The CSUSB project, led by Drs. Morris and Dhillon Brar, is a mixed method research study examining the motivations, supports, and barriers to civic engagement in college students, from a primarily Latinx and first-generation college student sample. Civic Engagement (e.g. social activism, political engagement, community service) is beneficial for all those who engage in it (Flanagan et al., 2002). Emerging adulthood can be a critical period for civic identity development when individuals often have more opportunities to be civically engaged and are confronted with who they are and who they want to be as part of a larger society. There might be, however, various personal and communal motivations behind civic engagement of college students, especially within the context of an HSI. Hence, the purpose of this project is to unpack the motivations for, and facilitators and barriers to civic engagement among students in this context. This project employs sequential mixed methods (first, quantitative surveys and then, qualitative interviews with a subsample of students who participate in different forms of engagement) to identify (1) the mechanisms through which motivations drive engagement, (2) the positive effects of civic engagement on psychosocial outcomes of young adults, and (3) the role that the university context plays in providing meaningful opportunities for students to become civically and politically active. Implications include understanding the ways in which HSI university contexts can better support Latinx students in civic engagement, a pivotal element to personal and communal development and well being.
- Funding: Partially funded by mini-grant
