Operationalising equity in higher education: Development and validation of a university social responsibility scale

Higher education systems are undergoing rapid digital and institutional transformation, intensifying concerns about equity, inclusion, and sustainable learning conditions. Although University Social Responsibility (USR) has increasingly been linked to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 4, the literature still lacks robust measurement instruments to capture how equity-oriented institutional practices associated with USR are experienced within universities. This study develops and validates a multidimensional scale designed to measure students' perceptions of institutional conditions that support equitable and inclusive learning environments in higher education. The instrument was developed through a sequential mixed-method process. First, qualitative data from five student focus groups (n = 40) were analysed to identify key institutional domains associated with socially responsible universities. Second, content validity was evaluated by a panel of five experts in higher education management and psychometrics. Third, a pilot study with undergraduate students (n = 154) enabled exploratory factor analysis, followed by confirmatory factor analysis using data from a larger survey of Generation Z students (n = 583) enrolled in business programmes at a public university in northern Mexico. Results support a seven-factor structure encompassing learning infrastructure, health and wellbeing, institutional benefits, professional development, social and environmental engagement, integral formation and inclusion, and identity and belonging. The model demonstrates strong psychometric properties, including satisfactory reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. By capturing students' perceptions of institutional conditions related to university social responsibility and educational equity, the proposed scale provides universities with a diagnostic tool to systematically assess and improve inclusive and sustainable learning environments.