Community engagement for working adult students at a Faculty of Business Sciences

Abstract

Implementing a community engagement process between adult working students in a continuing education program at the Faculty of Business Sciences and regional, productive companies presents a significant challenge and a methodological commitment for the university undertaking this process. This research applied a technical form as a tool to foster connections between adult working students graduating from the Business Engineering program in 2024 at Arturo Prat University and productive companies in Santiago, Chile. A qualitative approach was used, with an exploratory scope and an action research design. A purposive and representative sample of three students participated in an intervention process with a company, applying for the engagement form. Data were collected following the structure of the engagement form and analyzed descriptively. The main results indicated that the intervention was successful, as the working group followed the different stages of the form. The importance of community engagement between Higher Education institutions and local businesses was highlighted, as it has become a key factor in the meaningful learning of adult working students, in addition to the development of their specific and transversal skills.