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In recent years, girls and young women have become particularly visible as leaders of activist campaigns and social movements. Drawing on data collected from an ACLU summer program for youth activists and advocates, this study explores the costs and benefits cisgender girls incur as a result of their activism. The findings reveal that although girls report more benefits than costs overall from their activism, the costs are correlated with the number of marginalized identities they hold. Queer Black girls report the greatest overall costs from their activism, and queer Multiracial girls report the highest rates of burnout. Queer White girls report significantly greater overall costs and problems as a result of their activism than heterosexual White girls, more burnout than heterosexual Black girls, and more empowerment than heterosexual Latinas. Informed by intersectionality and the PVEST framework, implications for supporting the sociopolitical action of girls with different social locations are discussed.

Service-learning is a high-impact practice that increases students' engagement with class material and the community. However, a critical lens is needed to strengthen students' understanding of and commitment to social justice and the inclusion of students from diverse backgrounds. This mixed method study examined the impact of a critical service-learning approach, which integrated critical curricula with 30 hours of service to community organizations, on undergraduate students' orientations towards social justice and civic engagement. Statistical analyses suggested significant differences in social dominance orientation and orientations to civic engagement across three psychology classes using critical service-learning, critical curriculum, and traditional (i.e., non-service-learning) approaches and significant differences over time in the critical service-learning class. The extent of these differences in outcomes varied between White students and students of color and between first-generation and non-first-generation students. Qualitative findings from critical service-learning students' class reflection assignments suggest that, by the end of the semester, students shifted from considering social justice as an abstract concept related to equality to identifying strategies and expressing willingness to engage in behaviors that lead to social change. This study highlights the potential for critical service-learning to enhance student learning and meet the community's needs with an awareness of power dynamics and the systemic nature of oppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]