University Volunteering as a Tool for Promoting Active Citizenship: An Analysis from the Student Perspective
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Abstract
Within the framework of the 2030 Agenda, universities seek to promote active citizenship through volunteering and service-learning initiatives. This study examines the role of university volunteering in promoting students’ social commitment by distinguishing between volunteering experiences linked to the university and those carried out independently of it. A mixed-methods design was employed, combining two surveys (N = 632 and N = 946) with 47 semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal a gap between students' willingness to engage in social commitment and their actual participation in volunteering activities, which are predominantly undertaken outside the university context. Nevertheless, volunteering was associated with stronger intentions to engage in future volunteering and with the retrospective perception that commitment to social issues had increased during the university years. The qualitative analysis identified two participation logics—ethical-biographical and instrumental-professional—and showed that, in disciplines such as Psychology, volunteering forms part of students' professional socialization. Overall, the findings suggest that universities play a marginal, though not irrelevant, role: social commitment is shaped through participatory trajectories in which the university acts as a context that can reinforce and diversify prior experiences.
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