VOLUNTEERING, AGAIN? HOW STUDENTS CHOOSE EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES IN SECONDARY AND TERTIARY EDUCATION

Abstract

In recent decades, the federal government has made various efforts through legislation and service-learning programs to encourage youth volunteering activity. Various state and local governments have passed legislation mandating community service as a high school graduation requirement. At the same time, college admissions offices have signaled the importance of extracurricular activities to high school students seeking acceptance to an elite university.

These actions have helped shape the student attitude that volunteering is an extracurricular activity option that offers benefits for college applications. This attitude may affect long-term commitments students have to volunteering.

Though longitudinal studies on youth volunteering activity exist, they do not consider the wide range of extracurricular activities that students participate in throughout high school and college. To address this, a study was conducted on students at a selective and elite university.

The study utilized a retrospective survey to gather participation rates across different activity categories and demographic groups, including students who founded an organization during high school. These students have been considered to show leadership skills and initiative, but there are no studies that show that founding an organization produces significant long-term effects.

The study found that there is a general decrease in participation in extracurricular activities once students enter college and that volunteering activity did not decrease at a significantly higher or lower level than other activities. It also revealed that founding an organization did not significantly impact activity choices and persistence.

The findings suggest that for whatever reason students volunteer, they do not abandon it at a higher rate than other extracurricular activities. In addition, founding an organization may not be more indicative of long-term commitment and leadership ability than a non-founding role in an activity.

To increase participation rates, college admissions offices and educational authorities can encourage persistence from the transition to high school to college through direct and indirect signaling. The importance of the college admissions office in influencing extracurricular activities should also be recognized and considered in future studies.