Carvalho, M. Carmo

Gonçalves, D. C.

Negrão, Mariana

Trigo, Luísa Ribeiro

Veríssimo, Lurdes

English

Repositório Institucional da Universidade Católica Portuguesa

  Community service in university:  Personal and social skills, career knowledge and career development  Veríssimo L., Carvalho M. C., Negrão M., Gonçalves D. C.,  & Trigo, L. R.   IAEVG International Conference - International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Pádua, Itália, 2007  Faculty of Education and Psychology The Catholic University of Portugal Index 1. Conceptual framework  2. Goals  3. Sample  4. Instruments  5. Results  6. Discussion Conceptual framework  • Volunteerism can be defined as “(…) long-term, planned, prosocial behaviors that benefit strangers and occur within an organizational setting” (Penner, 2002, p. 448).  • Community service has been considered an integral component to universities’ mission (Hellman, Hoppes, & Ellison, 2006).   Conceptual framework  • Recent literature has examined the importance of volunteerism in different areas of human development  (e.g., Eliasoph, 1998; Koliba, 2000; Penner, Dovidio, Piliavin, & Schroeder, 2005; Torney-Purta, Lehmann, Oswald, & Schulz, 2001 ).  Conceptual framework Clary, Snyder, Ridge, Copeland, Stukas, Haugen, & Miene (1998) recognized six motivational functions served by volunteerism:  1) Values 2) Understanding 3) Self-enhancement 4) Social 5) Protective functions 6) Career:  Conceptual framework   • Nevertheless, various aspects need more research, namely the relation between volunteerism experience and other relevant variables in psychological domain, such as personal, social and career development.   Conceptual framework Adapted from Bussell & Forbes (2001)  What Where Why How Who The Community Service Program (CSP) What Personal and Social Development Program  Action Volunteerism in an institution  Reflection Training, Supervision, Monitoring and Evaluation  Commitment The Community Service Program (CSP) Who Psychology Students (1st cycle) from the Catholic University of Portugal – Oporto Regional Centre The Community Service Program (CSP) Where Organizational Settings: • Foster care  • Schools  • Hospitals  • Elderly residential care • Community interventions on harm reduction • Prisons  • Adolescent mothers residential care • Deficient residential care The Community Service Program (CSP) Why Main aims:  • To promote personal and social student’s development;  • To strengthen values;  • To allow a first contact of students with professional world;  • To contribute to the satisfaction of real needs felt by local institutions. The Community Service Program (CSP) How The Process    • Minimum required of 48h hours  • Weekly basis / Intensive mode  • Monthly training and regular supervision  • Evaluation  Goals • Explore students’ perceptions about:   i. personal and social skills development  ii. career knowledge  iii. career development  once enrolled in Community Service Program.  Sample     Table 1. Sample characterization (N = 56; M= 22,8 years old )  Characteristic Group Frequency Percentage Gender Male 3 94,6% Female 53 5,4% College Rank Freshman 13 23.2% Sophomore 17 30.4% Junior 26 46.4% N.º of years of CSP 1 24 45.3% 2 21 39.6% 3 8 15.1 % Other Type of Volunteerism Yes 24 43.6% No 31 56.4% Periodicity Weekly basis 40 83.3%  Other 8 17,3% Instrument • Volunteerism Experience in University Evaluation Questionnaire (Trigo, Lisboa & Fonseca, 2007)  Instrument Domains: • Demographic Characteristics • Volunteerism Experience Characteristics • Personal and Social Skills Development,  • Career Knowledge and Career development Results    Higher scores (M > 3.5) Lower scores (M < 3)  Personal and Social Skills  • Responsibility (M = 3.53) • Feeling useful  (M = 3.57) • Sensibility  (M= 3.60) • Solidarity (M = 3.68)  • Negotiation  (M = 2.72) • Leadership  (M = 2.75)  • Deal with changes  (M = 2.96) • Propose new ideas (M = 2.92) Table 2. Students’ perceptions about development of personal and social skills    through CSP (%) Results Skill Mean Skill Mean Assuming responsibilities Time management Problem solving  Interpersonal relationship Team work Leadership  Assiduity  Punctuality 3.53 3.34 3.25 3.36 3.19 2.75 3.32 3.32 Negotiation Planning Engaging in a project Conflict management Dealing with change Being flexible Relating with other educational, social, and ethnic backgrounds people  2.72 3.40 3.13 3.23 3.11 3.19 2.96 Table 3. Students’ perceptions about development of career related    skills through CSP (M) Results 012341 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15Graphic 1. Students’ perceptions about development of career related     skills through CSP (M) Results Item Nothing A few Moderately A lot Psychological intervention 3.6 12.5 48.2 30.4 Others technicians’ intervention 0 7.1 57.1 32.1 Institution functioning  0 7.1 41.1 48.2 World of work 0 14.3 57.1 25 Table 4. Students’ perceptions about career knowledge acquisition  through CSP(%) Results Item Nothing A few Moderately A lot Worry about career development 0 0 12.5 83.9 Community service contributes to the preparation and development of career 0 5.4 42.9 48.2 Academic course enrichment through community service 1.8 3.6 25 66 Community service helps to better decide what to do professionally in the future 1.8 7.1 44.6 42.9 Table 5. Students’ perceptions about career development through CSP (%) Discussion  • Overall data suggest that students establish a connection between engaging in community service and personal, social and career development.  • Relevance of the integration of community service in the university mission as a way to develop students’ skills.  • Importance of university students contacting with practical working life they will enter in the future.    Future Directions  • Further investigation is needed about the potential consequences of community service in university for the students (Penner, Dovidio, Pilliavin, & Schoeder, 2005).  • Qualitative or longitudinal studies are suggested. References • Bussell, H. & Forbes, D. (2001). Understanding the volunteer market: what, where, who and why of volunteering. International Journal of Non Profit and Voluntary Sector Marketiung, 7(3), 244-257. • Eliasoph, N. (1998). Avoiding politics: How Americans produce apathy in everyday life. New York: Cambridge University Press. • Koliba, C. J. (2000). Moral language and networks of engagement. Service learning and civic education. American Behavioral Scientist, 43(5) 825-838. • Hellman, C. M., Hoppes, S., & Ellison, G. C.  (2006). Factors associated with college student intent to engage in community service. The Journal of Psychology, 140(1), 29-39. • Penner, L. A. (2002). Dispositional and organizational influences in sustained volunteerism: An interactionist perspective.  Journal of Social Issues, 58(3), 447-467. • Penner, L. A., Dovidio, J., F., Piliavin, J.A., & Schroeder, D.A. (2005). Prosocial behaviour: Multilevel perspectives. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 365-392. • Torney-Purta, J., Lehmann, R., Oswald, H., & Schulz, W. (2001). Citizenship and education in twenty-eight countries. Civic knowledge and engagement at age fourteen. IEA. • Trigo, L. R., Lisboa, L. V., & Fonseca, A. M. (2005). Questionário de avaliação da experiência de voluntariado no ensino superior. Versão para investigação. Porto: Faculdade de Educação e Psicologia da Universidade Católica Portuguesa.  • Thanks for your attention                         llisboa@porto.ucp.pt 

Community service in university: Personal and social skills, career knowledge and career development

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Community service in university: Personal and social skills, career knowledge and career development

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