Individual Differences, Self-Selection and Civic Education in University Settings

Civic education—education that has as its end the knowledge, skills, and values that students need for civic participation—has long been seen as a key educational outcome in democratic societies. While this kind of education can happen at all levels of education, universities have increasingly taken on the production of civically-minded students as part of their core mission. The academic literature in this area is replete with constructs and measurement tools related to civic-mindedness, yet assessing the impact of civic education efforts remains both essential and inherently complex. A critical element of this conversation is selection: which students are exposed to civic education and on what basis. Students’ personal attributes not only influence their educational choices—and their likelihood of encountering civic education—but are also shaped by the educational experiences to which they are exposed. Against this backdrop, this thesis explores a central research question: To what extent do undergraduate students’ pre-existing civic orientations influence their educational choices?
CHAPTER 2 investigates the relationship between civic-mindedness and personality traits using survey data from over 1,500 undergraduate students. Structural equation modeling revealed that while civic-mindedness overlaps with the Five-Factor Model of personality, it is a distinct construct. Approximately 40% of service motivation and 53% of civic efficacy variation was explained by personality traits. These findings highlight the potential for traditional educational interventions to foster civic-mindedness without having to undertake the more difficult proposition of personality change.
CHAPTER 3 uses the same survey data set but includes students’ discipline of enrollment. Using multinomial logistic regressions, this chapter explores the distribution of civic-mindedness across academic disciplines. Students in humanities displayed the highest service motivation, while business students exhibited the lowest. Civic efficacy was highest among law students and lowest in science and technology, followed closely again by business students. The findings in this chapter emphasize the role of self-selection based on civic orientations and suggest tailored civic education strategies to address disciplinary disparities.
CHAPTER 4 marks the thesis’ turn toward business students and uses focus group discussions with first-year students in business and non-business programs in the first year of their studies. The focus groups showed that business students prioritize career-oriented and practical outcomes in their education, with limited intrinsic interest in civic education. Themes such as autonomy, practicality, and careerism emerged. These insights underline the importance of aligning civic education initiatives with business students’ motivations, using applied and flexible course designs to foster engagementwith societal issues.
Finally, CHAPTER 5 uses a pre-registered survey experiment to explore how pre-existing identities influence interest in service-learning courses. Altruistic values and pre-professional identities were significant predictors of interest, while volunteer identity was not. Framing had no significant effect on interest levels, suggesting straightforward course descriptions were as effective as tailored framings. These results inform strategies for designing and marketing service-learning courses that resonate with students’ identities and goals.The final chapter synthesizes the thesis’ findings, emphasizing the distinctiveness of civic-mindedness from personality traits and its uneven distribution across academic disciplines.