Gender and the perception of corporate social responsibility by university students in South Africa

Abstract

The study examined the perception of business students about corporate social responsibility. In addition, the study investigated if there is a significant gender different in the perception of corporate social responsibility by business students. Data was collected from final year business students of a South African university. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data in a survey. The Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility (PRESOR) instrument was used to measure the perception of corporate social responsibility of students. Descriptive statistics and the T-test were used for data analysis. The results indicated that business students are more aligned to the stakeholder approach than to the shareholder approach. Students perceive corporate social responsibility as very important to business survival. The results indicated that compared to male students, female students exhibit higher sensitivity to corporate social responsibility. However, the results of the T-test revealed a significant gender difference for only one measure of the perception of corporate social responsibility.

Keywords: gender, perception, corporate social responsibility, business students, university, South Africa