In the report’s foreword, broadcaster Jon Snow shows his support for student volunteers, noting that ‘student activism has been the life blood of organic change in our society’. He continues ‘Higher education has always been about much more than simply getting a degree….In a time of sweeping cuts to education budgets, it also provides a powerful argument for continued institutional investment in volunteering.’
The research forms one of the largest studies on student volunteering to date and represents the views of over 8,000 students and graduates from six universities, selected to represent the diversity of the higher education sector in England.
The study confirms volunteering has a range of positive impacts on students’ soft skills, personal development and employability. Indeed, half (51 per cent) of recent graduates under 30 who are in paid work say that volunteering helped them to secure employment. Moreover, volunteering can play an important role in developing students’ community awareness and integration into communities outside the university. Volunteering is an important way for students to burst out of the ‘bubble’ of university life.
However, without adequate support, management and opportunities for reflection and placing volunteering in wider social context, student volunteering can fail to realise many of the potential benefits frequently attributed to it. Students who receive support for their volunteering from their universities are more satisfied with the experience of volunteering and report greater personal development benefits than volunteers who do not receive university support. There is a clear need for professional volunteer management in universities, with more consistent approaches to promoting and supporting volunteering.
The study finds that:
- 49% of students have taken part in formal volunteering in the year 2009/2010;
- 38 per cent of student volunteers are introduced to volunteering through their university or students’ union;
- Volunteer-involving organisations place great value on higher education students;
- 95 per cent of students who volunteer are motivated by a desire to improve things or help people;
- Students who receive support for their volunteering from their university are more satisfied with the experience of volunteering and derive greater personal development benefits;
- Senior university staff express a strong commitment to volunteering, but volunteering services are hampered by a lack of secure funding and a relatively low profile;
- Student volunteers report many positive impacts on their own personal development, skills and employability;
- 51 per cent of recent graduates under 30 years old who are in paid work say that volunteering helped them to secure employment;
- Student volunteering can play an important role in developing students’ community awareness and integration into communities outside the university;
- The major barrier to volunteering reported by students is lack of time owing to study pressures;
- Linking volunteering to academic subjects or careers might encourage more students to volunteer.
The study was commissioned by the National Centre for Public Engagement and undertaken by the Institute for Volunteering Research. To read the full report visit here.
Volunteering by university students in the UK has a long history, from settlement and mission work in the nineteenth century to Rag and Student Community Action later in the twentieth century. Visit www.studentvolunteeringhistory.org for more information