Service-Learning and Student Diversity Outcomes: Existing Evidence and Directions for Future Research.

Abstract

As today's business world and society become more diverse, it is essential for colleges and universities to prepare to work and live in that diverse world, and service-learning is one tool for that education. This study presents a critical review of 55 studies of the impact of service-learning participation on students 'diversity outcomes, identifying six diversity-related outcomes that emerge from these studies. The paper also identifies five major limitations of the existing body of research, and offers suggestions for researchers to conduct and write about this research in ways that provide an empirical basis for effective service-learning practice. ********** The increasing diversity of the American population is influencing the make-up of colleges and universities. The proportion of students of color among undergraduates rose from 16% in 1976 to 29% in 2000 (Rankin & Reason, 2005), and Carnevale and Fry (2000) estimated that percentage would grow to 37% by 2015, with states such as Hawaii, California, and New Mexico expected to see students of color outnumber White students. In several states, minority students already make up more than one-third of students (Pike & Kuh, 2006). The worlds in which students grow up prior to entering college are not seeing a comparable diversification. Elementary and secondary schools are growing more segregated (Orfield, Bachmeier, James, & Eitle, 1997), and even in diverse schools, the Black and White students are almost completely socially self-segregated (Echenique & Fryer, 2007), suggesting that even students from integrated high schools may have little experience with diversity. College is the first time most students experience significant interaction with diverse others (Hurtado, Engberg, Ponjuan, & Landerman, 2002; Rankin & Reason, 2005). When students arrive on campus and encounter a range of diverse fellow students and new ideas, they enter a living laboratory with great potential for allowing them to learn and grow. This environment can provide students an opportunity to learn about different perspectives and cultures and confront of racism, bigotry, and oppression (Chang, Astin, & Kim, 2004; Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, & Gurin, 2002; Pike & Kuh, 2006), but there is also potential for interactions in this diverse environment to harm students' attitudes about diversity (Hurtado, Milem, Clayton-Pedersen, & Allen, 1998), especially if those interactions are not supported and facilitated by the institution (Chang, 1996; Gurin, 1999). When considering interventions and programs designed to improve students' diversity outcomes through structural, instructional, and interactional diversity, most researchers have focused on classes focused on multicultural and diversity (Bowman, 2010; Hurtado, 2001; Marin, 2000), intergroup dialogues (Hurtago; Nagda & Zuniga, 2003), and other diversity-focused programs (Hyun, 1994; Milem, 1994; Whitt, Edison, Pascarella, Terenzini, & Nora, 2001). Service-learning programs, however, are largely absent from the larger discussion of improving students' exposure to interactional diversity. Engberg (2004) reviewed 13 studies of the impact of service-learning participation on students' racial bias in his review of diversity-related educational programs; but despite a myriad of studies linking service-learning to diversity outcomes, other researchers studying ways that college improves diversity outcomes have not considered service-learning as a diversity intervention (Chang, 1999; Denson, 2009; Gurin et al., 2002; Milem, Chang, & Antonio, 2005; Pascarella, Edison, Nora, Hagedorn, & Terenzini, 1996). Despite this absence in much of the literature on diversity outcomes in higher education, service-learning scholars and advocates have long promoted the pedagogy as a way to address diversity-related outcomes. Zlotkowski (1996) suggested that issues of diversity and multiculturalism (p. …

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