College Students' Involvement in Student Advocacy: Engaging Millennials

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influences of Millennial involvement in student advocacy. Some trends that show what it takes to keep Millennials involved have been found, but exactly what engages them in advocacy is not known. For this study we will interview college students involved in student advocacy, specifically student leaders involved in agriculture-related advocacy organizations. The interviews will lead to potential factors that motivate students to become involved and stay involved in student advocacy. Explanations of why other generations (Baby Boomers and Generation X) participated in student advocacy are relatively clear (Van Dyke, 1998). However, there is not a clear understanding of how Millennial college students engage in student advocacy. The Millennial generation is known to be more confident, conventional, and team-oriented than other generations. Millennials are future oriented, more tradition learners compared to Generation X, and like working with others (Lowery, 2004). Despite a great deal of literature about the unique characteristic of the Millennial generation, there is nothing that shows the relationship between the generation’s uniqueness and their involvement in student advocacy.