Getting Engaged: Factors Enhancing Perceived Student Benefits From Service-Learning in Business Education

Service-learning is an instructional method that incorporates community service into the curriculum. The integration of service-learning into business pedagogy provides benefits that are particularly valuable to business students. Yet business educators have been slow to integrate service-learning into their classes. The authors explore the benefits of service-learning through the experiences of 1,530 undergraduate students and compare student gains from service-learning between business majors and students in other disciplines. Furthermore, they note a number of factors that influence evaluations of service-learning. They conclude by providing ideas for incorporating service-learning into business classes and highlight implications for students, faculty, and administrators.