Investigating the Rate of Social Solidarity among Students of Mashhad Islamic Azad University (MIAU): Strategies for Improvement

This is an excerpt of a research project aiming at carrying out a study on 432 studentsmajoring in a variety of schools at MIAU. Taking a descriptive approach, this survey study used stratified sampling technique to investigate different aspects of social solidarity including, social integration, social order, social belonging, social harmony, social unity, and social responsibility. The rate of reliability for the researcher-made questionnaire used in this study was 0.811. The average rate of social solidarity among the participants of the study was found to be medium (3.3), ranging from one to five. The findings also suggest that social belonging with the rate of 3.5 and social unity (2.8) were respectively the highest and lowest developed social solidarities. The other aspects obtained an average of 3.2, 3.4, 3.4, and 3.2 for social integration, social harmony, social order, and social responsibility, respectively. In sum, a rate of medium for social solidarity is not regarded ideal for the university when university students are regarded as one of the most influential and knowledgeable classes in society. Thus, it is the responsibility ofthe university, as one of the administrators of sociability, to take some steps forward in this regard.