The impact of mandatory academic service-learning on university graduates’ continual civic engagement: evidence from a curriculum reform

Why this paper matters

Examines long-term civic engagement after mandatory academic service-learning.

Evidence reviewed

Design: Curriculum-reform cohort comparison with regression controls
Full-text status: Indexed PDF/full text reviewed

Principal finding

Graduates exposed to the reform were estimated to be 9.4% more likely to remain civically engaged, with larger effects among those without prior service.

EntrSL interpretation

This paper informs the design or evaluation of service-learning and experiential-learning work. Its findings should be interpreted within the reported design and context, not treated as universal or necessarily causal evidence.

Limitations and boundary conditions

Quasi-experimental rather than randomized; civic outcome and institutional context constrain inference.

Scoring rationale

• EntrSL relevance: 5/5. Directness to service-learning, experiential learning, higher education, entrepreneurship, reflection, reciprocity, or institutional practice.
• Evidence quality: 5/5. Based on design transparency, sample or review breadth, analytical fit, and inferential limits.
• Journal standing is separate. OpenAlex two-year mean citedness and h-index are descriptive source metrics and do not increase this paper’s evidence score.

Citation

Shuheng Lin; Grace Ngai; Kam Por Kwan; Stephen C.F. Chan; Kenneth W.K. Lo (2025). “The impact of mandatory academic service-learning on university graduates’ continual civic engagement: evidence from a curriculum reform.” Higher Education Research & Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2025.2467901