Political participation and Gen Z college students: The role of gender,civic education,and partisan identity

Understanding the factors that predict variation in political participation has been an area of long-standing interest for social scientists. The emergence of a new generation (“Gen Z”) generates an opportunity to reexamine these factors for a cohort that holds enormous potential political and social power. Using data from an original survey of students at a mid-sized private university in the Northeastern part of the United States, this paper examines whether high school civic education and perceived civic preparedness shape youth political participation, distinguishing between likelihood of voting and future political engagement, and further assessing whether these relationships vary by gender. We find that political participation among Gen Z college students is shaped by a combination of civic education, perceived civic preparedness, and partisan identity, with notable differences between men and women.