Does geographic context influence employability‐motivated volunteering? The role of area‐level material insecurity and urbanicity

Abstract

There is a growing public discourse that volunteering increases the likelihood of finding a better job because it improves social and human capital. While previous studies have largely treated volunteers' motivations as individualistically determined, contextual determinants of volunteers' motivations are relatively neglected. The purpose of this study is to understand the individual and contextual characteristics in which individuals are more likely to volunteer as a means of improving their employability. Using a random sample of 768 volunteers across Canada, we estimate the independent effects of a) municipal‐level material insecurity, b) urbanicity, and c) individual characteristics on the odds of “volunteering to improve employability.” Our findings show that living in municipalities with high economic insecurity and in urban settings independently increases the odds of volunteering to improve employability. Our study points to evidence of model misspecification, by omission of unobserved geographical covariates, in previous studies of volunteers' motivations.

Individual and Social Factors in Volunteering Participation Rates in Europe

“…Across cultures, sustained volunteering was associated with self-reported prosocial motivation to volunteer as an antecedent of volunteering (Aydinli et al, 2016). Future analysis should explore the role of culture at an individual level, such as in Chum et al (2015).…”

The economic benefits of volunteering and social class

“…The situation of the average worker in the labour market of advanced industrial societies is becoming increasingly precarious. Stripped of the assurances of the traditional contract between employer and employee, such as the expectation of promotion via internal labour markets, workers are urged to adopt self-development strategies to better their chances of finding a job, being promoted, or getting a raise (Chum et al, 2015). Engaging in volunteer work is often touted as one of these strategies (Smith, 2010).…”

Za nestabilnost spremni? Utjecaj dionika i procesa trećeg sektora na njegove ljudske resurse

“…Specifičnosti rada u trećem sektoru oblikuju okruženje u kojem zaposlenici, suradnici, volonteri i drugi uključeni u rad organizacija stvaraju svoje karijere, pokušavaju razviti profesionalne kapacitete i naći zadovoljstvo i svrhu u svom radu. 21 Stoga smo u uzorak uključili predstavnike dionika politika u vidu stručnjaka iz ministarstava koja imaju najveći obujam financiranja organizacija trećeg sektora, stoga i aktivno surađuju, dodjeljuju sredstva i evaluiraju projekte. Osim toga uključili smo predstavnike Vladinog ureda za udruge i Nacionalne zaklade za razvoj civilnog društva kao one koji aktivno rade ne samo na alokaciji sredstava nego i razvoju trećeg sektora i imaju moguće ponajviše uvida u njegovo stanje i utjecaj.…”