Determinants of academic performance: the role of university social responsibility

Introduction Academic performance is one such measure applied in education. Many factors can influence this performance, including the strategic systems implemented by educational institutions, one of which is university social responsibility. Other factors include the university’s image and the quality of student services. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of university social responsibility on academic performance, both direct and indirect effects through service quality and university image. Methods This research is a quantitative online survey. The sample of this research was 283 students, consisting of 178 students from Universitas Sebelas Maret Surakarta, Indonesia, a state university, and 105 students from Universitas Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa Yogyakarta, Indonesia, a private university. Data were collected by sending several statements via Google.Doc. Data analysis used the statistical tool WARPPLS 8.0. Results For the overall samples, the results of the study disclosed that university social responsibility affected the variables of service quality, university image, and academic performance. In addition, the university image affected academic performance at a significance of 10%. However, service quality did not affect academic performance. Another finding is that the direct influence of university social responsibility on academic performance is stronger ( β  = 0.11) than the indirect influence through university image ( β  = 0.055). On the other hand, for the partial sample analysis, both Universitas Sebelas Maret and Universitas Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa students found identical results, namely university social responsibility influenced service quality and university image. Another finding was that university social responsibility (USR) indirectly influenced academic performance through service quality, while the direct influence of USR on academic performance was not significant. Discussion and conclusions The effect of USR on academic performance in a sample of universities analyzed separately is indirect through service quality, while the direct effect of USR on academic performance is insignificant. Based on these results, it can be concluded that academic performance can be improved by implementing a strategy, namely USR, which can improve service quality, especially for students, thus improving student performance.