The Civic Extracurriculum: Opportunities for Civic Engagement and Development in Collegiate Associations

• In Event: 594 - Section on Political Sociology Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 19. Political Participation

Abstract

What are the civic experiences offered in today’s collegiate associations? While curricular factors certainly play a role in civically shaping young people, another key part of the civic development equation is extra-curricular activity. It is surprising, then, that U.S. collegiate associations—as one of the first opportunities many young Americans have to organize and run truly self-governing groups—remain understudied. This paper presents data from a study mapping the civic “extra-curriculum” for college students at the campus of a large U.S. state university. Data were assembled from web pages, public listings, and media coverage on a random sample of 158 groups. Results indicate that student affiliated groups tend focus on recreational and career topics and pursue community building and skill development with relatively little attention to politics or advocacy. Groups are structured in ways that are surprisingly isolated and offer limited chances for practicing democracy. The patterns imply that collegiate association experiences are relatively unlikely to increase rates of political engagement among these students after they graduate.

Authors

• Matthew G. Baggetta, Indiana University

• David Michael Bredenkamp, Indiana University