Service Learning Experiences and University Students

December 3, 2025

Service Learning Experiences and University Students’ Motivation to Lead

William Lamb | 2015

Abstract

In an effort to improve service-learning (SL) experiences among students at university campuses, it is valuable for educational leaders to measure the impact that these experiences may have on students. In addition, a responsibility of universities is to prepare students for leadership beyond the collegiate experiences. This study expanded previous research by identifying the relationship of SL experiences with student motivation to lead (MTL). In addition, this study also examined social justice attitudes, problem-solving skills, and perceived leadership skills as possible mediators in the relationship between SL and student MTL. Although there is adequate literature on the three dimensions of motivation to lead (affective-identity, social-normative, and noncalculative), there seemed to be a gap in the investigation of the relationship of student’s SL experiences and MTL. Therefore, this research study utilized a quantitative approach for gathering and analyzing empirical data which revealed outcomes that will be beneficial to expanding the research on SL and MTL. The sample of students, ranging from freshman to seniors at a faith-based institution in the United States participating in this study totaled 407. Control variables included general self-efficacy, gender, race, and previous leadership experience. Two questions guided this study: Does the extent of a student’s SL program experience have a positive multivariate relationship with a student’s MTL? Do student problem-solving skills, beliefs in social justice, and leadership role experiences mediate the relationship between a student’s SL program experiences and student MTL? The results of this research revealed that (a) SL does have a direct relationship with student’s affective-identity MTL, (b) perceived leadership skills fully mediate the relationship between SL and affective-identity MTL, (c) SL is not a predictor of social-normative motivation to lead, (d) neither problem-solving skills nor social justice attitudes mediate the relationship between SL and AIMTL.

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