Abstract:

All organizations in the market should be socially responsible, including higher education institutions (HEIs). Hence, the aim of the article is to identify and compare the gap between the students’ expectations and their perception of the university social responsibility in terms of selected areas of CSR included in the ISO 26000 standard, also the criteria focused on specific activities of HEIs. The survey was conducted among students of economic and technical faculties at one of the Polish universities. It turned out that all respondents’ expectations exceeded their assessment of the activities carried out by the university. Students of business faculties are slightly more aware of CSR. Generally, students point to the importance of CSR aspects that relate to their rights and needs as internal stakeholders of universities. They are less focused on the local community or the natural environment. The research is of a pilot nature, the conclusions refer only to the studied community. However, they draw attention to the need for broader education in the field of CSR and to the need for universities to take up more common university social responsibility (USR) practices.