Abstract
Catholic educationalists have long stressed the role of Catholic universities in advancing the cause of social justice to counter the increasing commodification of business relationships and the lack of social responsibilities of the business world. Is this rhetoric or reality? In this empirical paper involving 501 US universities that have an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)-accredited business school, we examine the relationship between Catholic affiliation and the universities’ decisions to offer social entrepreneurship and non-profit management courses to business students. Our study found that universities with Catholic affiliation are significantly more likely to offer both non-profit management and social entrepreneurship courses to business students. Our results offer evidences that Catholic universities are indeed working towards making a difference, with the vision and flexibility to do so.
Highlights
In a world dominated by the backlash of capitalism and globalisation, business students are increasingly being scrutinized for their degree of social and moral responsibility
Our study confirmed that Catholic universities are significantly more likely than others in the sample to offer non-profit management courses to business students, after controlling for other institutional factors
We asked whether Catholic universities believe that social entrepreneurship courses can play a role in fulfilling their social mandate
Summary
In a world dominated by the backlash of capitalism and globalisation, business students are increasingly being scrutinized for their degree of social and moral responsibility. Social entrepreneurship and nonprofit management educational initiatives are seen as an effective way to bridge the gap between the free market orientation of their curriculum and the negativities of the resulting individualistic, profit prioritizing mentality associated with the operation of free markets. Their implementation would enable universities to restore some of their creditability, as well as halting the erosion of public trust in their graduates. These courses are increasingly being offered to business students. With their specialisms in management as well as entrepreneurship, business schools and colleges often take a lead in the designing and running of such courses, it is important to note that the delivery of these courses can be part of a university-wide initiative and a collaborative effort between the business schools as well as other departments, most notably social work, government and engineering
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
