gratitude to the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Junta of Extremadura for their financial support and, more specifically, for the funds provided by Research Group GR21134. Moreover, the authors are grateful for the financial support of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, “CIRCULARTAX” Project—Ref. PID2019-107822RB-I00.