The long-term impact of service-learning on graduates’ civic engagement and career exploration in Hong Kong

Service-learning (SL) is a relatively new pedagogy in Hong Kong and so far, no study of SL’s long-term impact in Hong Kong exists. To explore SL’s impacts on Hong Kong students, researchers conducted a quantitative study to compare graduates with SL experience to graduates without SL experience in terms of three domains: (1) adaptability, brain power, and creativity (ABC) skills; (2) civic responsibility; and (3) career exploration. Most prominently, this study found that students with SL experience have significantly higher scores in civic responsibility than do their counterparts without SL experience; they are more willing to be involved in community service after graduation, and they invest more hours of service per month. This study indicates that from a long-term perspective, SL participants benefit in terms of greater civic responsibility, better career exploration, and enhanced whole-person development (ABC) skills.