Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore a new way to disclose intellectual capital (IC) in universities through their websites. Going beyond traditional tools used for intellectual capital disclosure (ICD), this study aims at identifying possible determinants of ICD via the web.Design/methodology/approach: This paper analyses the institutional websites of a sample of Italian universities adapting the theoretical framework developed by Lowet al.(2015) to the peculiarities of the Italian university system. Moreover, the relationship between certain explanatory factors identified in previous research and the extent of online ICD represented by two disclosure indexes was tested through an ordinary least squares regression model.Findings: The analysis reveals the extensive use of ICD via websites, especially regarding human and internal capital, while the disclosure of external capital through this means is still limited. Internationality and online visibility both positively affect the extent of a university’s ICD.Research limitations/implications: The paper represents the first study investigating online ICD and its determinants in universities, contributing new knowledge to help answer the how and what of the matter.Practical implications: The results can serve as encouragement to university managers to enhance online ICD to meet the information needs of a wider audience.Originality/value: This is the first study to provide evidence about online ICD in universities and to reveal some of the possible determinants to improve this disclosure.

Universities are increasingly called to demonstrate to stakeholders their active commitment to responding to social and environmental issues through comprehensive reporting practices. Such expectations were further enhanced by the recent pandemic outbreak unleashed by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has bolstered social pressures on universities to demonstrate their active engagement in supporting health systems in fighting against the virus as well as in ensuring adequate e-learning paths for students. Therefore, this study aims to investigate to what extent Italian public universities disclose sustainability information on their websites. The study is based on a well-established framework adapted from the literature. The category “Sustainability and COVID-19” has been added to also examine the extent to which universities disclose information regarding policies and strategies adopted to cope with the ongoing pandemic crisis. Results evidence that most of the sampled universities devote a specific section of their websites to disclose information on sustainability issues. Results also highlight a strong commitment to the disclosure of social issues. Particular attention is devoted to disclosing information about “Social Performance”; “Sustainability and COVID-19” and “Society Issues”. The results may be beneficial to both policymakers and university governors in gaining awareness about the potential of websites in engendering insights into the social issues that involve a university and a wider range of stakeholders.

In recent decades, there have been increasing concerns about the role of organizations in society and their impact on climate change, environmental degradation, resource depletion, health crises, and human rights’ inequalities (Yanez et al

Gender equity is a topic of significant interest for universities, who are called upon to plan strategies and measures to increase gender equality in line with international policies. With a qualitative methodology based on manual content analysis, the paper aims to understand whether and how this report could positively assess a university’s actions for reaching SDG 5. This study’s results show that the CRUI guidelines can be used by universities to disclose gender policies that may be of interest to stakeholders, and can also be synthesized in THE ranking, increasing university visibility. The present study could be helpful for universities, regulatory bodies, policy makers, and agency rankings to help them identify the most relevant gender items on which to focus their attention.

Purpose: This study aims to provide fresh empirical insights into the nexus between corporate sustainability committee (SC) attributes and sustainable development goals (SDG) disclosure practices. Design/methodology/approach: This study draws on an unbalanced sample of 132 Italian-listed companies that prepared a mandatory non-financial declaration (NFD) in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards over a seven-year period (2017–2023), yielding a total of 455 observations. Data on SC characteristics – size, power, independence, gender diversity and number of meetings – were manually collected from firms' annual corporate governance reports, whereas SDG disclosure data were obtained via content analysis of companies' NFDs. Findings: Results from a fixed-effects panel regression model reveal that including the chief executive officer or the chair (or both) on the SC, together with greater female representation, enhances the ability of SCs to stimulate higher levels of SDG disclosure. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to provide empirical evidence on the nexus between SC characteristics – size, power, independence, gender diversity and number of meetings – and SDG disclosure. The findings provide impetus for policymakers and regulators to consider requiring companies to establish dedicated SCs as a core component of their corporate governance systems and to manage their composition carefully, ensuring that they fulfill their responsibilities in overseeing sustainability disclosure practices.