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
HERI
UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies
CIRP
Freshman
Survey
YFCY
Faculty Survey
Funded Research
CSS
•Atlantic Philanthropies
•Templeton
•NIH
•Etc.
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
2004 Freshman Survey Data
293,000 students entering college
Data are weighted to population of
first-time, full-time students at fouryear institutions
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?
Percent of CIRP Respondents that performed community
service as part of a class
in High School
60.0
40.0
20.0
0.0
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
Percent of CIRP Respondents that Reported a
High School Community Service Requirement
50.0
Percent
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
VOLUNTEERING TRENDS: HIGH SCHOOL
Performed volunteer work
100.0
60.0
40.0
20.0
20
02
20
00
19
98
19
96
19
94
19
92
19
90
19
88
19
86
0.0
19
84
Percent
80.0
POLITICAL INTEREST: ENTERING STUDENTS
Objective (Essential/Very Important):
Keep up to date with political affairs
50.0
30.0
19
66
19
69
19
72
19
75
19
78
19
81
19
84
19
87
19
90
19
93
19
96
19
99
20
02
Percent
70.0
Service Required: High School
High School Type
% students reporting
graduation requirement
% of students attending
this institution type
Public Charter
38.6
1.0
Public Magnet
45.2
2.9
Other Public
21.9
79.4
Private Religious
69.6
11.0
Private Independent 64.8
5.2
H.S. Service-Learning: Who
Participates?
59
57
55
55.9
53
53
% participating in H.S.
service learning
49.4
51
49
47
45
All
Students
Men
Women
H.S. Service-Learning and Family Income
6 5 .0 0 %
6 0 .0 0 %
5 5 .0 0 %
% p a r tic ip a tin g in s e r v ic e
le a r n in g
5 0 .0 0 %
$
r
9
e
o
v
,9
o
r
4
0
0
,0
0
0
5
2
$
1
5
0
,0
0
,0
0
0
-$
1
-$
2
4
9
,9
9
,9
9
9
0
0
1
$
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
-$
0
0
,0
0
6
$
$
4
0
,0
0
0
-$
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9
,9
9
,9
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-$
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,0
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ss
In
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a
o
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m
$
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1
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,0
ve
0
l
4 0 .0 0 %
9
0
4 5 .0 0 %
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
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?
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
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
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
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
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
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?
HERI Survey Items
 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)
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
2004 Post-College Survey
 51.2% watch at least
 66.7% boycotted
six hours of television
products
per week
 51.5% signed an email
 4.9% volunteer over
petition
six hours per week
 13.2% contacted
 15.1% say that
newspaper or magazine
becoming a community
leader is ‘very
important’ to them
2004 Civic Engagement
 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: Volunteerism
60
50
40
30
Volunteerism
20
10
0
None Occasionally Frequently
Volunteering in 2004
95
90
85
80
75
Service Learning
No service learning
70
65
60
55
50
1994
1998
2004
2004: Performed Volunteer
Work
No Service In
College
2004 Volunteer Work
None
Occasionally
Frequently
30%
14%
8%
ServiceVolunteer (m/h Learning (m/h
reflection)
reflection)
17%
26%
28%
20%
29%
36%
Percent marking goal: helping others in
difficulty as ‘very important’ or ‘essential’
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1994
1998
2004
Non SL
SL
% reporting goal: influencing political
structure is ‘very important’ or ‘essential’
25
20
15
Non SL
SL
10
5
0
1994
1998
2004
% reporting goal: influencing social values
is ‘very important’ or ‘essential’
70
60
50
40
Non SL
30
SL
20
10
0
1994
1998
2004
2004 Participated in a
Demonstration or Protest
No Service In
College
2004 Participated in a
Demonstration/Protest
Not at All
Occasionally
Frequently
17%
15%
12%
Service-Learning
Volunteer (m/h) (m/h reflection)
24%
29%
32%
28%
31%
29%
2004 Boycotting to Protest a
Company’s Values
No Service In
College
2004 Boycotting
Never
1-2 Times
Occasionally
Frequently
21%
15%
16%
15%
Service-Learning
Volunteer (m/h)
(m/h reflection)
20%
24%
26%
28%
26%
30%
29%
29%
2004 Buycotting Company to
Support its Values
No Service In
College
2004 Buycotting
Never
1-2 Times
Occasionally
Frequently
20%
16%
15%
14%
Service-Learning
Volunteer (m/h)
(m/h reflection)
21%
25%
27%
27%
26%
29%
30%
31%
2004 Employment Sector
60
56.9
50
40
30.9
30
% in sector 2004
20
11.9
10
0
Private
Public
Non Profit
2004 Satisfaction with Opportunity to
Contribute to Society Through Your Job
Public
2004 Opportunity to
Contribute to Society
Dissatisfied/Very
Dissatified
Satisfied/Very Satisfied
Private
Non-profit
4%
17%
4%
81%
49%
79%
2004 Attended an Alumni
Event
No Service In
College
2004 Attended an
Alumni Event
Not at All
Occasionally
Frequently
20%
15%
12%
Volunteer
(m/h)
22%
25%
29%
ServiceLearning (m/h
reflection)
27%
29%
31%
2004 Attended an Alumni
Cultural Event
No Service In
College
2004 Attended an
Cultural Event
Not at All
Occasionally
Frequently
20%
14%
13%
Volunteer
(m/h)
23%
25%
31%
ServiceLearning (m/h
reflection)
27%
31%
30%
2004 Donated Money to Your
Alma Mater
No Service In
College
2004 Donated Money to
Alma Mater
Not at All
Occasionally
Frequently
21%
15%
11%
Volunteer
(m/h)
22%
25%
27%
ServiceLearning (m/h
reflection)
26%
30%
29%
2004 Helped Recruit Students
to Your Alma Mater
No Service In
College
2004 Recruited
Students to Alma Mater
Not at All
Occasionally
Frequently
19%
12%
11%
Volunteer
(m/h)
22%
29%
25%
ServiceLearning (m/h
reflection)
27%
31%
36%
Student
Characteristics
Family &
Culture
Institutional
Culture
(size, faculty values)
College Experience
Job, children
Graduate School
Post-College Beliefs,
Behaviors
Conceptual Framework
College
Experiences
Pre-college
Experiences
Peer Group
Influences
Pretests / Proxies
Diverse
Background
Interactions
Characteristics
Curricular &
High School
Co-curricular
Activities
Personal
Attributes
Outcomes
Volunteering
Post-College
Experiences
Activities
Values
Consumer
Activism
Civic
Engagement
Multiple Regression Analyses
 Goes beyond descriptive statistics
 Allows to control for background
characteristics
 Elucidates relationships between background
characteristics, college experiences, and
outcomes
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)
2004 Volunteerism
 1994 variables





Socioeconomic Status
High School GPA
Volunteering
Frequency of discussing religion
Value: Helping others in difficulty
 1998 variables






Volunteering while in college
Ethnic studies course
Attd racial/cultural awareness wkshp
Level of cross-racial interaction
Internship Program
Fraternity/Sorority
Significance
+++
+++
++
+++
++
Significance
+++
+++
+
+++
+
---
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)
Civic Engagement
 1994 variables





Political views
Volunteering
Frequency of discussing politics
Frequency of part in org demos/protests
Self-rating: Understanding of others
 1998 variables








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
Significance
+++
+++
+++
+++
+
Significance
+++
+++
+
+++
+
++
--+++
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)
Political Activism
 1994 variables




Political views
Volunteering
Frequency of discussing politics
Frequency of discussing religion
 1998 variables




Attd racial/cultural awareness wkshp
Level of cross-racial interaction
Student Government
Fraternity/Sorority
Significance
+++
++
+++
++
Significance
+++
++
++
-
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)
Consumer Activism: Outcomes
 1994 variables




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
+++
+++
+++
++
Significance
+++
+++
+
VISIT US ON THE WEB
HERI:
http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri
Understanding The Effects of Service Learning
(The Atlantic Project):
http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/understanding_service_learning.html
Lori Vogelgesang, Project Director: vogel@ucla.edu
Kim Misa, Research Analyst: kmisa@ucla.edu
Jodi Anderson, Research Analyst: jla29@ucla.edu