Currently, the conformation of the European Higher Education Area is the central feature defining universities in Europe. Both methodological innovation and social dimension are two of the key elements within the new university model (Santos Rego et al., 2020). This calls for the adoption of a new formative paradigm centred on the student and the strengthening of the social function, as outlined in the Berlin Communiqué (2005). More recently, the Rome Communiqué (2020) proposes that institutions of higher education commit, along with their communities, to engaging in joint activities that are mutually beneficial and socially responsible.

Therefore, there is an interest in shaping spaces of convergence between these propositions, as pedagogical innovation can and should place students in contact with society. This positioning leads us to discuss University Social Responsibility, an approach promoting social commitment in all spheres and activities of the Academy. Among other things, this requires that teaching seeks the involvement of students with the community, aiming not only to enhance the meaningfulness of learning but also to contribute to the development of groups and communities near the campuses (Coelho and Menezes, 2021).

In this context, service-learning (SL) emerges as a useful methodology to strengthen connections between universities and society. It is defined as "a course-based, credit-bearing educational experience in which students (a) participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community needs and (b) reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility" (Bringle and Hatcher, 1995, p. 112). These experiences promote the university's engagement with the community and vice versa, ultimately leading to improve academic, social, and professional learning, as well as community growth.

In service-learning courses, the balance between universities and social entities or groups is crucial, moving away from positions in which communities are viewed as laboratories where students apply their knowledge (Baker-Boosamra, 2006). However, a significant portion of literature, especially in the European context, has focused on studying the effects of service-learning on student learning (Santos Rego et al., 2021), emphasizing the need to also consider the community in analyses of this methodology (Rodríguez-Izquierdo and Lorenzo, 2023).

Over the past two decades, various studies have confirmed the gains that the community obtains from such projects, with central focuses on knowledge exchange and satisfying the needs of entities and/or groups (Nduna, 2007; Schmidt and Robby, 2002; Van Rensburg et al., 2019). However, to strengthen the ties between the university and the community, with the goal of optimizing benefits for both parties, it is essential that the relationship is established on principles of genuine reciprocity.

Reciprocity is defined as the inclusion of principles such as respect, trust, genuine commitment, balance of power, shared resources, and clear communication between university institutions and community stakeholders (Jacoby, 2015). Using service-learning, the aim is to foster reciprocal relationships and mutual assistance between the university and social actors, exploring the impact on students as agents of social change (Asghar and Rowe, 2017; Martínez-Usarralde and Chiva-Bartoll, 2020).

Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyse whether the type of relationship established with the community in service-learning projects influences the development of transversal competencies in students.

This paper is framed in the Research Projects: “Service-Learning (SL) and employability of university graduates in Spain: competences for employment” (EDU2017-82629-R) and “The impact of the university in the community through service-learning projects. A study focused on reciprocity (SL)” (PID2021-122827OB-I00).

In this research a quasi-experimental design of two non-equivalent groups was used, with pretest and post-test, and an independent variable, which is the SL project. Specifically, 18 service-learning courses were evaluated in two Spanish universities. The final sample consisted of 568 students: 381 involved in service-learning, forming the experimental group; and 187 peers from the same courses following conventional methodology, in the control group. Most of the participants were enrolled in degrees or master's programs in Social and Legal Sciences (59.9%), followed by those in Health Sciences (25.5%). 17.8% had previously participated in a university-promoted project involving community service, and 17.5% claimed to have been involved in the past year with a youth organization or voluntary action entity. Mostly (69.1%), they had no prior work experience. Two instruments were administered during the academic years 2020/2021, 2021/2022, and 2022/2023. The first is a Record Sheet for University Service-Learning Courses, directed at the responsible professors to gather information about project characteristics. For this study, we considered information related to: - Type of service. It refers to the nature of the relationship established between the university and the community: direct (involving direct interaction with professionals and/or users of the entity/organization) or indirect (no direct contact with professionals and users). - Project quality scale, utilizing a 5-point Likert scale factor related to the level of social entity’s participation (only for projects with direct service). It pertains to the involvement of entities in defining objectives, planning, and student supervision. It is coded as low quality if the score is less than or equal to 3.33 and high quality if it exceeds this value (a cutoff point was determined based on the median of the factor in 108 service-learning projects). The second instrument is the Questionnaire on Generic Competences for University Students (COMGAU), administered in pretest and post-test. For analysis, a 5-point Likert scale measuring the perception of transversal competences was considered, grouped into five factors: entrepreneurial skills, interpersonal skills, intercultural skills, networking skills, and analytical and synthesis skills. Statistical analysis was conducted using Student's t-tests for related samples, distinguishing between different groups, and calculating effect size using the Cohen's d coefficient.

Firstly, it is noteworthy that students participating in service-learning courses (experimental group) experience greater competence development compared to those who do not participate in such projects (control group). Moreover, within the experimental group, those engaging in direct service exhibit a larger effect size in the evolution of their perception. Specifically, in these direct-service projects, students significantly enhance their perception of entrepreneurial skills (p<.001), interpersonal skills (p<.001), and analytical and synthesis skills (p<.001). On the other hand, students in projects with indirect service report gains in entrepreneurial skills (p<.047), networking skills (<.039), and analytical and synthesis skills (p<.014). Meanwhile, the control group only increases their perception in analytical and synthesis skills (p<.008). Secondly, in the group involved in direct-service activities, those engaged in high-quality projects in terms of entity involvement experienced an increase in entrepreneurial skills (p<.001), interpersonal skills (p<.001), and intercultural skills (p=.016). This significance was not found in projects placing less emphasis on this dimension. In the analytical and synthesis skills and networking skills, there is significance in both groups, but with a larger effect size in the case of high participation. In conclusion, this study confirms the role of communities in the training of university students, specifically manifested in service-learning courses. This opens up new educational possibilities that enhance the meaningfulness of learning, as social entities and collectives become contexts of experience and practice closely aligned with the future professional endeavours of students, thus promoting the development of transversal competencies.

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