Does Postsecondary Education Attainment Matter in Community Service Engagement? Evidence from Across 18 OECD Countries

Hee Jung Gong,Jung Eun Hong

doi:10.3390/educsci11030096

Abstract

This study is concerned with the central issues of community service engagement (CSE) in 21st century democratic societies around the world. To examine the factors influencing postsecondary education attainment’s relationship to CSE, this study utilized data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries using ordinary least square (OLS) and two-level hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) methods, including various factors for each country’s individual and country levels. The results show that attainment in postsecondary education at the individual level and investment and enrollments in tertiary education both have an influence on increasing CSE in 18 OECD countries. The present study is expected to contribute to an understanding of the relationship between postsecondary education and CSE across the world.

Highlights

Encouraging responsible, active, participatory citizenship is a goal in the field of education and has globally been an important agenda item among researchers, educators, and policy makers [1]
Prior to conducting ordinary least square (OLS) regression and hierarchical linear modeling techniques, we examined the mean community service engagement (CSE) using a one-way ANOVA test with the Bonferroni post hoc test for multiple comparisons, which addressed the first research question
Worldwide, CSE varies from 1.31 (Poland) to 2.04 (USA), which yields a standard deviation of 0.99 among the individuals sampled within the 18 OECD countries

Summary

Introduction

Encouraging responsible, active, participatory citizenship is a goal in the field of education and has globally been an important agenda item among researchers, educators, and policy makers [1]. Increasing civic engagement is a growing concern, as it has been proven to be an essential aspect of high-quality governance and a well-functioning democracy, producing better quality schools, faster economic development, and more effective governments [2]. In terms of the relationship between a nation and its civic affairs, according to a Washington DC Gallup Poll [4], adults in developed countries are more likely to be civically engaged than those in the developing world. The related literature has revealed that civic engagement can be cultivated by a nation through its economic status, culture, or social norms [5,6]. Despite variances in civic engagement behaviors around the world, cultivating community service engagement and thereby increasing civic engagement is an important task for all global citizens [1]

Methods

Results

Conclusion