Presenting a model of organizational image of universities with the approach of social capital development

The purpose of this study was to provide an organizational image model of universities with a social capital development approach.

This applied research was a survey. All masters’ students of maritime universities in the north of Iran formed the participants of this study. Based on stratified random method, 400 participants were selected. The data gathering tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. For data analysis, SPSS and LISREL software and descriptive and inferential statistics including factor analysis with exploratory approach were used.

The findings showed that the organizational image of universities with the approach of social capital development is as follows: University technology, quality of facilities and services, physical environment and university symbols, communications and media, performance of research, cultural activities, future and financial perspectives, human relations index, university culture, fulfilling needs, public relations performance, work environment, performance of education sector, university antiquity, social responsibility, innovation, and leadership characteristics. In addition, the study of fit indices indicated that the model was appropriate.

Based on the results of this study, it seems that in order to maintain the status of universities in the competitive world today, one should pay due attention to students’ perspectives.