Do participating in extracurricular and co-curricular activities Matter in social skills development? A Case Study of the Undergraduates’ Voices

There has been wide-ranging research on extracurricular and co-curricular activities in the context of primary school, high school, and higher education. Engaging in extracurricular activities (ECAs) and co-curricular activities (CCAs) has received recognition for assisting in providing direct and indirect benefits to students concerning their academic performance, educational aspirations and psychological well-being (Broh, 2002; Kuh 1995; Goldberg, 1946). However, participation in ECAs, to some extent, brings some reverse impact on students’ grades, additional costs and paid-work commitments (Thompson et al., 2013). Despite increasing interest in the impact of student participation in ECAs and CCAs in general, in the higher education context, there is a paucity of research relates ECAs and CCAs engagement with social skills development, specifically in Sino-foreign higher education contexts. To fill this gap, this case study (Zhang & Veecock, 2023) explores undergraduates’ perceptions at the first Sino-cooperative university in terms of ECAs and CCAs engagement. In addition, Social Skills category, as one of the five MIDAS Generic Graduate Attributes (Veecock & Zhang, 2023) has been made an extension in this study to explore whether the engagement of ECAs and CCAs has value in social skills development. By adopting an overarching exploratory research paradigm mobilizing quantitative and qualitative data collection in a concurrent mixed-methods approach, the results of this study show undergraduates perceive engagement in ECAs and CCAs in a Sino-foreign cooperative university indeed cultivate their social skills and among them, some subskills are the most essential to be developed in this unique context. The findings provide useful insights for both students and university staff in cultivating undergraduates’ certain social skills, contributing to their out-of-class educational experiences, thus promoting their personal and professional development.

References:
Broh, B. A. (2002). Linking extracurricular programming to academic achievement: Who benefits and why? Sociology of Education, 75(1), 69–95. https://doi.org/10.2307/3090254

Goldberg, M.H. (1946). Extra-Curricular Activities, The Journal of Higher Education, 17(5), 257-262. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.1946.11775517

Kuh, G. D. (1995). The other curriculum: Out-of-class experiences associated with student learning and personal development. The Journal of Higher Education, 66(2), 123-155. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.1995.11774770

Thompson, L. J., Clark, G., Walker, M., & Whyatt, J. D. (2013). ‘It’s just like an extra string to your bow’: Exploring higher education students’ perceptions and experiences of extracurricular activity and employability. Active Learning in Higher Education, 14(2), 135–147. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787413481129

Veecock, C. & Zhang. W. (2023). A mapping of graduate attributes across micro, meso and macro university experiences. Chinese Education & Society, 56 (5-6), 369-391. https://doi.org/10.1080/10611932.2024.2303923

Zhang, W. & Veecock, C. (2023). Undergraduate perceptions of extracurricular and co-curricular activities and impact on social skills development. Chinese Education & Society, 56 (5-6), 392-412. https://doi.org/10.1080/10611932.2024.2303929