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Articles

Vol. 21 No. 3

A Decade of Community Engagement Literature: Exploring Past Trends and Future Implications

Submitted
September 15, 2017
Published
2017-09-15

Abstract

Academic journals play a lead role in disseminating community–campus engagement scholarship. However, assessment of the content, methodologies, and authorship of this published body of works is lacking. This study was performed to review publication trends in the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement (JHEOE), an academic journal focused on community engagement and outreach, during a 10-year time span. A content analysis framework was used to incorporate descriptive and correlational analyses. Two findings were of particular note. One was the increased prominence of articles on service-learning in the most recent years examined. Another was the absence of articles treating finance, strategic planning, community voice, and faculty promotion and tenure. Because these topics have significance for institutionalizing community engagement in higher education, this trend suggests an opportunity to broaden the topics published in the Journal and the field.