This report explores the “Life and Career Skills” pathway of the AmeriCorps Member Exit Survey (MES) from 2017 to 2022. The AmeriCorps MES was developed by the AmeriCorps Office of Research and Evaluation to capture members’ attitudes towards their service experiences upon exiting their AmeriCorps programs. One of four theoretical pathways underpinning the AmeriCorps Member Theory of Change, “Life and Career Skills” refers to the capabilities needed to succeed in the workplace that members develop, enhance, and deploy during their service. This pathway also encompasses the growth of members’ personal, educational, and career goals.
For this analysis, members were categorized into six different groups based on what they reported their post-service plans to be, including: 1) seeking private employment 2) seeking public/non-profit employment, 3) attending post-secondary education (college or trade school), 4) attending graduate school, 5) enrolling in another service experience, or 6) being unsure of their plans. Disaggregating data according to these categories explores relationships between how members envision their futures and how they perceive their service terms.