Whom Does Service-Learning Really Serve? The Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Service-Learning Outcomes

• In Event: 34.070 - Expanding the Research Foundation for Service-Learning

Abstract

A substantial body of scholarship has documented the positive educational outcomes of service-learning courses. Few of these studies, however, account for students’ diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Our analysis begins to explore this question using assessment data collected from students enrolled in service-learning courses at a southern, private comprehensive liberal arts university in the 2015-2016 academic year. We found that students’ impressions of the benefits of their service-learning experiences varied significantly with their self-reported family income. Generally speaking, middle income students reported more modest gains than upper and lower income students in their belief that service-learning affected their educational outcomes. These findings have implications for the pedagogical development of high impact practices aimed to increase equity in education.

Authors

• Joe Blosser, High Point University

• Cara Kozma, High Point University

• Alixandra Yanus, High Point University