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Service-Learning for Sustainability Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas: What Is Its Global Impact on Business University Students?

Author

Listed:
  • Almudena Martínez-Campillo

    (Department of Business Administration, Universidad de León, Campus de Vegazana s/n, 24071 León, Spain)

  • María del Pilar Sierra-Fernández

    (Department of Business Administration, Universidad de León, Campus de Vegazana s/n, 24071 León, Spain)

  • Yolanda Fernández-Santos

    (Department of Business Administration, Universidad de León, Campus de Vegazana s/n, 24071 León, Spain)

Abstract

Service-Learning (SL) is a teaching innovation method that combines learning and social service objectives to improve educational quality and graduate employability. To date, there are hardly any studies on its global impact on university students. This paper describes and evaluates an SL experience for Sustainability Entrepreneurship in the context of Spanish Higher Education. Based on knowledge acquired in classrooms, multi-disciplinary teams of students from different subjects related to Business Administration offered support to potential entrepreneurs from rural municipalities in the complex task of writing a successful Business Plan for their projects for local sustainability. Within this academic framework, our study has two goals: (1) to assess the self-perception of university students about the improvement in their curricular development, professional skills and civic-social responsibility after participating in the SL experience; and (2) to estimate its possible effect on academic performance. The results show that the students acknowledged they had improved their social and sustainability commitment and their curricular development, and had acquired skills that society increasingly demands from future business professionals. Furthermore, service-students achieved significantly higher academic performance than a control group of non-participating students. These findings highlight the effectiveness of SL to provide a more holistic education for business university students.

Suggested Citation

  • Almudena Martínez-Campillo & María del Pilar Sierra-Fernández & Yolanda Fernández-Santos, 2019. "Service-Learning for Sustainability Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas: What Is Its Global Impact on Business University Students?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-21, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:19:p:5296-:d:270804
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Lorenz Probst, 2022. "Higher Education for Sustainability: A Critical Review of the Empirical Evidence 2013–2020," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-24, March.
    2. Míriam Hernández-Barco & Jesús Sánchez-Martín & José Blanco-Salas & Trinidad Ruiz-Téllez, 2020. "Teaching Down to Earth —Service-Learning Methodology for Science Education and Sustainability at the University Level: A Practical Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-23, January.
    3. Débora Regina Schneider Locatelli & Paulo Jorge Reis Mourão & Rui Silva, 2021. "Lusophone Entrepreneurship: Analysis of Entrepreneurial Behavioural Characteristics in Brazilian and Portuguese Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-16, April.
    4. Yolanda Ruiz-Ordóñez & Amparo Salcedo-Mateu & Ángel Manuel Turbi-Pinazo & Carlos Novella-García & Carmen Moret-Tatay, 2020. "CASD-14: A Questionnaire on Civic Attitudes and Sustainable Development Values for Service-Learning in Early Adolescents," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-11, May.

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