SERU Consortium Report--The Multi-Engagement Model

SERu Report Cover

Executive Summary

This new report introduces the Multi-Engagement Model, a new framework that redefines student success by examining five key areas of engagement: academics, research, extracurricular activities, civic participation, and career development.

Drawing on over 800,000 student survey responses from the SERU Consortium collected between 2012 and 2023, this study highlights how engagement patterns have changed over time, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

While this report focuses on leading American research universities, the model and analysis could provide an analytical lens for leading universities in other parts of the globe to explore and improve the student experience within their own cultural and institutional environments.

Key takeaways

1. Two thirds of undergraduates are highly engaged in at least one of the defined areas: academic, extracurricular, civic, research, and career. 

2. There are notable disparities linked to gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic background.

3. Engagement patterns vary significantly across disciplines, shaping how students select their majors.

4. A strong association exists between forms of engagement and learning outcomes

5. Different forms of engagement are strongly associated with students’ career preferences and aspirations, guiding them toward diverse postgraduation pathways.

6. the overall landscape of multi-engagement declined across all areas since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Key Findings

1. The Multi-Engagement Model demonstrates that two thirds of undergraduates are highly engaged (belonging in the top 25% of the distribution) in at least one of the defined areas: academic, extracurricular, civic, research, and career. Among seniors, this figure rises to over 85%, indicating increased engagement as students progress through their studies.

2. Notable disparities linked to gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic background

African American students show significantly higher engagement in extracurricular, civic, research, and career activities than White students. Asian students are significantly less engaged in academic and career activities but more engaged in extracurricular and civic activities. Hispanic students exhibit lower academic engagement but higher civic engagement. Wealthy students exhibit significantly higher engagement in academic, extracurricular, civic, and research activities compared to their middle-class peers.

3. Engagement patterns vary significantly across disciplines, shaping how students select their majors.

4. A strong association exists between forms of engagement and learning outcomes, supporting the Multi-Engagement Model assumption that different forms of engagement provide distinct positive outcomes.

5. Different forms of engagement are strongly associated with students’ career preferences and aspirations, guiding them toward diverse postgraduation pathways.

6. Despite these positive findings, the overall landscape of multi-engagement declined across all areas since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, without a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels.

Policy Recommendations

There are five general policy implications we derive from our analysis,

  • Strategically revitalizing engagement
  • Closing equity gaps

  • Promoting campus self-reflection and communicating the value of undergraduate
    education

  • Calibrating faculty hiring and advancement criteria
  • Enhancing data infrastructure

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Authors

Igor Chirikov headshot

Igor Chirikov

Senior Researcher, CSHE
Director of the SERU Consortium

John Aubrey Douglass

Senior Research Fellow, CSHE
Founding Principal Investigator of the SERU Consortium

Gregg T

Gregg Thomson

Principal Researcher, SERU Consortium

About SERU

Based at UC Berkeley, the SERU Consortium is a community of research-intensive universities collaborating on generating longitudinal, benchmarking data on the student experience. Member universities administer SERU undergraduate (ugSERU) and graduate student (gradSERU) surveys that are focused on the student experience and outcomes in research universities; they collaborate in survey design, data sharing, and disseminating best practices. The Consortium is also a vehicle for promoting scholarly and policy-relevant collaboration beyond institutional and national borders. Membership in the SERU Consortium is open to research-intensive universities (having R1 designation and equivalent international campuses) by invitation and for a multi-year term.

For more information, please visit seru.edu.