Testing the Civic Voluntarism Model With Social Work Students: How Do Psychological Engagement, Access to Resources, and Recruitment Networks Impact Civic Engagement?

Increasing civic engagement among social workers requires the development of a clear definition of what civic engagement is, how it should be measured, and an examination of what predicts it. In this paper, we test Civic Engagement Theory to determine its applicability to social work students. Using responses from a survey of social work students (n = 854), we test which variables predict civic engagement. We construct indices of the three key factors theorized to predict level of civic engagement: psychological engagement, resources, and recruitment networks. Using these indices (and other variables), we test our models against five different operationalizations of civic engagement. The key variables of theory are generally useful to understand civic engagement. Psychological engagement (measured as self-efficacy) and having taken a course on civic engagement were the most consistent predictors of civic engagement, followed by recruitment networks and resources. Different operationalizations of civic engagement have somewhat different levels of fit. Still, these results provide strong evidence for the applicability of Civic Engagement models to drive social work student participation. The results suggest that schools of social work should now have theory-based and empirically confirmed approaches to improving engagement levels. These recommendations are: (1) ensure that all social work students take courses specifically focused on civic engagement; and (2) focus on increasing students’ self-efficacy and exposure to political networks to fulfill social work’s self-identified ethical mandate to prepare students to be civically engaged.