The identity of university social responsibility on the websites of the universities of the Autonomous Region of Madrid (Spain) and the State of Puebla (Mexico), as a tool of grassroots public diplomacy

Abstract

The identity of the universities is one more piece to consider inside the puzzle of the grassroots public diplomacy. University social responsibility is not well exploited on university websites. This is the main conclusion we have reached following a comparative study of the websites of the universities of the Autonomous Region of Madrid (Spain) and those of the universities of the State of Puebla, including public, private, and Catholic Church institutions. All the universities of the Madrid region and 92.5% of those consulted in the State of Puebla have a website, but none of them gives an explicit reference on its homepage that operations are performed within all occupational aspects in accordance with the realm of university social responsibility. It would therefore be fair to say that there is no evidence of optimal exploitation of university social responsibility on the websites. When this must be considered as one element that it is necessary to include in the communicative frame of reference to obtain mutual understanding, stable, and beneficial relations for all the parts.