Abstract:

ENHANCE addresses higher education challenges like dropout rates and the need for equity and flexible learning pathways. SL is an innovative pedagogical paradigm integrating academic learning with community service, fostering holistic development of cognitive and non-cognitive skills. It's based on reciprocity, benefiting students and the community. Key SL characteristics include curriculum integration, structured reflection, community collaboration, project duration, and reciprocity. Effective SL requires strategic planning and institutionalization.

SL offers extensive benefits, impacting students' personal, professional, and civic development. It promotes civic engagement, forming responsible citizens with greater social awareness. It fosters essential transversal skills: critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, teamwork, leadership, empathy, and adaptability. These enrich professional profiles. SL adoption creates innovative local community relationships, generating relevant research and social impact. SL is a transformative approach uniting academia and community, fostering comprehensive student development and social progress.

The ENHANCE methodology used participatory action research, involving students, universities, and local communities. Semi-structured interviews gathered student testimonials from partner universities across Europe. The aim was to understand SL-learning correlations and detect transversal competencies, using frameworks like RFCDC, Career Management Skills, and GreenComp. The sample included 32 students. Qualitative analysis used Atlas.ti to identify acquired skills, career value, civic engagement, sustainable mindset, networking, and training quality.

Findings reveal structured SL programs are almost non-existent in universities. Students reported potential SL activities lacking formal frameworks. Common university activities are student associations, often promoted by professors but without structured support. Outside universities, experiences are mainly with voluntary associations, often unrecognized. Highlighted acquired skills included interpersonal skills, adaptability, problem-solving, civic engagement, and emotional intelligence. These enabled students to reflect on professional paths, develop in challenging yet protected environments, and facilitate networking.

A crucial consensus was that community experience prompted reflection on future, career, and social role; all would recommend it. The ENHANCE project integrated theory and practice into an innovative learning model.

In conclusion, results confirm a significant correlation between SL experiences and transversal skill acquisition, and its effectiveness as a career guidance tool. It is imperative that Spanish and European universities create structured, formally recognized SL experiences to consolidate the university-territory-community continuum. Integrating SL into academic programs offers richer, more holistic learning experiences, better preparing students for the professional world.

Acknowledgement:
This contribution presents research from the Erasmus+ "ENHANCE - Enhancing Career and Service Learning in Higher Education" project (2021-1-ES01-KA220-HED-000031128). The project investigated Service-Learning (SL) impact on learning, mapping best practices.

Keywords:

Service Learning, Career Management Skills, Higher education.