Click here to view full Summer 2016 GES Report
In collaboration with our partner institutions, we are excited to share the results from the third iteration of the Global Engagement Survey (GES). The GES uniquely brings institutions and organizations into a common dataset in an effort to better understand the impact of specific program factors on broadly shared global learning goals. As a community of practice, globalsl is able support efforts to look across programs and consider possible differences stemming from variations in student population, institutional cultures, and specific programming choices and opportunities. In order to better inform program planning for globalsl partners and the field of global learning, we plan to:- Expand the GES during the 2017-2018 academic year
- Create additional opportunities to customize the GES for partners, and
- More explicitly cultivate peer-to-peer learning opportunities among GES participants.
Executive Summary
Click here to view full Summer 2016 GES Report
The Global Engagement Survey (GES) is a multi-institutional assessment tool that employs quantitative and qualitative methods to better understand relationships among program variables and student learning, specifically in respect to global learning goals identified by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U, 2014). The GES is composed of seven scales to assess: intercultural competence, civic engagement, and critical reflection (chapter with the conceptual framing of the GES). Further articulation of the scales appears in the full report. Actual scales appear in the report appendix. The data consisted of: (1) participant background information, (2) program factors, and (3) responses to closed and open-ended questions. For the analyses that follow, only the sample of matched cases (n=107) was utilized to examine significant differences between the pre- and post-test surveys.Findings: Quantitative Analysis
Participants: The participants were majority female (62%), born in the United States (68%), grew up in a suburban area (53%), and had not participated in volunteer service before (59%). The highest percentage of participants reported their race/ ethnicity as White (35%); however, the participants were more diverse than past years (with 15% Asian/ Pacific Islander, 18% other/ multiracial, and 10% Latino). Demographic data and program factors: The analysis illustrates bivariate associations between learning outcomes and select demographic and program variables. As bivariate analyses, these associations do not control for any third variables that may mediate or moderate these relationships. Nonetheless, we report on these associations hoping to raise questions about potential programming options. As the GES population grows moving forward, we will include multivariate analyses in our analyses. The following demographic categories were correlated with significant differences on participants’ scores on at least one of the scales in the post-survey (n=107): gender, country of birth, prior volunteer experience, mother’s education level, and father’s education level (See report for further discussion). The following program factors were correlated with significant effect on at least one of the scales in the post-survey: program leader relationship with the host community, program location, presence of program leader on the site with the students, program time horizon, and components of community engagement (service-learning or non-service-learning) (See report for further discussion). Scales: For the total data set (n=107), there was significant change from pre- to post-survey for the following scales:- Intercultural competence – communication
- Intercultural competence – self-awareness
- Civic engagement – efficacy
- Civic engagement – conscious consumption
Findings: Qualitative Analysis
While there were similar patterns across the whole data set, there were also quantitative and qualitative differences between institutions.- One institution's students considered structural and systemic factors in their comments relating to cultural differences to a greater extent than was true for students from other campuses.
- At one institution, students included comments on politics and religion in their diversity comments to a much greater extent than was the case for other institutions or the total data set.
- Participants from one institution shared increased feelings of cynicism regarding political participation in a manner that was not paralleled on other campuses.
- When asked about adapting communication and behavior in different cultural settings, the participants from one institution described not only their program experiences, but also many examples about transitioning to the cultural context of their university.