Minding Our Business: Longitudinal Effects Of A Service-Learning Experience On Alumni

Abstract

The mission of Minding Our Business (MOB), a service-learning course started in 1997 to meet community needs, is to advance the personal and vocational development of urban youth through entrepreneurship education and mentoring. This paper evaluates the long-term impact of MOB on the personal and vocational development of the alumni mentors participating in the program from 1997 to 2005. No scholarly research has been conducted to date on the long-term effect of MOB on mentors and little research has been conducted on the effects of service-learning participation on alumni service-related attitudes and behaviors in general. Consequently, the current study extends the existing research stream on the long-term effects of service-learning participation on alumni service-related attitudes and behaviors. Furthermore, the unique nature of MOB as a mentoring program in entrepreneurship also allows the researchers to study possible long-term effects on interest in community service and interest in entrepreneurship as a vocational option.