Conceptualizing, Measuring and Understanding Students’ Post College Civic Engagement: What we know about the impact of s

1. Conceptualizing, Measuring and Understanding Students’ Post College Civic Engagement: What we know about the impact of service-learning Kimberly Misa Jodi Anderson Higher Education Research Institute (http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/heri.html) UCLA Continuums of Service Conference 2005

2. HERI UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies CIRP Funded Research Freshman Survey YFCY CSS • Atlantic Philanthropies • Templeton • NIH • Etc. Faculty Survey

3. Data Sets • Trends Data of Entering College Students • 2004 Cohort of Entering College Students • State Farm’s Growing to Greatness Yearbook • 1994 Cohort of Entering College Students, who were also surveyed in 1998 and 2004 • Understanding the Effects of Service-Learning Study

4. 2004 Freshman Survey Data • 293,000 students entering college • Data are weighted to population of first-time, full-time students at four-year institutions

5. Characteristics of Entering College Students: What are patterns of service-learning participation and community service requirements among high schools? What are patterns of service-learning participation among students?

6. Percent of CIRP Respondents that performed community service as part of a classin High School

7. Percent of CIRP Respondents that Reported a High School Community Service Requirement

8. VOLUNTEERING TRENDS: HIGH SCHOOL

9. POLITICAL INTEREST: ENTERING STUDENTS

10. Service Required: High School

11. H.S. Service-Learning: Who Participates?

12. H.S. Service-Learning and Family Income

13. Understanding the Effects of Service Learning • Funded by Atlantic Philanthropies, USA, Inc. • Uses data from the Freshman Survey (1994), the College Student Survey (1998) and created additional survey to follow up with this cohort in the post-college years (2004). • Will analyze data from 2004/05 Faculty Survey

14. How do your institutions conceptualize civic engagement? • Are there specific desired civic outcomes for students at your institution? • If so, how are they articulated? • What are the key experiences and to accomplish the desired outcomes?

15. Civic Participation(General Populace) • Putnam (1999) • today’s citizens are less involved in collective community efforts, less likely to vote in elections, and less likely to take on leadership positions and participate in traditional political activities • However, is also a matter of being differentially engaged – e.g. while membership in church-related groups, labor unions, fraternal organizations, and veterans groups has declined, it has largely been countered by an increase in professional group membership, ethnically affiliated groups, and hobby and sport groups

16. Civic Voluntarism(General Populace) • Verba, Schlozman, and Brady (1995) • focus on an individual’s motivation and capacity to participate in civic life • explore background characteristics that predispose individuals to civic and political participation • Examine modes and intensity of participation different groups exercise their civic / political voice

17. Conceptions of Good Citizens • Westheimer and Kahne (2002) • Typology of Citizenship Three conceptions of the “good citizen”: • personally responsible citizen follows the law, pays her taxes, volunteers, and contributes to charitable causes • participatory citizen participates in “…the civic affairs and the social life of the community at local, state, and national levels” • justice oriented citizen emphasizes need to analyze the root causes of social problems in order to identify and critique unjust social structures and bring about systemic change

18. Connecting Thinking and Acting • Eyler and Giles (1999) • consider civic engagement as process that builds social capital (networks) which can be drawn upon to address social problems. • utilize five elements of citizenship: Values, knowledge, skills, efficacy, and commitment

19. Connecting Learning and Community • Dewey (1944) • Curriculum: material should be relevant to current social conditions and provide opportunities to delve into problem-based learning • Pedagogy: Classrooms should utilize problem-based learning, should encourage dialogue and interaction, and should offer opportunities for critical reflection

20. What does your institution want to know about the effects of service-learning and civic engagement? • Based upon how your institution conceptualizes civic engagement, how does your institution measure desired outcomes? • If they don’t currently have evaluation tools, what might some of these outcomes be and how could you identify them?

21. Behaviors (community service, political engagement, consumer behavior, careers) Values (helping others, being a community leader) Beliefs (self-efficacy, people have equal opportunities to succeed) Lifestyle (children, school, watching TV) HERI Survey Items

22. Respondents Overview 2004 Post-College Follow-Up • 83.5% work full-time • 31.9% hold a graduate degree • 37.2 % are working toward a graduate degree • 79.2% have no children • 55% in partnership/married

23. 51.2% watch at least six hours of television per week 4.9% volunteer over six hours per week 15.1% say that becoming a community leader is ‘very important’ to them 66.7% boycotted products 51.5% signed an email petition 13.2% contacted newspaper or magazine 2004 Post-College Survey

24. 64.5% occasionally or frequently discussed community issues 13.1% occasionally or frequently played a leadership role in improving community 86.9% voted in a national election 34.9% have donated professional services 23.6% have donated $ to political org/cause 69.4% have donated $ to human/cmty service organization 2004 Civic Engagement

25. 2004: Volunteerism Occasionally

26. Volunteering in 2004

27. 2004: Performed Volunteer Work

28. Percent marking goal: helping others in difficulty as ‘very important’ or ‘essential’

29. % reporting goal: influencing political structure is ‘very important’ or ‘essential’

30. % reporting goal: influencing social values is ‘very important’ or ‘essential’

31. 2004 Participated in a Demonstration or Protest

32. 2004 Boycotting to Protest a Company’s Values

33. 2004 Buycotting Company to Support its Values

34. 2004 Employment Sector

35. 2004 Satisfaction with Opportunity to Contribute to Society Through Your Job

36. 2004 Attended an Alumni Event

37. 2004 Attended an Alumni Cultural Event

38. 2004 Donated Money to Your Alma Mater

39. 2004 Helped Recruit Students to Your Alma Mater

40. Student Characteristics Institutional Culture (size, faculty values) College Experience Family & Culture Job, children Graduate School Post-College Beliefs, Behaviors

41. Conceptual Framework College Experiences Peer Group Influences Diverse Interactions Curricular & Co-curricular Personal Attributes Outcomes Volunteering Consumer Activism Civic Engagement Pre-college Experiences Pretests / Proxies Background Characteristics High School Activities Post-College Experiences Activities Values

42. Multiple Regression Analyses • Goes beyond descriptive statistics • Allows to control for background characteristics • Elucidates relationships between background characteristics, college experiences, and outcomes

43. 2004 Volunteerism (α= .80) • Hours per week: Volunteer work (None=1, <1=2, 1-2=3, 3+=4) • Performed volunteer work in the past year (Frequently, Occasionally, None)

44. 2004 Volunteerism • 1994 variables Significance • Socioeconomic Status +++ • High School GPA +++ • Volunteering ++ • Frequency of discussing religion +++ • Value: Helping others in difficulty ++ • 1998 variables Significance • Volunteering while in college +++ • Ethnic studies course +++ • Attd racial/cultural awareness wkshp + • Level of cross-racial interaction +++ • Internship Program + • Fraternity/Sorority ---

45. Civic Engagement: (α=.75) • Worked on a community project w/ a govt agency/prog • Played a leadership role in improving your community • Used on-line communication w/ family & friends to social and political awareness • Worked w/ others to solve a problem in the community where you live (Never=1, Once or twice=2, Occasionally=3, Frequently=4)

46. Civic Engagement • 1994 variables Significance • Political views +++ • Volunteering +++ • Frequency of discussing politics +++ • Frequency of part in org demos/protests +++ • Self-rating: Understanding of others + • 1998 variables Significance • Ethnic studies course +++ • Attd racial/cultural awareness wkshp +++ • Level of cross-racial interaction + • Women’s studies course +++ • Leadership Training + • Student Government ++ • Fraternity/Sorority --- • Faculty Support: Research +++

47. Political Activism (α=.81) • Donated money: Political candidate/cause • Gave opinion: Contact/visit public official • Worked w/ political group/official • Displayed Button/Sticker/Sign • Door to Door canvassing (Never=1, Once or twice=2, Occasionally=3, Frequently=4) • Part in Protests and Demonstrations • Worked in a local, state, natl political campaign (Never=1, Occasionally=2, Frequently=1)

48. Political Activism • 1994 variables Significance • Political views +++ • Volunteering ++ • Frequency of discussing politics +++ • Frequency of discussing religion ++ • 1998 variables Significance • Attd racial/cultural awareness wkshp +++ • Level of cross-racial interaction ++ • Student Government ++ • Fraternity/Sorority -

49. Consumer Activism (α=.83) • Not bought something b/c of the values of the company (since leaving college) (Never=1, Once or twice=2, Occasionally=3, Frequently=4) • Bought something b/c of the values of the company (since leaving college) (Never=1, Once or twice=2, Occasionally=3, Frequently=4)

50. Consumer Activism: Outcomes • 1994 variables Significance • SAT composite +++ • Political views +++ • Volunteering +++ • Self-rating: Intellectual Self-confidence ++ • 1998 variables Significance • Ethnic studies course +++ • Attd racial/cultural awareness wkshp +++ • Level of cross-racial interaction + • Fraternity/Sorority