An Ethics and Performance-Based Model for Promoting Faculty Members’Social Responsibility: The Case of Islamic Azad Universities in Tehran

This developmental mixed-methods enquiry was undertaken to propose a model for promoting the social responsibility of faculty members at various branches of Islamic Azad University (IAU) in Tehran Province based on their professional ethics and occupational performance. The research population comprised 5371 full-time and part- time faculty members from whom a sample of 361 was selected based on Kukran formula.  The qualitative phase of the study involved collecting and analyzing the views of 30 experts in the field concerning the dimensions and indicators of the social responsibility construct via Delphi technique. The findings emerging from the qualitative analyses delineated five major factors and 25 indicators tapping the level of social responsibility, and the quantitative analyses indicated significant and positive relationships between faculty members’ social responsibility and their professional ethics and occupational performance. Based on the findings, a model has been proposed for promoting faculty members’ social responsibility at various branches of IAU in Tehran in which professional ethics and occupational performance function as independent variables with the former being of paramount importance.