Public service grows in appeal among young people

Young Americans are more interested in entering government service now than they were five years ago, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Council for Excellence in Government.

Forty percent of people ages 18-30 said government service is very appealing or fairly appealing, compared to 35 percent in 1997, according to the study, "Young Americans' Call to Public Service," conducted by polling firm Hart-Teeter for the Council for Excellence in Government last month.

The greater interest is fueled more by a desire to perform good deeds than by the prospect of job security, according to the survey. Fifty-four percent of respondents said helping people or serving the community was appealing, up 14 percent from 1997.

"Motivation has changed from job security to what can you do," said Peter D. Hart, CEO of Hart Research Associates. "Post-Sept. 11, people want to help people and serve their community. This is an encouraging set of results."

The Hart-Teeter poll found that 62 percent of respondents had never been asked to consider working for the government. Forty percent of those surveyed said they would give a great deal of consideration to pursuing a civil service career if their parents asked them to, and 61 percent said they would give a fair amount of consideration to a request that came from a young government employee.

"There are a lot of young people out there that are ready to serve, but is anybody asking them to serve?" Hart asked.

Joseph Nye, dean of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, backed up Hart's research by noting that applications at the Kennedy School rose 50 percent during the past year.

"These are students that if they really were economically motivated would choose business or law, where they could make more money," Nye said. But he noted that many students are faced with weighing their school loan debt against their earning potential as a government employee when making career decisions.

Susan Schwab, dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Affairs, also said applications are on the way up.

"The significant increases in applications is far more than can be explained by a simple softening of the economy," Schwab said. Young people "want to make a difference. The critical challenge is to convince them that public service is best performed in the public sector."

Schwab said many of today's public policy students enter the workforce fully expecting to hop from public service to private industry and back again if they choose. "We need to be able to provide access to good public sector jobs that will be fulfilling," Schwab said.

According to Paul Light, director of governmental studies at the Brookings Institution, while job security is important, young people are mainly interested in doing meaningful and challenging work. "Young Americans are not saying 'Show us the money,' " Light said. "Young Americans are saying 'Show us the work.' "

The Hart-Teeter study was conducted in connection with the awarding of the new Elliot L. Richardson Prize for Excellence in Public Service. The awards were presented Tuesday afternoon to Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Office of Management and Budget Director Alice M. Rivlin, and former Secretary of State George P. Schultz. The award recognizes outstanding public leaders.

Richardson worked in all three branches of the federal government, serving in several high-ranking positions, including secretary of Defense, secretary of Commerce, and attorney general.