Impact of Gap Time for Missionary Service on Utah Women’s College Outcomes

In Utah, religious missionary service fits the definition of structured gap time. In 2023, the Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) published research titled, Impact of Gap Time for Missionary Service on Utah Women’s College Outcomes . The report was conducted and co-authored by Maggie Marchant and Dr. Jocelyn S. Wikle from Brigham Young University.

As they outlined, throughout the United States, high school graduates and college students delay or take breaks in their higher education for a variety of reasons: employment, personal illness or caring for loved ones, military service, religious missionary service, or experiential learning outside the classroom. Taking a break from college also happens in Utah, as evidenced by the 30.9% of Utah freshmen students who do not reenroll for their second fall semester.?

Background

There are consequences to taking a break from higher education, both positive and negative. Hence, this research focused on the benefits and drawbacks of what the authors called “structured gap time.” Their research used administrative data from Brigham Young University (BYU). Demographic information was used to compare BYU female students to other Utah and US female students. Then, using a larger analytic sample of BYU female students, they evaluated the impact of taking gap time for mission service (or not) on choice of major, GPA, and graduation rates. I thought their findings were interesting.

Benefits

• Educational: They found that many women change their majors after taking gap time for missionary service, and these majors often had more men and higher earning potential. They also found that gap time for missionary service seemed to be particularly useful for women who struggle academically. Missionary service is a way for these women to develop strengths that are not reflected in test scores or grades alone.
• GPA: Missionary service can help women be successful in school once the gap time concludes and women return to college. On average in this study, women who served missions earned higher GPAs than those who did not.?
• Professional:?Gap time for missionary service offers valuable professional benefits to women following college. Missionary gap time affects women’s professional opportunities through both tangible and intangible channels. A less tangible benefit of missionary gap time may also be that a woman can signal to future employers that she can work well with people unlike herself and take on new or undefined tasks.?
• Personal:?Women appear to benefit personally from gap time for missionary service as well. When asked about missionary service experiences, women consistently reported that these experiences were personally valuable. Other researchers suggest that missionary gap time enlarges a woman’s view of the world, leading to increased racial and cultural acceptance. Some students build language skills, which is particularly applicable in Utah with the number of women who serve religious missions in foreign languages.?

Drawbacks

• Financial: Women who take time away from higher education for structured gap experiences receive personal and professional growth and development, but the time away from school does not come without costs. The financial costs may be the most obvious since individuals often pay to participate in missionary service and do not make money during the experience.
• Continuing Education: With time away from school, there is an increased risk that students will simply not return to college after completing a gap experience. However, this research on female students at BYU suggests this may be a minimal concern in Utah.
• Graduation: Taking gap time for missionary service also decreased the chances of graduating from college at all. The researchers found that women who took gap time for missions were 10% less likely to graduate in eight years than their peers who did not serve missions, after adjusting for personal characteristics.?

Considerations

The authors also provided some considerations:

1. Young adult women interested in gap experiences should consider and weigh the potential costs and benefits that may come educationally, professionally, and personally. Parents and family members can encourage and assist in thoughtful decision-making around gap time participation.?
2. Before women start gap time experiences, and certainly as they complete gap time, they can make firm commitments to return to school.??
3. Family and university advisors can augment personal commitments by encouraging students to return and supporting them in the process. Advisors can play an intentional role in mitigating any barriers students may face upon returning, such as reintegrating with university life, refreshing academic skills, learning about university policy changes, and registering for classes. Extracurricular student groups may also help returning students find similar peers and feel more belonging on campus.?
4. Another way to support students returning from gap time is by providing scholarships and grants.??
5. Students who take gap time may benefit from flexible academic options.?

Gap time experiences have the potential to change a person’s life trajectory and boost their understanding of themselves and the world. These findings and recommendations can help individuals, families, and institutions of higher education understand the impact of gap experiences and offer appropriate support to Utah students as they face decisions about interrupting college and embarking on gap time experiences.

To learn more about the impact of gap time for missionary service on Utah women's college outcomes, read?the full brief .

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Dr. Susan R. Madsen is a global thought leader, author, speaker, and scholar on the topic of women and leadership. She is also the Karen Haight Huntsman Endowed Professor of Leadership in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University and the Founding Director of the Utah Women & Leadership Project . Thank you to Maggie Marchant and Dr. Jocelyn S. Wilke for this fabulous research!

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