Philanthropic practices at a Vietnamese university: Between instrumentalism and altruism

<p dir="ltr">This research critically investigates philanthropic practices at a Vietnamese university. Theoretically, the study examines the notion of “Corporate Philanthropy” (CP), which has traditionally been restricted to business organisations, by applying it to the higher education sector. Furthermore, this study also challenges other research on philanthropy in the higher education context by tracing instrumentalism and market-oriented philanthropic activities. It provides new insight regarding the continuum nature of altruistic and instrumental philanthropy within Vietnamese universities in response to the marketisation of education.</p><p dir="ltr">This research is unique, as it focuses on the Vietnamese higher education context. Forty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted in total, with twenty-one students, eighteen staff members and three community leaders. Thematic analysis revealed that apart from contributing to the betterment of society and both creating a competitive advantage and improving brand image for the university, students’ and staff members’ engagement in philanthropy was mainly driven by instrumental benefits such as future career gains, higher academic profile, and other expectations of long-term returns.</p><p dir="ltr">The major findings of the study are: (1) A wide variety of philanthropic activities had been organised for students and staff members at the university, largely charitable activities, volunteering, donations and free legal consultancy; (2) In the context of higher education in Vietnam, although philanthropic practices were undertaken for both altruistic and instrumental reasons by both staff and students, an instrumental orientation was dominant; (3) Even in a country with a rich communist, collectivist and Confucian history such as Vietnam, the philanthropic practices of both university staff and students were largely instrumental, approximating “corporate” philanthropy and closer to instrumental, self-interested philanthropy on a continuum than to pure altruism. Accordingly, implications for policymakers and university management are suggested.</p>