Investigating the Relationship Between Community Arts Engagements and College Students' Sense of Community

Abstract

This study builds upon Astin’s (2012) Input-Environment-Output conceptual framework to determine the relationship between college students (inputs), their frequency of participation in arts engagements (environment), and their sense of community (outputs), as measured by McMillan, Peterson, and Speers’ (2008) Brief Sense of Community Scale. A survey was administered to 403 college students from one mid-sized public research university in the upper Midwest region in early spring 2020. Results indicated the most frequently attended arts engagements for college students were festivals and concerts, and the least frequently reported were galas or art receptions and creative workshops. Findings also indicated a relationship exists between frequency of arts engagements and sense of community, with higher levels of arts engagements associated with higher levels of sense of community. Implications of these results for universities, community arts partners, and college students are discussed.