2. The Political Participation of Working Youth and College Students
Principal Investigators: Sharon E. Jarvis, Lisa Montoya, Emily Mulvoy
The Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Participation, The University of Texas at Austin

CIRCLE Working Paper 37: The Political Participation of College Students, Working Students and Working Youth
Principal Investigators: Sharon E. Jarvis, Lisa Montoya, Emily Mulvoy
The Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Participation, The University of Texas at Austin

Project Summary
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Education has long been a powerful predictor in understanding political participation and yet the paths toward earning a college degree have changed considerably in recent years. As tuition costs increase and as schooling option burgeon, today's youth are taking longer to finish their academic programs and are increasingly working as they do so. To learn more about the intersection of education, work and political participation, this paper reports data from a phone survey of over 1,000 19-23 year olds on (1) their schooling and work paths and (2) the political resources, opportunities and participation levels for three categories of young people: college students, working students, and non-college (working) youth. The data show that the most common path for this age group is that of the student worker. The data also show that these student workers report higher levels of political interest, political skills, political mobilization and political participation than their college student and working youth peers. This report suggests that there may be civic correlates to a schooling and work schedule as well as conceptual benefits to examining the education variable in tandem with other measurements that describe the contemporary youth experience.

CIRCLE Working Paper 36: The Political Participation of Working Youth and College Students
Principal Investigators: Sharon E. Jarvis, Lisa Montoya, Emily Mulvoy
The Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Participation, The University of Texas at Austin

Project Summary
..................................

Unprecedented attention has gone to researching young voters, and yet one segment of this age group has been largely ignored: non-college (or "working") youth. Because very little is known about them, the following paper advances three fundamental concerns: What types of political activities do young workers engage in? What can be learned about them by comparing their political attitudes and behaviors to their college attending peers? and, What are some strategies that might be effective to increase their political participation? In responding to these questions, the current article reports data from a telephone survey of over 1,000 19-23 year-old working and college youth. The findings confirm that young workers (1) report lower levels of political socialization and interest as well as fewer civic skills, group memberships and mobilization opportunities than college students, and (2) are less likely to engage in a set of political acts than their college attending peers. The data also reveal, however, heretofore unknown patterns for this group, including how: political socialization and political interest are the most powerful predictors of participation for young workers; the cultivation of civic skills is a stronger predictor of participation for young workers than for college students; and workers who belong to groups and express an interest in politics may be the most ripe for mobilization efforts. The conclusion addresses how these findings could be used in efforts to engage young workers in the political system.