1. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Digital Media and Political Inequality among Youth Joseph Kahne Mills College February 25, 2009

2. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College For more information Joseph Kahne jkahne@mills.edu www.civicsurvey.org

3. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Focus of the Presentation 1.Participation is lower than desired and unequal. 2.Schools can promote civic and political participation, but do so inequitably 3.Can digital media promote participation equitably?

4. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Good News! Youth Voting - Up  The youth vote has risen steadily from 37% in 1996 to 52% in 2008  Youth participation up in primaries  youth turnout tripled in Iowa, Georgia, Missouri, and Oklahoma  youth turnout quadrupled in Tennessee

5. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College We Know Youth Care about Others  “I try to help when I see people in need” 86% Agree – 5% Disagree  84% reported volunteering in high school!

6. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Room for Improvement: The Youth Vote  In most primaries more than 80% of those 18-29 did not vote  In the presidential election 48% of those 18-29 did not vote

7. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Youth Participation  55% of youth (18-29) were judged to be disengaged in 2008  9% of youth could list two ways a democratic society benefits from civic participation (From NAEP)

8. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Civic Knowledge Many students lack basic civic knowledge  50% could not identify the correct function of the Supreme Court  33% could not identify either of California’s U.S. Senators from among a list of options

9. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Adult Civic Knowledge: Room for Improvement  38% of adults could name the three branches of government  59% could name the three Stooges

10. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Civic & Political Inequality “Citizens with low or moderate incomes speak with a whisper that is lost on the ears of inattentive government, while the advantaged roar with the clarity and consistency that policymakers readily head” (APSA)

11. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Influence Is Unequal The policy preferences of those in the bottom third of the income distribution had no apparent statistical effect on their senators’ roll call votes. -- Larry Bartels

12. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Unequal Voice High vs. Low Income Citizens  4x as likely to do campaign work  3x as likely to do informal community work  2x as likely to contact elected officials  9x as likely to contribute to campaigns

13. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Youth Participation is Unequal The Youth Voting Gap  25% of 18-29 yr olds with at least some college voted in primaries (1 in 4)  7% of 18-29 yr olds with no college experience voted in primaries (1 in 14)

14. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Youth Participation Gap Of young adults under 30 : 41% with some college experience were not very engaged. 81% with no college experience were not very engaged. (Civic Health Index)

15. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Can Education Help?

16. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College The Basic Question  Do civic learning opportunities promote commitments to civic participation and actual participation?  Controlling for  Prior commitments  Demographics  Other school qualities  Parental participation

17. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Promising Educational Practices 1.Instruction in Gov’t, History, Econ 2.Discussions of Current Events 3.Service Learning 4.Extracurricular Activities 5.Student Voice in Schools and Classrooms 6.Simulations

18. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Chicago Study Methodology and Sample (With Sue Sporte)  Included students who took our survey in 2003 and 2005  Total of 52 schools - 4,057 students  Assessed the relationship of civic learning opportunities to civic commitments with a series of 3-level HLM models.

19. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College 0.14 *** 0.13 *** 0.05 * -0.05 0.05 0.15 0.25 0.35 Parent/Student Talk Neighborhood Social Capital School Sense of Belonging Civic Community Variables Civic Commitment Effect Sizes Experiencing Civic Community Promotes Civic Commitments

20. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College 0.39 *** 0.2 *** 0.34 *** -0.05 0.05 0.15 0.25 0.35 Service Learning Classroom Civic Learning Opportunities Civic Commitments In 2003 Civic Learning Variables Civic Commitments Effect Sizes Classroom-Based Civic Learning Opportunities MATTER

21. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Schools Could Alter Inequality 39 16 68 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 "Average" Classroom Civic Opportunities "Low" Classroom Civic Opportunities "High" Classroom Civic Opportunities Varying levels of Civic Learning Opportunities. Always one SD below average on Parent and Neighborhood Civic Context Percentile Ranking, Civic Commitments

22. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College The California Survey of Civic Education (With Ellen Middaugh) A Diverse Group of California High Schools  Demographic range of race, ethnicity, achievement level, socioeconomic status, and geography (rural, urban, suburban)  2005: 2,366 students surveyed in spring of their senior year  2006: 2,151 students surveyed (898 seniors,1,253 juniors)  2007: Post surveys given to 514 students from junior sample -- now seniors

23. School Practices & Outcomes Commitment to Participation Intend to Vote Informed to Vote Civic Skills Political Knowledge Political Interest Classroom- Based Instruction  Gov, Hist, Law  Current Events  Open Class Climate Experiential Learning Opportunities  Service Learning  Extracurricular Activities  Simulations Statistically significant

24. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College These Commitments Relate to Future Behavior  Commitments to Participatory Citizenship, Political Interest, and Intention to Vote predict:  electoral activity,  staying informed about politics and current events  civic activity

25. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Education can Promote Civic and Political Engagement Does education promote more equitable civic and political engagement?

26. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Unequal Civic Learning Opportunities  32% of youth going to 4 yr. colleges said they had “a lot” of opportunities to do service learning in high school  16% of youth going to 2 yr. voc. education said they had “A lot” of opportunities to do service learning in high school

27. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Unequal Civic Learning Opportunities Compared with white students African-American students report:  Fewer civically oriented government courses  Fewer discussions of social problems and current events  A less open classroom climate

28. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Unequal Civic Learning Opportunities Compared with white students, Latino students report:  Fewer opportunities for service learning  A less open classroom climate  Fewer experiences with role plays and simulations

29. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Unequal Civic Learning Opportunities Compared with students taking AP American Government, students in College Prep Gov’t classes report fewer of all civic learning opportunities  80% of AP sample took part in simulations  51% of CP students took part in simulation

30. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Unequal Civic Learning Opportunities Our analysis of the IEA National Database  Compared to 9 th graders in classes of average SES, 9 th graders in classes of high SES were:  2x more likely to discuss how laws are made  1.9x more likely to report participating in service activities  1.6x as likely to take part in a debate or panel discussion

31. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Education can Promote Engagement But desirable learning opportunities are inequitably distributed and likely exacerbate inequality.

32. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Can Digital Media Promote Civic and Political Equality?  Digital Consumption of Civic Information  Digital Participation in Civic Life  Digital Play Related to Civic Content  Digital Civic Education

33. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Frequency of Digital Consumption of Civic Information  Youth getting campaign news from the internet more than doubled btw 2004 and 2008 – to 46%  37% of 18-24 year olds also got campaign news from social networking sites  41% of 18-29 year olds have gone online to watch interviews, commercials, debates, speeches. (Kohut, et al., 2008)

34. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Consumption Matters  Informs  Leads to interest and discussion  Can lead the production of information  Fosters engagement

35. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Frequency of Digital Participation?  64% of teens engage in online content creation  28% have there own online journal or blog (Lenhart, et al., 2007).

36. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Participation Matters  Develops skills  Norms of participation

37. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Frequency of Digital Game Play? We asked 1,102 young people if they had played a video game 39 said “No”

38. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Civic Gaming opportunities May Promote Civic Outcomes School-BasedVideo Game Based  Instruction in civically relevant disciplines  Discuss current events and social issues  Service Learning  Extracurricular activities  Student governance  Simulations of civic processes  Games w/civic content  Open discussions current events w/in games  Helping and leading w/in game community  Extra-game activities  Player governance  Simulations of civic processes

39. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Civilization

40. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Frequency of Digital Civic Education? Teachers are engaging in digital civic education.

41. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Digital Civic Education Matters. It promotes  Non-school exposure to online communities with diverse civic and political priorities  Non-school online leadership opportunities  Commitments to civic participation

42. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Digital consumption of civic information is unequal Those with at least one year of college are twice as likely to use the internet to get civic information weekly (Civic Health Index).

43. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Some forms of Digital Participation are relatively equal Social Networking: 57% with college experience vs 52% without college experience used Facebook or MySpace to address social issues.

44. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Civic Gaming Experiences appear to be equal  Teens have equal exposure to civic gaming experiences irrespective of income level, race, and age.  Girls have fewer of these experiences than boys.

45. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Digital Civic Education is Equitably Distributed.  No differences in frequency of these experiences by race, gender, SES, or academic achievement.

46. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Digital Media may facilitate Recruitment. Ease of recruitment shapes college/non-college gap.

47. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Summary  DM provides many opportunities to foster engagement.  Digital civic participation, civic gaming, and civic education appear equitably distributed.  Digital Media may provide a means of recruiting groups that are currently less engaged.

48. CERG Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College Implications  Your Thoughts, Questions, …