Barnhardt, C., T. Trolian, B. An, P. Rossmann, and D. Morgan. “Civic Learning While Earning? The Role of Student Employment in Cultivating Civic Commitments and Skills.” The Review of Higher Education 42, no. 2, (2019): 707–737.
CENTRAL TAKEAWAY
Students who work on campus for up to six hours each week experience civic gains in ways that off-campus work does not stimulate; institutional efforts should be directed towards ethically expanding programs like Federal Work Study and other mechanisms for providing more on-campus work opportunities.
SUMMARY
While civic preparation and educated participation was formerly an imperative of higher educational institutions, this outcome has received less attention in recent years as emphasis has shifted toward employment preparation and work experience. But does progress in one of these priorities need to come at the expense of the other? This large- scale cross-sectional study examined the relationship between student work experiences during college and their democratic and civic outcomes. Specifically, the authors measured students’ self-assessments of their growth during college in two domains: first, their commitment to change society for the better (a set of values), and second, their capacity to contribute to the larger community (a set of skills).
The authors collected data from 16,597 students from 23 U.S. campuses that were diverse in control, inclusivity, type, and Carnegie classification. They then employed a series of logistic regressions to investigate their research questions. These regressions included control variables, including those that measured other student engagement experiences. To ensure the robustness of their findings and prevent response bias from unduly influencing their results, the authors ran their analysis again after removing four institutions that had unusually low response rates and arrived at the same conclusions.
DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS
Not all work environments are effective at encouraging students’ civic development, and where that work occurs seems to matter a great deal. Students who participate in on-campus jobs are significantly more likely to develop stronger commitments to change society for the better during college; however, the effect is small, amounting to an increased probability of about 7 percent (i.e., or an odds ratio of 1.34).
The strongest effects were found for students who worked between one and six hours on campus each week, with higher hours corresponding to weaker effects. Working on campus may also prompt stronger civic skill development, but the effects were small (i.e., about a 5 percent increase, or an odds ratio of 1.24), and unstable, disappearing for those who worked more hours per week.
Interestingly, working off campus did not prompt civic development. Of perhaps greater interest were the associations between other campus experiences and civic development. Specifically, students who had discussions with their peers about contributing to the larger community were 72 percent more likely to strengthen their civic commitments, and 68 percent more likely to do the same with their civic skills.
The civic development observed in on-campus work environments could be due to several possibilities. Perhaps on-campus employment underscores the importance students place on their labor as a means of contributing to the mission of the institution. Alternatively, working on campus might facilitate more discussion among peers about civic issues that may occur on and off campus.
IMPLICATIONS FOR ACTION BY CAMPUS LEADERS
Campus leaders may wish to direct more funding to work-study programs, and/or establish policies that make it easier for students to participate in on-campus work experiences. It is important that such policies be developmentally appropriate, centered on the values of the institution. For example, prior research has demonstrated that including opportunities for students to reflect upon and make meaning of their work experiences enhances the civic learning students derive from their work experiences (see Mayhew et al. 2016).
In addition to careful structuring and supervision, campus leaders should be thoughtful and strategic about the working conditions of any novel campus work opportunities, and proactively ensure that these positions do not contribute to historical patterns of student exclusion and exploitation.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Cassie Barnhardt is an associate professor of educational policy and leadership studies at the University of Iowa.
Teniell Trolian is an assistant professor of educational policy and leadership at the University at Albany, State University of New York.
Brian An is an associate professor of educational policy and leadership studies at the University of Iowa.
Patrick Rossmann is the assistant director of experiential learning at the University of Iowa.
Demetri Morgan is an assistant professor in the Higher Education Program at the Loyola University Chicago School of Education.
RECOMMENDED FOLLOW-UP LITERATURE
Mayhew, M. J., A. B. Rockenbach, N.A. Bowman, T.A. Seifert, and G. C. Wolniak. How College Affects Students: 21st Century Evidence that Higher Education Works. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2016.
Reason, R. D. (Ed.) Special Issue: Developing and Assessing Personal and Social Responsibility in College 164. San Francisco, CA: Wiley Periodicals, Inc, 2013.
Sweitzer, H. F., and M. A. King. The Successful Internship: Personal, Professional, and Civic Development (3rd ed.). Delmont, CA: Books/Cole Cengage Learning, 2008.