By Logan Monteleone
News Editor
During a presentation of research findings and a discussion between Washington College students and members of the Women’s League of Washington College who represent different generations, Assistant Professor of Political Science Dr. Sarah Brown and Thomas V. Mike Miller Director of Civic Engagement Dr. Pat Nugent provided insights into how young people engage in politics and society differently from their parents and grandparents.
In their talk last Tuesday titled “Boomers and Zoomers: Political Engagement Across Generations,” Dr. Brown and Dr. Nugent synthesized findings from both local and national studies on civic and political engagement among young people.
The presentation was followed by a dialogue with student panelists and a Q-and-A with the Women’s League of WC.
Dr. Nugent offered the takeaway that Gen Z is interested in engaging with society in spaces outside of the voting booth, and this interest should be taken into account in shaping civic education models that build sustainable, informed, and engaged communities. Agreeing with the idea that civic engagement is key to building strong communities, Dr. Brown’s takeaway emphasized that young people still need to be well-informed in government structures in order to effectively seek change for systemic issues that require structural solutions.
“Boomers” refers to the Baby Boomer Generation, or Americans born between 1946 and 1964, and “Zoomers” is a term used to refer to Generation “Gen” Z, or people born between 1997 and 2010. The Women’s League consists of community members and alumni who fundraise for scholarships and library resources; the group is best known on campus for providing care packages during exam week.
Dr. Nugent described Gen Z’s civic engagement during the opening portion of the presentation, referring to results from a study led by Associate Professor of Education Dr. Sara Clarke-De Reza and Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies Dr. Megahn Grosse.
Findings from the study include that student athletes find it helpful to have service requirements from coaches and captains that encourage community interaction; many students are not reading local media despite feeling it would boost their civic participation; and students in the humanities and social sciences tend to be more civically engaged than those in STEM fields, who often find that their majors are not conducive to civic activity.
Over 790 students filled out the survey conducted by students in Dr. Clarke-De Reza and Dr. Grosse’s co-taught social methods research course, Dr. Nugent said, and 225 interviews were conducted in the over three years since the research course began. Dr. Nugent said the study was centered around the question of how Washington College students understand and experience civic engagement.
While volunteerism and acts of service are important parts of a community, Dr. Nugent said he has found in his four years as WC’s civic engagement director that “working with students to turn their coursework and their research over to the community’s research questions and interests” is one of the best ways to share the College’s resources with Chestertown.
Participants in the civic engagement study self-identified their political activity as relatively low, Dr. Nugent said. A question that remains unanswered is whether a low sense of political engagement is a WC-specific finding, Dr. Nugent said, or if Gen Z members more broadly feel less politically engaged. There is also a question about how we define political engagement, which Dr. Brown said is often not interpreted in the same way by everyone.
Analyzing national findings during the presentation, Dr. Brown said the Harvard Youth Poll results published last summer show that young people are disillusioned toward government, distrustful of politicians, and lack a belief in how much power their votes have to bring about change.
Dr. Brown cited headlines from popular media outlets that represent Gen Z as politically apathetic and as only interested in a “performative” politics for attention on social media.
“These sorts of conclusions are based on a really narrow definition of what counts as politics and political participation,” Dr. Brown said, arguing that Gen Z is politically active in ways including sharing information online, attending rallies, and participating in mutual community aid.
Some definitions of political engagement only include traditional or “formal” democratic action like voting or campaign work, while Dr. Brown said more inclusive definitions “count” reposting activist content on social media or signing online petitions political as political engagement.
Citing various studies, including one by United Way , Dr. Brown said that “when we expand our definition of political participation to include other types of activities that express political aims” beyond voter engagement and formal political participation, “we see that Gen Z is actually incredibly politically active.”
Freshman Amira Bryant, a student in Dr. Brown’s political advocacy and civic engagement course who was a panelist at the talk, said she feels that Gen Z has different values that are differently expressed from previous generations, but that Gen Z still cares about politics and society.
“I feel like there’s this idea that [young people] don’t really care at all, and I feel like we do. We just show it in different ways,” Bryant said.
In addition to having different ways of expressing political concern, Bryant said she thinks Gen Z prioritizes different issues than Boomers. Bryant said many young people are focused on equality for Americans of diverse identities, especially since previous generations have been fighting for an equality that has not yet been realized.
Bobbi Sutton, a member of the Women’s League, said that change can sometimes take a long time, but all generations have to be willing to make long-term commitments to effecting progress and working together.
“I think if [people of any age] have a passion for a civic cause, then hopefully they will continue to go after it their whole lives,” Sutton said.
Sutton said she is also curious about how young people practice patience in advocating for political change in a digital environment that has conditioned many Americans across generations to want immediate answers and resolutions. Boomers and Gen Z members can learn from one another by listening and sharing skills, like how to use technology and how to be patient, Sutton said.
“What we’re getting [as Boomers] from [listening to Gen Z members] encourages us to continue the fight that we fight too because we see there’s a whole other generation down below us that’s coming around, and heaven forbid we give up fighting for them,” Sutton said.
Dr. Clarke-De Reza and Dr. Grosse, who are also Co-Directors of the Cromwell Center for Teaching and Learning, will be presenting their findings from a study focused on AI that surveyed student, faculty, and staff perspectives on artificial intelligence’s role in education. The Women’s League of WC will be distributing exam care packages to students who have been sent one by the end of April, and the league will be helping out with graduation next month.
Photo Caption: Student panelists, from left, sophomore Sophia Clark and freshmen Amelia Rockwell, Karina Mumford, Amira Bryant, Caleb Hook, and Calvin Morris in conversation with members of the Women’s League of Washington College during a presentation on civic and political engagement given during the league’s regular meeting last Tuesday in Hynson Lounge.
Photo by Logan Monteleone