V for Volunteer(ing)—The Journeys of Undergraduate Volunteers

Abstract

This article studies undergraduate students journeys in volunteering, and details the motivations of and challenges that these volunteers face during the journey. We conducted five focus groups on a total of 38 undergraduate volunteers, and obtained seven themes as we undertook an investigation of our three research questions. Our findings revolved around these seven themes, which ranged from motivations to experiences to challenges. Our findings have helped us understand the motivations and challenges that undergraduate volunteers have and face during the journey of volunteering. Some of these challenges are particular to a university setting, but some others can certainly be generalized to other settings. Recommendations for future research are also included.

Alcohol consumption and risk of heart failure: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

“…Discussion: The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the views of dietetic managers regarding volunteering of newly qualified graduates seeking employment. The view point of participants, demonstrating benefits of volunteering, are in accordance with a study conducted previously in the field of education (Simha, Topuzova & Albert, 2011). The present research exposed and highlighted similar views of the participants with a slight variation, whereby, all the participants in this study had a similar approach to the topic, emphasising the importance of volunteering.…”

What predicts Australian university students' intentions to volunteer their time for community service?

“…as asking about their reasons for volunteering for a specific organisation rather than volunteering more generally. Similarly, a range of constraints for volunteering were identified including lack of time (Gage & Thapa, 2012), lack of awareness or knowledge about volunteering (Auld, 2004), and financial considerations such as the need to find paid employment (Simha et al, 2011). These constraints are consistent with previous research.…”

“…In addition, despite the importance of volunteerism in our society, and potentially in the younger population, little Australian research has focused on identifying motivations for volunteering (Esmond & Dunlop, 2004) or specifically on identifying the predictors of the volunteering behaviour of college/university students (Cruce & Moore, 2007;McCabe et al, 2007;Simha et al, 2011). As such, in this study, in addition to the qualitative approach to understand motivations and constraints for volunteering, we use a quantitative approach to consider the predictors of the decision to volunteer for community service in a sample of Australian university students.…”

“…Students' motivations for volunteering may include helping others and the satisfaction derived from helping (Auld, 2004;Serow, 1991), and learning or developing new skills or making new contacts for the purposes of career development (Auld, 2004;Gage & Thapa, 2012;Holdsworth, 2010;Smith et al, 2010). Reasons for not volunteering in student-based studies include time constraints (Gage & Thapa, 2012;Simha, Topuzova, & Albert, 2011), the need to find paid employment and work or study commitments (Auld, 2004;Evans & Saxton, 2005;Gage & Thapa, 2012;Simha et al, 2011), as well as being unaware of the volunteering opportunities available and how to get involved (Auld, 2004;Gage & Thapa, 2012). Reviews of young adult volunteering consistently suggest that more research is needed regarding the motivations of younger volunteers and how to engage them in volunteering (e.g., Gaskin, 2004;Hill, Russell, & Brewis, 2009;Wilson, 2000).…”

Formation of Youth Readiness to the Development of Environmental Volunteering at University

“…And what motives are more effective for volunteering? Today, most researchers emphasize that absolute altruism does not exist, as any volunteer in different degree gets a certain satisfaction from their involvement in volunteering (Simha, Topuzova, & Albert, 2011). Why volunteer at our University is not prestigious?…”