The image of civil society organizations among Egyptian university youth and their tendencies towards it

The importance of civil society participation along side with the government and the private sector in Egypt appears, in light of international, regional and local challenges, and in response to the countinous and tireless efforts of the Egyptian state in the last decade towards comprehensive and sustainable development. Qualified, educated youth are a necessary component of this development. Hence, this research focuses on exploring the mental image of civil society organizations (CSOs) among Egyptian university youth, and their tendencies and attitudes towards them. Through a descriptive research, the survey method was used by applying the electronic questionnaire tool on a sample of students from ten public and private universities and institutes in Egypt, to a sample of 397 individuals. Guided by the theories of symbolic interactionism and functional constructivism.
The research revealed a set of results, most notably: that the civil society organizations operating in Egypt have a positive image among university youth, and this image has a statistically significant and positive relationship with the youth’s attitudes towards these organizations, which were also positive in their entirety. Young males have greater positive attitudes toward civil society organizations than females, and those with relatively low economic incomes are characterized by stronger cognitive attitudes toward civil society organizations operating in Egypt.
Also, the image of Egyptian civil society organizations among Egyptian university youth can be expressed as “positive, linked to doing good, developing society and helping the needy, focusing on social solidarity and providing health services, and it depends for its funding on the donations of Egyptians, as a partner of the government in community service, and the best youth participate in it. It plays a vital role that affects the lives of millions of Egyptians, and tries to work despite the restrictions and pressures it is exposed to, and it is an authentic and ancient phenomenon in Egyptian society. The media is the main source of knowledge among Egyptian university youth regarding civil society organizations and their activities. The spatial dimension is the most important determinant of youth participation in the activities of civil society organizations, in addition to the ease of communication with them and the influence of parents and acquaintances.