Teachers’ Degree of Practicing Social Responsibility at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia

This study aims to identify the social responsibility practiced by the faculty members toward the students, university, and society at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU), Saudi Arabia. Data were collected through a random sampling of 951 students. The findings reveal that the faculty members are practicing social responsibility and that the most important thing for the faculty members is to inculcate social responsibility among the students by encouraging them, involving them in social and cultural activities, and exercising democratic values. The participants agree that faculty members should maintain university equipment, contribute to seminars and conferences inside and outside of the university, and maintain a safe environment. The participants also agreed that faculty members should participate in the activities of cultural associations and institutions, respect cultural diversity, and get involved in community development. The theoretical and practical implications of the study have been identified to improve social responsibility at the higher institutions in Saudi Arabia as well as in the Gulf region.


INTRODUCTION
The growing discourse on universities' social responsibilities, including education for sustainable development, social empowerment, and community capacity building, is in line with the desire to create a more inclusive, accountable, and comprehensive higher education institution (Symaco and Tee, 2019). Due to scientific and technological progress and the availability of modern means of communication, the world has become a small village. To increase the efforts and participation in carrying out the responsibility, the solidarity of the members and institutions of society is necessary to face contemporary challenges, and this requires defining the role played by social institutions toward society by improving the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of the lives of members of the community. To understand the needs of society, universities are adding values and knowledge to their knowledge systems, research, and practice, and they are producing human outputs that can deal with society's growing aspirations and visions.
Education, in general, and universities, in particular, constitute the umbrella and spirit of society. Educational institutions provide assistance in the transfer of knowledge. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2007), education is the foundation for economic, social, and environmental progress. It is the only way to develop a learning society and to attain long-term sustainability in the world. Universities serve as knowledge and skill-sharing hubs for the community and have a crucial role in the advancement of society's scientific, social, cultural, and economic growth. Universities also play an important role in the development of mutual understanding, civic society, and the preservation of cultural diversity. The relationship between universities and communities is mutual and reciprocal that affects each other. However, what distinguishes universities from other educational institutions is that they sit at the top of the pyramid of society's educational system. This position reflects their importance in playing an essential role in building and developing communities, which ultimately contributes to the social responsibility of universities (Al-Amoudi, 2015). Education plays an essential role in the growth and development of communities through the contribution of educational institutions to the development of qualified talent. The role of the institution is to change the behavior of the students and gain a representative position. This allows students to approach the achievement of actual social harmony and interaction. Iqbal et al. (2022) found that universities are at the forefront of scientific and communal institutions in terms of readiness, research, and innovation, and they play a role in facilitating community participation in sustainable development. Universities cannot provide quality education unless they follow a policy of diversity, inclusion, and equity, particularly improvement and development of students' skills, knowledge, and expertise. This is reflected in improving the quality of education provided to students and providing a creative learning environment. Universities produce citizens who change society and make the world a better place.
Other than students, universities also include the intellectual and scientific elite, such as faculty members who change and shape the future of society. A faculty member is an integral part of society that cultivates a positive learning environment based on social, cultural, environmental, and economic values (Rashid et al., 2021). However, it is noteworthy that every community has its cultural, social, and environmental values that directly or indirectly affect the nature and quality of various activities carried out by a faculty member, whether these activities are educational, research, or community practices. Hence, the ultimate goal of a faculty member is to serve the community in which he/she lives by assuming his/her societal responsibilities (Bakhit, 2009). Shaheen (2011) pointed out that the social responsibility of a faculty member is not a new phenomenon. It is being proposed globally as something that must be highlighted and concretely included in the curricula and outputs of universities. This calls for a combination of educational institutions, including universities, to incorporate social responsibility in their strategic plans. Abdel-Baqer (2012) indicated that universities must acquire qualified and trained faculty members who can prepare a generation for scientific, technological, and economic progress in society. The role of the faculty member is no longer a transmitter of knowledge. Instead, it goes beyond creating and developing the understanding through scientific discoveries, intellectual creations, and solving various social problems.
Hence, the issue of the social responsibility of faculty members is a matter of importance and sensitivity that must be highlighted and included in the curricula, instructors' roles, and more importantly, linked with the outputs of the universities. All educational institutions must place social responsibility at the top of their strategies, vision, and mission.
Higher education institutions are among the institutions that contribute to the development and progress of society in various fields and help address the community's problems. From the students' point of view, there are many responsibilities on the part of university and faculty, such as teaching, scientific research, community service, inculcating social skills, improving citizen behavior, providing continuing education, holding exhibitions, and preparing educational programs and studies. As a result, the current study aims to identify the level of social responsibility practiced by faculty members toward the students, faculty, and society at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU) from the perspective of students.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
• What is the degree of social responsibility practiced by faculty members toward students? • What is the degree of social responsibility practiced by faculty members toward the university? • What is the degree of social responsibility practiced by faculty members toward society? • Is there a statistical difference in opinion about social responsibility practiced by faculty members on the basis of gender and track?

REVIEW LITERATURE
The concept of social responsibility has been extensively studied in the context of public and commercial sector organizations. The ISO 26000 standard, which promotes the acceptance of social responsibility around the world, describes the view of social responsibility and the standards that should be followed and contributes to the achievement of long-term development goals, particularly for sustainable development (Puneet and Ashish, 2012). It has been demonstrated in numerous studies that social responsibility is essential for stimulating economic growth while also increasing employment, technological innovation, social harmony, and stability (Certo and Certo, 2012;Qi et al., 2012). The literature defines social responsibility as the responsibility of organizational stakeholders in society and the environment for the outcomes of their actions and decisions; perspective and respect for human dignity as social responsibility is based on ethical relationships with others; moral and ethical behavior; and public spirit that manifests itself by the performance of one's duties in one's own country, nation, and people. According to the ISO (2010), social responsibility is defined as an organization's responsibility for the impact of its decisions and performance on society and the environment through transparent and ethical behavior, which is consistent with sustainable development and the welfare of society, takes into account the expectations of founders, complies with applicable laws and international standards, and is integrated throughout the entire organization. Similarly, Augustinienė et al. (2015) defined social responsibility as the voluntary obligation of community members to hold society and the environment accountable for their performance and the impact of their solutions; it encompasses all moral standards, democratic and sustainable development value systems, ethical and transparent behavior manifested in voluntary active participation, selfeducation in socially responsible behavior, and the obligation to consider stakeholders' needs, to comply with applicable laws and international standards.
Schools, colleges, and universities are social institutions that have a set of rules and regulations. They are also one-of-akind social systems that work in a complex and continuously changing social context (Sahenk, 2010), and they have the ability to impact society either directly or indirectly. According to Kwizera and Iputo (2011), educational groups are on an equal footing with service-oriented business organizations. In particular, researchers have noted that individuals have a feeling of social duty that extends into their organizations and beyond them (Luo et al., 2011;Iqbal et al., 2022). According to Honeyman (2010) study, students' social responsibility is fostered when they are encouraged to participate in activities that promote socially responsible behavior, when they are invited to think deeply about these activities, and when they discuss their ideas with their peers.
Society demands formal education to give students the tools they need to cope with the current changing knowledge landscape Bataeineh et al. (2020). As a way to do this, it is important to help and encourage students to become more independent, improve the learning environment, and minimize the need for teachers by having them work more cooperatively with their classmates (Walkey et al., 2013). Shaldan and Sayemah (2014) mentioned that the university should plan and run programs pertaining to social responsibility to help faculty members do their best to help the students, the university, and the community around them. Doval and Doval (2010) conducted a study that aimed to identify the role of social responsibility at Spiru Haret University in Romania and found that there is a satisfaction from the students and their families about the university's educational process, the services it provides, and the information technology used. The study recommended the importance of developing participation in research and innovation projects and developing cooperation with partners from the industrial and business environments to expand the social responsibility roles of other stakeholders in society. Abdel-Baqer (2012) conducted a study to investigate the relationship between the social responsibility and job performance of faculty members of the College of Basic Education in Saudi Arabia. The result showed that the faculty members practice social responsibility to a high degree, and there was a positive correlation between social responsibility and job performance, meaning the greater the social responsibility, the greater the job performance. Furthermore, there were no statistically significant differences on the basis of gender. Plungpongpan et al. (2016) investigated the effects of social responsibility on the image of private universities in Thailand. The study used the qualitative method and data were collected from private university leaders, students, and parents. The study results showed that the university's social responsibility affects the competitiveness and quality of instruction. Furthermore, the elements of social responsibility of Thai universities are included in the quality standards. However, many universities did not meet these standards. Augustinienė et al. (2015) presented a comprehensive process of social responsibility in academic institutions. They said that social responsibility is made up of three parts, namely, the school context, society, and the environment in which school staff, teachers, students, and their parents work together. Second, there are three things that make people want to act, namely, how they feel about behavior, how society thinks about it, and how much control they think they have over their behavior, especially ethical behavior, for the development and participation in social responsibility. The third part is the intention, which is the person's own motivation and how they think they can act, which makes them believe that social responsibility will be observed.
At the University of Murcia in Spain, Manzano-Sánchez et al. (2020) looked into the teaching of personal and social responsibility (TPSR) and how it was linked to gender and academic performance. The findings showed that students were happy with the way the method was used and how it promoted values and that males did better than females. Teachers agreed that this method was very good and that it could be used with any kind of students. The participants praised this concept and believed that it would work well with any type of learner. This study shows that all teachers should use TPSR no matter what kind of class they teach. It also says that other groups, such as parents, should be included. Wren (2021) found that the intervention study used a "global citizenship education curriculum" to help Emirati students become more responsible for their communities. There are strong indications that the civic attitudes and skills questionnaire (CASQ) can be used in the United Arab Emirates. Furthermore, the findings go beyond the scales in CASQ and show that empathy can be learned through teaching this course. The study shows that a global citizenship curriculum should be a part of community service courses for undergraduates by clearly linking classroom projects to current social challenges and fostering student conversation and reflection.
The reviewed literature showed that social responsibility is a social obligation in which each stakeholder took responsibility based on ethical principles for the purpose of improvement in society. Since universities are one of the main social institutions, teachers' and university administrations' responsibilities for students' needs and feelings are distinct, teachers pay attention to students' problems, teachers express a desire to find ways to motivate a student, teachers organize mutual meetings with students and mobilize them, and teachers maintain active communication with students in a formal and informal environment to allow them to collaborate, communicate, and work more clearly. Apart from that, the university and parents provide students with an environment in which they can develop their social abilities and skills and learn to be a productive citizen. They also provide students with the opportunity to listen to others' opinions and work collaboratively with their peers and teachers.

METHODOLOGY
A survey method was used to investigate the social responsibility practiced by faculty members toward the students, faculty, and society at IAU. Previous studies have also used the survey research method in their studies to investigate social responsibility (Doval and Doval, 2010;Abdel-Baqer, 2012;Shaldan and Sayemah, 2014;Tarawneh, 2020). The population consisted of all the students from the first year at IAU. There were 2,993 male and female students. The sample for the current study consisted of 951 students through a simple random sampling technique. The researcher distributed the questionnaire electronically. When the required percentage was reached, the responses were stopped. A structured questionnaire, consisting of two parts, was designed after consulting the relevant literature. The first part of the questionnaire is based on independent variables related to demographic information of the respondents, i.e., gender and track. The second part was based on the dependent variables of the study and further divided into three portions, i.e., social responsibility of the faculty members toward students, university, and society, which had 45 statements, and 15 statements were included in each part of the section. These statements were taken from Abdel-Baqer (2012) article and further modified and reduced. Table 1 shows the reliability and validity of the instrument through Cronbach's alpha, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO), and Bartlett tests. The range of Cronbach's alpha values of study variables was from 0.954 to 0.972, which is good, and it also shows that study items have a strong relationship because the value of Cronbach's alpha is higher than >0.07 (Frankfort-Nachmias and Nachmias, 2008). The KMO and Bartlett tests were employed to verify the sampling sufficiency. Table 1 reveals that KMO values were between 0.954 and 0.972, which is higher than 0.050 (Kaiser, 1970). Bartlett's test of sphericity was also run through principal component analysis (PCA), and the result showed that p = 0.000, which indicated the strong association between items.
The data were collected online from the respondents. We prepared a questionnaire using "Google Form" and sent it to the students' e-mail IDs. We sent a questionnaire to 1,145 students from different tracks, i.e., health, science, and engineering. After being contacted again and again, the researcher received 987 questionnaires. A total of 36 responses were discarded due to invalid responses and half-filled questionnaires. The final responses were 951. The response rate was 96%, which is acceptable. We entered 951 responses into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for descriptive and inferential statistics data analysis. Cronbach's alpha, KMO, and Bartlett's tests were applied to check the reliability, sampling accuracy, and sphericity of the social responsibilities of faculty toward students, university, and society. The independent sample t-test and ANOVA test were applied to check the differences among independent variables (gender and track) and dependent variables of the study. Table 2 presents the demographic information on gender and track of the participants. The result showed that more than half (n = 565, 59%) of the respondents were male, while 41% of female participated in this study. The result also revealed that more than half (n = 507, 53%) of the participants were from the science track, 26% from the health track, and only 21% of the respondents from the engineering track. It shows that the female and science-track students are dominating among the respondents. Table 3 describes the responsibilities of the faculty members toward the students of IAU, Saudi Arabia. This section's average mean score was (M = 3.76, SD = 0.85). The mean ranges from M = 4.39 to 3.34, wherein most of the items have a high or moderate mean score. A majority of the respondents understood that faculty members avoid harsh words in their dealings with students (M = 4.39, SD = 0.94), faculty members use positive words when they talk to students (M = 4.19, SD = 0.90), and participants understood that faculty members employ the democratic method in their dialogue with students (M = 3.94, 0.98). The mean calculation was also high with the statements that faculty members address the problems faced by students (M = 3.83, SD = 1.02), "spreading a culture of self-censorship among student" (M = 3.79, SD = 1.13), and they are keen to constantly follow up on students' problems (M = 3.79, SD = 1.05).  Faculty members were also trained in constructive learning methods (M = 3.76, SD = 1.08) and supported students of high determination (M = 3.72, SD = 1.11). In contrast, two statements with the lowest mean score were that the faculty members provide a variety of activities to build students' personalities (M = 3.48, SD = 1.16) and that they were implementing training courses for students with low achievement in the education process (M = 3.34, SD = 1.24).   Table 5 presents the social responsibility of faculty members toward society. The total mean score of social responsibility of faculty members toward society was (M = 3.95, SD = 0.84).  The result found that a majority of the participants agreed that faculty members participate in the activities of cultural associations and institutions with the highest mean score (M = 4.27, SD = 0.86), they respect the cultural diversity of all (M = 4.13, SD = 0.90), and community development is a national duty (M = 4.08, SD = 0.94). Respondents also agreed with the statements that "it works to include the principles of social responsibility in school subjects" (M = 3.99, SD = 0.97), faculty members respect the customs and traditions prevailing in society (M = 3.98, SD = 0.96), and they respond to calls from community organizations and keep track of current events in the local community with a mean score (M = 3.96, SD = 1.01, M = 3.96, SD = 0.97, respectively). On the contrary, students understood that faculty members participate in the celebration of national events and that employees' scientific research and its results serve the community, with the lowest mean scores (M = 3.80, SD = 1.05) and (M = 3.82, SD = 1.05), respectively.

INFERENTIAL STATISTICS RESULTS
The independent samples t-test was employed to examine the difference in opinion between dependent variables and independent variables in Table 6. The result revealed that students differed significantly with regard to faculty members' responsibilities toward students on the basis of gender, as the p-value (0.004) was less than 0.05. A comparison of male (=3.85, SD = 0.83) and female (=3.69, SD = 0.85) mean scores reveals that the male faculty members had greater responsibilities toward the students than the female faculty members. Similarly, the faculty members' responsibilities toward the university found that students differed significantly with regard to faculty members' responsibilities toward the university on the basis of gender as the p-value (0.034) is less than 0.05. A comparison of male (=4.05, SD = 0.75) and female (=3.94, SD = 0.83) mean scores reveals that male faculty members have greater responsibilities to the university than female faculty members.
Furthermore, the result on faculty members' responsibilities toward society showed that the respondents did not differ significantly on the basis of gender as the p-value (0.208) is higher than 0.05.
The ANOVA test was employed between track of the students and faculty members' responsibilities toward students, university, and society in Table 7. The result described that there was no significance of difference between track of the students and faculty members' responsibilities toward students (F = 0.944, p = 0.389), university (F = 2.38, p = 0.093), and society (F = 1.50, p = 0.224) due to significance value is higher than p > 0.05.

DISCUSSION
This study aimed to investigate the degree of social responsibility practiced by faculty members toward students, university, and society at IAU, Saudi Arabia. The findings revealed that the faculty members employed a democratic method while dealing with the students, used positive words, and avoided harsh words. Besides, the faculty members felt social responsibility at their institutes and try to address the problems faced by students, spreading a culture of self-censorship among the  students and keen to constantly follow up on students' problems. The findings are in line with Honeyman (2010) that students need to be encouraged through dialogue and involve them in socially connected activities so that their behavior improved and they become flexible while interacting with each other. Furthermore, social responsibility emerged as one of the most significant predictors of achievement and motivation among Arab students (Grera et al., 2022). In contrast, the statement with the lowest mean score was implementing training courses for students with low achievement in the education process and implementing training courses for students with low achievement in the educational process. This is contrary to the results by Wren (2021), who found that a "global citizenship education curriculum" helped the Emirati students to become more responsible for their communities. The study shows that a citizenship curriculum should be a part of community service courses for undergraduates by clearly linking classroom projects to current social challenges and fostering student conversation and reflection. Faculty members should actively incorporate social identity conversations into their syllabi, as qualitative data indicate that students were benefited from social identity dialogues. As regards the social responsibility of faculty members toward the university, the result revealed that most of the participants agreed that the faculty members maintain university equipment, contribute to seminars and conferences inside and outside the university, and maintain a safe environment for the university. The respondents also agreed that the faculty members adhere to the regulations and laws at the university, feel a sense of belonging to their university, provide plans to support students in financial need, and perform duties to serve the university. These findings are similar to earlier study conducted by Abdel-Baqer (2012) that the faculty members practice social responsibility to a high degree, and there was a positive correlation between social responsibility and job performance, meaning the greater the social responsibility, the greater the job performance. However, the most important aspect of social responsibility toward faculty to serve the university and community is to provide frequent training and learning opportunities for the faculty members so that they learn and practice modern strategies into their classrooms. As Shaldan and Sayemah (2014) said that the university should plan and run programs pertaining to social responsibility to help faculty members do their best to help students, the university, and the community around them. Doval and Doval (2010) also stressed the need of learning, research, collaboration, and innovation through a partnership from various stakeholders, such as government agencies and industrial and business corporations to expand the social responsibility roles in a society. The statements with the lowest mean score were to promote a culture of respect for laws and regulations, offering targeted programs to reduce wrong behaviors, such as violence, and feel moral responsibility toward his fellow professors. However, according to Iqbal et al. (2022), to understand the needs of society, universities must add values and knowledge to their knowledge systems, research, and practice, and produce human outputs that can deal with society's growing aspirations and visions.
The social responsibility of faculty members toward society revealed that the faculty members participated in the activities of cultural associations and institutions, respected cultural diversity, and considered community development as a national duty. Respondents also agreed that the principles of social responsibility in school subjects work well, respect the customs and traditions prevailing in society, respond to calls from community organizations, and keep track of current events in the local community. These findings are similar to Bakhit (2009) that the ultimate goal of a faculty member is to serve the community in which he/she lives by assuming his/her societal responsibilities.
An independent samples t-test revealed that students differed significantly with regard to faculty members' responsibilities toward students and university. However, there is no significant difference of opinion toward society. The result shows that the male faculty members had greater responsibilities than the female faculty members toward the students and university. The result is contrary to the findings of Abdel-Baqer (2012) who found no statistically significant differences on the basis of gender and Jilani et al. (2021) who found that female had more social responsibility than male.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
There are some limitations, and the findings of this study must be considered within these limitations. This study is limited to one university (IAU, Saudi Arabia). The study is also limited to a certain sample size (as data were collected from 951 respondents) and track (three disciplines, i.e., science, engineering, and health). The findings cannot be generalized in other countries or contexts and Saudi Arabia has certain traditional and cultural values.

IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY Theoretical Implication
This is the first study that investigated the social responsibility toward the students, faculty, and society at IAU, Saudi Arabia. The findings of the study add to the limited literature of social responsibility in Saudi Arabian as well as in Gulf regions. The findings are helpful to increase the social responsibility of students by encouraging them, involving them in social and cultural activities, and exercising democratic values, especially on the part of faculty members.

Practical Implications
The findings are beneficial to decision-makers in universities, including university presidents, vice presidents, deans of colleges, and those in charge of preparing educational staff (whether faculty or students) in universities. Universities can prepare social citizenship curriculum to practice social responsibility at university life as well as practical life. Such initiatives would be helpful in raising future generations by inculcating the social responsibility among the masses. The relevant authorities should also provide frequent learning opportunities and relevant material as well as moral incentives to a faculty member so that they make sure to cultivate social responsibility among the students. The faculty members should also try to make a connection between the university and the local community.

CONCLUSION
This is the first major study investigating the social responsivity of faculty members toward the students, universities, and community. The findings reveal that the faculty members are practicing social responsibility at IAU, Saudi Arabia. The results of the study showed that the most important thing for the faculty members is to inculcate social responsibility among the students by encouraging them, involving them in social and cultural activities, and exercising democratic values. As Al-Shammari (2014) identified that the universities' roles are still not defined in a way that is linked with the mission, methodology, a specific budget, and community services. Hence, the universities should more actively develop a social responsibility plan (much like enterprises). The execution of this approach by the institution creates an opportunity to progress toward an organization serving the communities. At present, it is important to meet the expectations of the main stakeholders (e.g., undergraduates, employers of alumni, media, and society) as well as inside stakeholders (departments, managers, and employees) by incorporating social responsibility in the universities mission, vision, and future directions. In this regard, the identification of the expectations of university stakeholders (particularly students as important stakeholders) is crucial and would be the beginning point for such action toward a better community. Besides, there should be frequent learning and training opportunities for the faculty members as well as students within and outside of the universities in which they learn and follow the established societal rules, support and listen to each other, and more importantly promote the culture of cooperation. It will further enhance the skills and strategies for the students to be more responsible in their daily lives, both in and out of the campus life.
On the basis of these findings, we suggest that future investigations should be focused on the transfer of values and social skills to academic performance and students' daily life, especially with disadvantaged populations and at-risk students.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.