ISSN: 2222-6990
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The University Social Responsibility (USR) is a concept of engaging social works and volunteerism movement within university community in the broad areas of humanity, environment, economic, cultural, education and social development. However, the principle of USR is volunteerism. Different individuals may undertake volunteer activities for different reasons. There can also be various factors that may limit or prevent individuals from volunteering. This study examined the motivational factors and constraints to volunteering among 330 academics in a public university in Malaysia. A survey questionnaire was employed to gauge the volunteer participations under the scope of functional volunteerism and the constraints to participation in the activities. The functional motivations of the participants were analysed using the Volunteer Function Inventory (VFI) under six dimensions: Values, Understanding, Protective, Social, Career and Enhancement, while the constraints to participation in volunteer activities were addressed under three dimensions: Intrapersonal, Interpersonal and Structural. The findings indicate that the Values dimension was the key motivating factor to participation in USR, while the Structure dimension was the major constraint to the participation. Since the reform of Higher Learning Education in Malaysia has considered the University Social Responsibility (USR) as one of the key indexes for the Malaysian universities’ rating exercise, it is hoped that the findings may shed some lights on empowering the voluntary acts among the academics to promote beneficial impacts on the local community.
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In-Text Citation: (Alias et al., 2021)
To Cite this Article: Alias, A., Ariffin, K., & Noor, N. A. M. (2021). Volunteerism among the Academics: The Questions of Motivation and Constraints. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(1), 675–689.
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