Social Change as a Social Issue
Social change is a fundamental way to ensure a robust society with high quality of education, economic activities, and social interactions. The issue has been addressed by various entities before, such as social media platforms, companies, higher education institutes, and human and political rights activists. Social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter connect people with similar ideologies and preferences, who unite and propel social change. For instance, The Black Lives Matter movement was significantly fanned by social media, when like-minded people all over the world expressed their anger at racial prejudice and discrimination in Europe. Similarly, companies have created social change, such as enabling children from disadvantaged communities to attend school, through social corporate responsibility ( Aguinis & Glavas, 2012) . Further, higher education institutions have engaged in social change by educating students on ways they can contribute to the same through research, networking, and curriculum-based knowledge seeking. Therefore, social change is a social issue that has received extensive input from diverse societal entities and advances the creation of a robust society.
Social Change as a Research Problem
There needs to be an extensive research conducted to address the outcomes of engaging in social change for entities in society. For instance, companies engaging in activities aimed to create social change could be advantageous and disadvantageous, but the issue needs to be addressed through research. Further, academic institutions create social change by educating students, but the components of a comprehensive curriculum designed to cover the same can only be adequately addressed through a research ( Kezar, 2014) . Moreover, prejudice and discrimination are inequality problems that warrant the involvement of political and human rights activists to compel a social change that addresses the same ( Thomas, McGarty, & Mavor, 2009) . However, the most effective ways human rights activists can engage to create their desirable social change can only be addressed through extensive studies, making the issue a research problem. Therefore, social change as an issue warrants research for mentioned reasons.
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Research Gap
The research gap for my study is positive social change as a higher education issue and how the same can be addressed by the sector’s institutions. Currently, there is limited research concerning how science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses propel positive social change. Additionally, there is limited data on how K-12 tutors can incorporate practicing positive social change in their curricula for learners to engage in the same even after leaving learning institutions of the level sustaining their involvement until and post-joining higher education colleges. Moreover, there lacks sufficient data on ways higher education learners can network with community members to create positive change. Finally, there is insufficient academic information on ways students can use research for positive social change endeavors.
Purpose Statement
The purpose of the proposed research is to examine ways in which higher education institutions can promote positive social change through reviewing existing experiences of entities from the college sector. In alignment with the Walden University’s purpose statement, which identifies research and related scholar practices as agents for social change, the study will examine how members of the higher education sector can engage in the same ( Walden 2020: A Vision for Social Change , 2017) . The study will review the past and present Walden University’s activities that promote positive social change as retold by members of the institution then a report of the same will be created to act as future guidelines to fill the research gap.
References
Aguinis, H., & Glavas, A. (2012). What we know and don’t know about corporate social responsibility. Journal of Management , 38 (4), 932-968. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206311436079
Kezar, A. (2014). Higher education change and social networks: A review of research. The Journal of Higher Education , 85 (1), 91-125. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2014.11777320
Thomas, E. F., McGarty, C., & Mavor, K. I. (2009). Transforming “Apathy into Movement”:The role of prosocial emotions in motivating action for social change. Personality and Social Psychology Review , 13 (4), 310-333. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868309343290
Walden 2020: A Vision for Social Change . Walden University . (2017).
