The Structural Equation Modeling of University Social Capital and the Employee Tendency to Participate Through the Mediating Role of Their Readiness for Change in Shiraz University

The general purpose of this study was the structural equation modeling of university social capital and the employee tendency to participate through the mediating role of their readiness for change in Shiraz University. The statistical population of the study involved all employees of Shiraz University (990 individuals), from among whom 339 individuals were selected as the study sample through simple random sampling method. The research instrument included three questionnaires of social capital, readiness for change, and tendency to participate, which were distributed and received back for data collection after the calculation of validity and reliability through item analysis and Cronbach’s alpha. The obtained data was analyzed using one-sample t-test and multivariate regression analysis in SPSS and Amos software. The findings of the study showed that the social capital in the sample was higher than the benchmark average. While the cognitive readiness of the employees was less than the benchmark average, the other dimensions – including the general readiness level of the employees – were higher than the benchmark averages. The average score of the employees’ tendency to participate was higher than the benchmark average. The structural equation model also showed that the university social capital and the employees’ readiness to change were direct, significant predictors of the employees’ tendency to participate. Moreover, the findings indicate that the mediating role of employees’ readiness makes social capital a stronger predictor of the employees’ tendency to participate.