A Call to Peace - Civic Enterprises

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While overall development of career skills, suchas learning a language or leadership skills, wereseen as less important motivating factors than theopportunity to live abroad, there has been a significantgenerational shift in the view toward acquiring skills,possibly reflecting pressures RPCVs feel from employerstoday that place a greater demand on job skills andexperience when they return home.More recent RPCVs place a greater emphasis on careerdevelopment as a motivation for joining the PeaceCorps. This is likely a reflection of their stage in life,as well as changes in the workplace. Just 30 percentof RPCVs from the 1960s identified “wanting todevelop career and leadership skills” as an importantmotivation (only 9 percent said it was very important),compared to 68 percent of RPCVs from the 2000s (36percent said it was very important).The importance of learning a new language hasincreased considerably over the decades, consistentwith a more integrated and competitive globaleconomy. While 56 percent of all RPCVs said “wantingto learn a new language” was an important reasonfor joining the Peace Corps, the share of Volunteerswanting to learn language skills has increased everydecade—from 45 percent saying it was important inthe 1960s to 71 percent citing it as important in the 2000s.Who ServesThe composition of RPCVs has done a completeturnabout over the past five decades. Nearly twothirdsof all Volunteers were men in the 1960s and 63percent were men in the 1970s, while 62 percent of allVolunteers were women in the 1990s and two-thirdsof Volunteers are women today (figure 14). Levels ofeducation have remained remarkably constant, with98 percent of RPCVs across all decades having atleast a 4-year college education and more than 70percent in each decade through the 1990s having somepostgraduate work or degree. We note that they maynot have had these levels of education during theirPeace Corps service, of course, and that many of theRPCVs from the 2000s are still relatively young andlikely to be getting further education.Figure 14: Volunteers by Decade of ServiceAs America has become increasingly diverse by raceand ethnicity and more older Americans are livinglonger and wanting to give back through volunteering,the Peace Corps has also worked hard to increasethe diversity of its volunteer ranks. Over the past fivedecades, the share of minority RPCVs in our surveyincreased from 9 percent in the 1960s to 14 percent inthe 2000s. According to the latest data from the PeaceCorps, 17 percent of currently serving Volunteers inSeptember 2010 were of minority backgrounds. 11 And11 percent of RPCVs in our survey identified themselvesas 50 or older at the start of their service in the 1990sand 2000s (this information was not available forearlier cohorts due to smaller sample size). Still, giventhe changing demographics of the United Statesand recent surveys showing the strong interestamong older Americans in giving back, the Peace Corpsneeds to accelerate its efforts to increase the diversityof its Volunteers.Where Volunteers GoNot surprisingly, where Peace Corps Volunteers havegone has changed significantly over the course of itshistory. Africa still hosts the largest share of PeaceCorps Volunteers: 43 percent in the 2000s versus35 percent in the 1960s. And although the countryprograms have changed, Latin America and theCaribbean, as a region, hosted a similar share of PeaceCorps Volunteers: 29 percent in the 2000s versus 31percent in the 1960s.But the biggest shifts have been the decline in PeaceCorps Volunteers in Asia (12 percent in the 2000sversus 26 percent in the 1960s) due in large part to therise of Asian economies and the introduction of PeaceCorps Volunteers in Eastern Europe after the fall ofcommunism (15 percent in the 2000s versus 0 percentin the 1960s.)11 The Peace Corps. (2011). Peace Corps Congressional Budget Justification: Fiscal Year 2012.| 20ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE MARCH 2011
Figure 15: Regions by Decade of Serviceunder half today; but teachers still constitute thehighest percentage overall (figure 16). Making up thedifference, youth and community development, healthcare, information, and environmental conservation haveall grown as a share of volunteer activities since thePeace Corps’s inception.Figure 16: What did your Peace Corps Volunteerservice focus on?What Volunteers DoPeace Corps Volunteers serve for two years plusthree months of training for a total of 27 months. ThePeace Corps does not offer shorter-term assignments,although once a Peace Corps Volunteer has served,he or she is eligible to participate in additionalshorter-term assignments as a part of the Peace CorpsResponse program. The work Peace Corps Volunteersdo is ultimately determined by the needs of hostcountries that invite them and also reflects theunderlying changes in the global economy overthe decades. The rise of environmentalism and theinformation age has dramatically affected the serviceof Peace Corps Volunteers.In his report to the President, Sargent Shriver indicatedthat the greatest need that the Peace Corps wouldfill was for trained teachers. Consistent with thatreport, the greatest demand from the field is still forteachers. Nearly two-thirds of Peace Corps Volunteerswere teachers in the first decade compared to justThe impact of the Peace Corps on its Volunteers isprofoundly personal. RPCVs report that their serviceinfluenced not only their political and policy views,but also such personal choices as their vocational andavocational pursuits (figure 17). More than half reporttheir service influenced their political views (53 percent)and three-quarters said it influenced their view of U.S.foreign policy (74 percent). Additionally, 26 percentsaid their service influenced their religious or spiritualbeliefs a great deal or a fair amount.“T E ACHING IN TANZANIA GAVE ME A LIFELONG INTEREST IN EDUCATION, ONE OF MY PRIMARY POINTSOF FOCUS AS GOVERNOR, AND IS CERTAINLY ONE OF THE REASONS WHY I AM ENJOYING MY WORKHERE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON. IT’S REMARKABLE THE PEACE CORPS CONTINUES TO THRIVEIN ITS 50TH YEAR, PROVIDING LIFE-CHANGING VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES FOR AMERICANS WHILEPRESENTING AN AUTHENTIC, DOWN TO EARTH VIEW OF OUR COUNTRY TO PEOPLE AROUND THEWORLD. LIVING AND WORKING IN ADEVELOPING COUNTRY HELPED ME APPRECIATE WHAT WE ENJOYIN THE U.S., ESPECIALLY OUR DEMOCRACY AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS. I ALSO GAINED ANAWARENESS OF THE NEEDS OF PEOPLE IN AFRICA AND OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO BE OF ASSISTANCEWHERE WE CAN.”—Bob Taft, former Republican Governor of OhioA CALL TO PEACE SEPTEMBER 201121|
Page 1 and 2: A Call to PeacePerspectives of Volu
Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTSIntroduction . . .
Page 5: EXECUTIVE SUMMARYTHE PEACE CORPS EX
Page 9 and 10: WAYS FORWARDIn anticipation of the
Page 11 and 12: A CALL TO PEACEThis report is not a
Page 13 and 14: KEY MOMENTS: PEACE CORPS FOUNDINGOC
Page 15 and 16: Those serving in predominantly Musl
Page 17 and 18: Peace Corps to set the goals of the
Page 19 and 20: TODAY, 22 PERCENT OF ALL PEACE CORP
Page 21: A TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCEThe over
Page 25 and 26: Confidential. Embargoed until Septe
Page 27 and 28: women who reported feeling unsafe a
Page 29 and 30: While RPCVs recognized the need for
Page 31 and 32: Below are core principles and propo
Page 33 and 34: The Peace Corps, Volunteers for Pro
Page 35 and 36: CONCLUSIONThe Peace Corps was a bol
Page 37 and 38: country and how to apply their over
Page 39 and 40: Schwarz, K. (1991). What You Can Do

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