Perceived Effects of International Volunteering - Center for Social ...

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Table 2: Perceived Effectiveness of Volunteer Activities Reported by Alumni i Volunteer Activity (N = 97) WorldTeach (N = 194) N mean N mean Promoting cross-cultural exchange 75 5.87 163 5.98 Caring for infants and/or children in a daycare facility* 44 5.77 26 3.85 Tutoring or teaching children, youth, or adults* 65 5.42 182 5.77 Collecting, preparing, or distributing food, crafts, or other goods 43 5.16 51 4.65 Providing assistance to the elderly* 35 5.03 25 3.84 Promoting gender equality or empowering women and families 37 4.81 104 4.84 Helping community members learn to read, speak, write, or understand the English language* 62 4.66 167 5.53 Supporting conflict resolution and peace 23 4.65 67 4.61 Providing universal primary education 49 4.61 112 4.95 Combating HIV/AIDS, malaria or other infectious diseases 23 4.43 45 4.31 Providing other medical or dental health care or prevention 22 4.41 31 3.90 Reducing child mortality or improving maternal health 21 4.38 31 3.90 Providing physical therapy or other assistance to people with disabilities 24 4.38 20 3.40 Strengthening civil society 30 4.33 63 4.35 Providing economic and social opportunities for youth 35 4.26 127 4.62 Encouraging economic growth through microenterprise, agricultural, or rural development 21 4.24 35 4.40 Promoting environmental sustainability 24 4.21 83 4.08 Improving access to information technology 18 4.06 70 4.63 Improving management capacity such as fundraising or strategic planning capabilities 24 4.00 54 4.39 Helping community members learn to read or write in their local language 31 3.90 59 3.80 Building or providing housing 15 3.60 27 3.85 Helping introduce legislation or influencing public sector reform 17 3.59 22 3.73 Lobbying the host country government for increased resources to an organization 16 3.44 27 3.70 Providing disaster and humanitarian response and preparedness 13 3.38 20 3.25 iActivities rated on a scale from 1 through 7, where 1 = very ineffective, 4 = neither effective nor ineffective, and 7 = very effective ii Duration of service varies greatly between the two organizations. On average, CCS volunteers in this sample served for 6.1 weeks, whereas WorldTeach volunteers served for 43.1 weeks. *Difference in perceived effectiveness is statistically significant. For all significant items, t > 2.2, df > 58, p < 0.05 Volunteers from both organizations identified five areas where, on average, they were less engaged and less effective. These activities include providing disaster and humanitarian response and preparedness, lobbying the host country government for increased organizational resources, introducing public sector reform or legislation, building or providing housing, and helping community members read or write in the local language. However, neither of the organizations in C ENTER FOR S OCIAL D EVELOPMENT W ASHINGTON U NIVERSITY IN S T . L OUIS CCS ii 19
this study explicitly aim to achieve these objectives. Volunteer organizations designed to achieve these specific objectives may realize more effective results in these areas. Perceived Overall Effectiveness3 In addition to rating their perceived effectiveness in particular activity areas, the survey also asked alumni to rate whether they were generally helpful to the host organization or community. Twentyfive percent of volunteers believed that if they had not volunteered, then a local staff member would have provided these services, but only 11 percent of volunteers believed that their services may have been provided more effectively by a local staff member. In some cases, this may be directly related Average agreement Figure 3: Perceived Effectiveness Reported by Alumni N = 284) i 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 I had a specific, needed skill I transferred useful skills i Duration of placement varies: CCS = 6.1 weeks, WorldTeach = 43.1 weeks WorldTeach CCS I made a lasting contribution C ENTER FOR S OCIAL D EVELOPMENT W ASHINGTON U NIVERSITY IN S T . L OUIS to the type of services volunteers provide. As one volunteer elaborated, “I think my job could have been filled equally effectively by another native English speaker, but it would not have been effectively filled by a worker from the host country.” Volunteers perceived they were particularly effective when local staff did not have the skills to meet the specific demand for services. The vast majority of alumni (76 percent) believed they made a lasting contribution to the host organization or community. Sixty-nine percent believed they had a specific skill needed by the host organization, and 70 percent believed they transferred a useful skill to the host organization. Alumni from the two organizations varied in their agreement with these items, however. WorldTeach alumni were more likely than CCS alumni to agree that they provided skills and contributions to the organization or host community (see Figure 3). 23 This finding could also be an artifact of inherent differences between the aims and structure of the two models. WorldTeach volunteers are in the community for a longer duration, are highly integrated, and frequently speak the host-country language. These qualities provide volunteers more opportunities to transfer skills to those in the host country. 23 For all three items measuring general effectiveness, t > 4.4, df = 270, p < 0.001 20
Page 1 and 2: Perceived Effects of International
Page 3 and 4: List of Tables and Figures Table 1:
Page 5 and 6: met while volunteering. They also w
Page 7 and 8: positively affected volunteers’ c
Page 9 and 10: country. 11 Volunteers serve as ind
Page 11 and 12: the continued support of full-time
Page 13 and 14: Table 1: Respondent Characteristics
Page 15 and 16: WorldTeach alumni were more likely
Page 17 and 18: Volunteer Activities and Perceived
Page 19: When compared with WorldTeach volun
Page 23 and 24: working with males as colleagues in
Page 25 and 26: Network-Related Resources Internati
Page 27 and 28: countries with the host community o
Page 29 and 30: valued skill in an increasingly glo
Page 31 and 32: Life Plans Education and Career Man
Page 33 and 34: This finding is reflected in differ
Page 35 and 36: It's difficult to explain the chang
Page 37 and 38: International networks. Respondents
Page 39 and 40: Appendix Impacts of IVS on Voluntee
Page 41 and 42: Dhooper, S. S., & Moore, S. E. (200
Page 43 and 44: McBride, A. M., Sherraden, M., Ben
Page 45: Woolcock, M. (1998). Social capital

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