Enduring Commitments to Community Service among Diverse College Students: Testing a Multidimensional Conceptual Model

Abstract

The Enduring Community Service Engagement Model illustrates how multiple dimensions of service participation – including the type and intensity of service, the motivations to serve, and the benefits of service – relate to subsequent citizenship values and behaviors. This study draws on data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/09) and utilizes structural equation modeling to examine the extent to which the relationships in the model are conditional on college students’ gender, race and ethnicity, income level, and institutional type. The findings provide evidence for model invariance in the case of institutional type; however, some model parameters differ by gender, race and ethnicity, and income level.