The Influence of Social Identities on Civic Identity

Abstract

There is a growing societal need for civic-minded leaders, and undergraduate students are poised to become the future leaders and decision makers for a global society. This dissertation explores the demographics and experiences of undergraduate students and their perceived civic-mindedness at a predominantly White, urban, Jesuit-Catholic, liberal arts university in the Northwest United States. It also examines the relationship between the students’ social and civic identities, suggesting that an identity-neutral Civic-Minded Graduate (CMG) construct fails to account for the role of social identities. This examination of the personal and social identities of gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on the development of civic-mindedness and civic identity contributes to the literature and to the institution’s ability to support and nurture students by building individual leadership capacity through civic engagement on campus, in the local community, and beyond. Using a critical, emancipatory, and participatory action research lens that centers the views of excluded groups, this explanatory sequential mixed methods case study involves undergraduates in the arts and sciences and science and engineering colleges who have been at the institution for at least two academic terms. An online survey, based on the CMG Scale, and focus groups were administered to gain a deeper understanding of the relationships between social identities, civic identity, and civic-mindedness, in support of the center for community engagement at the case study institution. Six hundred and ninety-nine participants completed the Modified CMG Scale and two focus groups yielded nine participants. The results of the study indicate that the salience of social identities relates to civic-mindedness and to non-dominant/underrepresented groups, which in turn influences the ways in which civic engagement is enacted. Students’ sense of self as determined through salient social identities also impacts the types of communities in which these students engage. This engagement can be defined as civic self-authorship, in which civic action and social identity development converge. Ultimately, the researchers suggest the full consideration of social identities in civic development and engagement efforts on campus and in the community and offer recommendations for practice and future research that emerged from the investigation of the case study population.