impact beyond volunteering - vso...motivations for volunteering is an area that has received...

Impact beyond volunteering 1

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Impact beyond volunteering

A realist evaluation of the complex and long-term pathways of volunteer impact

Janet Clark and Simon LewisMarch 2017

Impact beyond volunteering2

Introduction


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Contents1. Introduction

1.1.Researchfocusandhigh-levelfindings

1.2. Literature review

2. Approach

2.1. Methodological approach

2.2. Methods

3. Analysis

3.1.Understandingmechanisms:theimpactsonunderstanding,attitudesandbehavioursofvolunteers towardsinequalityandsocialjusticeduringvolunteeringplacements

3.2.Understandingcontext:theinfluenceofpre-placementactivities,motivationforvolunteering andotherfactorsinenablingchange

3.3. Understanding outcomes: post-placement changes

3.4.Understandingrelationshipsbetweenmechanismsandoutcomes:linksbetweenchangesduring placementandpost-placementactivitiesandbehaviours

3.5.Impactsresultingfrompost-placementchanges 4. Conclusions

4.1.Keyfindings

4.2.Limitations

5. References

6. Appendix A – Survey tool

7. Appendix B – Key charts

8. Acknowledgements

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Introduction

VSO volunteer Patricia Doyle with seven-month-old baby Eldana and her mother at a hospital in Hosanna, Ethiopia.

ThispapersetsoutfindingsfromamajorresearchinvestigationconductedbyVoluntaryServiceOverseas(VSO)intothe long-term pathways of change and impact that occur as a resultofvolunteering.Internationalvolunteeringorganisationshave increasingly dedicated more resources to measuring and understandingtheimpactofvolunteersinhostcommunities(Burnsetal.,2015;ILO,2011).However,althoughsomevolunteer schemes do collect data on volunteer experiences attheconclusionofplacementsorrelativelysoonafterwards, littleisknownaboutthelong-termimpactonvolunteersandthecomplexcombinationsoffactorsanddriversthatleadtochangeoccurringaftervolunteerplacementsarecompleted.Thisstudyaddressesthisgapinknowledgebyexploringwhether volunteering results in changes in understanding, behaviourandattitudesforthevolunteer,andifthese changesresultindevelopmentimpactsinthecommunities inwhichvolunteersliveandinteractaftertheirplacements.

The research was structured around three interrelated research questionsthatsoughttotestthetheorythatpre-placementcontextual factors and changes that occur whilst volunteering influencepost-placementactionandoutcomes.Thethreeresearchquestionswere:

1. What is the impact of volunteering for development on theunderstanding,attitudesandbehaviourstowardsinequalityandsocialjusticeofindividualVSOvolunteers?

2. AftertheirplacementdoVSOvolunteersdoanythingdifferentlyasaresultofchangedunderstanding,attitudesandbehaviourstowardsinequalityandsocialjustice?

3. Whatimpactdoanychangesinpracticehaveand onwhom?

Undertheseoverarchingresearchquestions,sub-questionsinvestigateddifferencesacrosstypesofvolunteersandsoughttoidentifyenablingfactorsandbarrierstochangeoccurringduringandaftervolunteerplacements.

Usingarealistevaluationtounderstandcomplexpathwaysofchangeintermsofconfigurationsofcontextualfactors,mechanismsandoutcomes,findingsrevealcommonthemesacrossvolunteersandinterestingvariationsacrossvolunteertype.Forexample,volunteersundertakeabroadrangeofsocial,communityandpoliticalactivitiesbeforetheirplacementsandvaryfrombeingveryactivetonotatall.However,therearesimilaritiesinmotivations,particularlyintermsofgainingexperiencetodeveloptheircareersandadesiretomakeadifference.Duringtheirplacements,volunteersarelikelytoincrease their awareness across a variety of areas such as poverty,inequalityandinjustice,development,communitychallengesandculturaldifferences,similaritiesanddynamics.Theyarealsolikelytogainnewskillsandknowledge,somethingthat applies equally to those volunteers that already have professionalskills.Aftertheirplacements,theseexperiencesarelikelytoleadtoincreasedlevelsofcommunity,social

andpoliticalactionandchangesincareerdirection,changesinpracticessuchasplacingmoreemphasisonrelationshipbuildingandtheformalandinformalinfluencingofpeopleinrelationtochallengingnegativebehavioursandstereotypesandpromotingmorepositiveones.Whilstsubsequentimpactsweremoredifficulttoidentify,emergingfindingssuggestimpactsatthecommunitylevel,withinexistingorganisations,andthroughtheestablishmentofnewinitiatives.

Findingspresentedinthispaperarebasedonthreestagesofinterconnectedresearchactivity.Thefirststageinvolvedaninteractiveweb-baseddiscussionplatformthatreceivedresponsesfromaround600participants.Duringthesecondstage a total of 63 in-depth interviews were carried out withVSOvolunteersthathadcompletedtheirplacements. Thethirdstagetooktheformofamasssurvey,informedindesignbytheanalysisoftheprevioustwostagesofresearchandsentouttoVSO’swideralumninetworkwithresponsesfrom 2,735 respondents.

Following a review of relevant literature and an overview of the researchapproach,findingsarediscussedinfivesectionsinthispaper.Thefirst(Section3.1)analysesthemechanismsduringvolunteerplacementsthatresultinshiftsinunderstanding,behaviourandattitudes.Thesecond(3.2)explorestheinfluenceofvariouscontextualfactorsinenablingorhinderingchange,includingpre-placementmotivationsforvolunteering,priorlevelsofsocial,communityorpoliticalaction,andissuesexperiencedduringplacements.Variationsarealsoidentifiedacrossdifferenttypesofvolunteers.Thethird(3.3)outlinespost-placement outcomes such as changes in career and practice,whilstthefourth(3.4)identifiesthekeylinksthatvolunteersconsideredtobesignificantbetweenchangesduringplacementsandpost-placementoutcomes.Thefinalanalysissection(3.5)providesanoverviewofemergingevidenceontheimpactsresultingfrompost-placementoutcomes.Thepaperconcludeswithkeyfindingsandasummaryofemergingareasofinterestforfurtherinvestigation.

1. Introduction1.1. Research focus and high-level findings

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1.2. Literature review

Withinthediverseliteratureonvolunteering,fourbroadcategoriesofstudywereidentifiedandreviewed–thosethatexploretheimpactanddistinctcontributionofvolunteeringonhostcommunities,othersthatinvestigatetheimpactofvolunteeringonthevolunteer,thoserelatingtomotivations forvolunteeringandafourth,consistingoffewerstudies, thatseekstoidentifylinksbetweenvolunteerexperience andsubsequentchanges.

Takingeachinturn,thereisagrowingbodyofliteraturethathighlightstheaddedvalueofvolunteeringandseekstobettermeasureitsdevelopmentimpact.ThejointVSO/InstituteofDevelopmentStudies(IDS)Valuing Volunteering research, for example,usedactionresearchtounderstandthefactorsthatenablevolunteeringtocontributetosustainabledevelopment(Burnsetal.,2015),whilsttheInternationalLabourOffice’s (ILO,2011)Manual on the Measurement of Volunteer Work provides a guide for countries to evaluate the economic contributionofvolunteers.Otherbodiesofworkseekingto measure impact include the development of a model for estimatingtheeconomicvalueofacountry’svolunteersoverseas(Lough,2016;Loughetal.,2007)andvarioustoolkitssuchasthoseproducedandpromotedbytheInstituteforVolunteeringResearch(Smithetal.,2015)andVolunteer Now(2016).Meanwhile,Devereux’s(2008)researchhasenricheddebatesonhowtherolesofinternationalvolunteersdifferfromotherformsofoverseasdevelopmentassistance,andLoughandMatthews(2013)havesoughttoassessthemoreintangibleimpactsofvolunteering,suchaschangesinwellbeingandinterculturalunderstanding.

Arguably,thebodyofliteraturethatexplorestheimpacts ofvolunteeringonthevolunteerismoresubstantial,particularlyintermsofpersonalandprofessionaldevelopment.For example, the Assessing Volunteer Experiences toolkit (IVR,2006)helpsvolunteersidentifyskillsandqualificationsthatwillassistthemingainingpaidemployment.Otherstudieshave sought to measure, primarily through surveys, the immediateimpactsonvolunteers(Lough,2009),thetypesofknowledgeandskillsacquiredthroughtheactofvolunteering(Akingbolaetal.,2013)andvariationsacrossdifferenttypesofvolunteerprogrammes(BrundeyandGlazley,2006).Moregenerally,numerousspecificvolunteeringschemesincorporatesurveystotrytobetterunderstandtheimpactonandexperiencesofvolunteerssuchastheUK’sInternationalCitizenService(ICS)foryoungpeopleaged18-25years,theevaluationofwhichfoundevidenceofshort-termbenefitstovolunteersbutlessonlong-termchangesinrelationtoactivecitizenship(Ecorys,2013).

Anumberofresearchstudiestakethetypeofvolunteerasthestartingpointforassessingpersonalimpacts.Forexample,Wearing(2001)exploresexperiencesassociatedwithvolunteertourismorwhatisnowcommonlyreferredtoas‘voluntourism’,an approach that typically entails shorter-term volunteer

experiencesthatcombinecomponentsoftravellingandsocialorcommunityaction.Otherstudieslookatcorporatevolunteering and measure the impact on employee-volunteers (HillsandMahmud,2007)andyouthvolunteering(Astinetal.,1999).However,withtheexceptionofthelatter,littleattentionisgenerallygiventolong-termchangepathwaysorthespecificmechanisms that lead to changes once volunteers have completed their placements.

Motivationsforvolunteeringisanareathathasreceivedsignificantacademicstudy,bothgenerallyandinrelationtospecifictypesofvolunteering.Faver(2001),forexample,hasinvestigatedwomen’smotivationsforsocialactivism,whilstBrown(2005)andMostafanezhad(2013)haverespectivelysorttobetterunderstandthemotivationsbehind‘voluntourism’andtheimplicationsonmotivationsofincludingthelabelof‘tourist’alongsidevolunteering.Takingacross-countrycomparativeapproach,Aydinlietal.(2016)foundthatbothexplicitandimplicit‘pro-social’motivationscontributetomoresustainedvolunteeringexperience.Smithetal.(2010),intheiranalysisofstudentvolunteeringacrossfivecountriesintheglobalNorth,revealthepresenceofbothaltruisticandself-orientatedmotivationsalongwithsignificantdifferencesbetweenthosethatdoanddonotvolunteer.Fromapsychologicalperspective,Jiraneketal.(2013)suggestthatvolunteersmaybemorelikelytovolunteerwhenthereisthepotentialtomakeanimpactintermsofsocialjustice.

Someinterestingresearchhasattemptedtounpickthewaysinwhichvolunteeringmayinfluencelong-termchanges.ResearchbyCivicusetal.(2008)suggeststhatvolunteeringisoftenafirststepinaperson’sfurtherinvolvementinsocialactivismanddevelopment,whilstSmithandYanacolous(2004)highlightthepotentialimpactofinternationalvolunteersthatreturntothe developed world and where their experience of life in the globalSouthcanprovidea‘publicface’ofdevelopmentandhelptocatalysechange.Inasimilarvein,LoughandMcBride(2014)haveexploredwhetherreturnedvolunteersbelievetheycandriveglobalchangeandfoundthatthosewhobelieveintheneedforglobalgovernancearemorelikelytofeeltheycaninfluencechangeandalsomaintainaninterestininternationalaffairs.Takingamorelongitudinalapproach,Lough(2014)conducted a three-year survey of over 400 returned internationalvolunteersandfoundthatitcanplayanimportantroleinbuildinginternationalsocialcapital.ThestudyrevealedthatvolunteerscanplaysignificantadvocacyrolesintheglobalNorthwhentheyreturn,andthattherelationshipstheybuildduringtheirplacementscancreatecross-borderlinkagesandestablishaplatformforinternationalcooperation.However,italsosuggeststhatshort-termplacementsarelesslikelytobringaboutlastingbenefitsincomparisontolong-termplacements.

Withregardstothespecificprocessesandmechanismsthatleadtochangesduringplacement,BaillieSmithetal.,(2013)provideinterestinginsightsthroughtheexaminationof


Approach

volunteeringinrelationtofaith,subjectivity,andcitizenship.Through the analysis of volunteer diaries, the authors explore thepersonalprocessesofnegotiationbetweenfaith,thinkingon development, and personal experiences of inequality and findthattheactofinternationalvolunteeringcreatesaspace inwhichpeoplecanrehearseandrearticulatetheiridentity.Thisstudyinparticularsuggestscomplexprocessesofchangeandnegotiationthatvolunteersundergoduringplacementthatareworthyoffurtherinvestigation.

Despitethestudiesmentionedabove,relativelylittleevidenceexists on the long-term impacts of volunteering on the volunteerandhowthismaycontributetowardsdevelopmentimpactswithinthecommunitiesinwhichvolunteersliveandinteract.Thisgapinknowledgeisallthemoresignificantgiventhegrowingattentionbeinggiventolinksbetweenvolunteeringandsubsequentincreasesinactivecitizenship(Ecorys,2013).Anothersubstantialimbalanceintheliteratureistheweightofresearchdirectedtowardsinternationalvolunteering–specificallyfromtheglobalNorthtoglobalSouth–ornationalvolunteeringlandscapeswithincountriesintheglobalNorth. Ininternationaldevelopment,whilstsomestudiesfocusoncertain volunteer types such as youth or corporate volunteers, thereisgenerallylittleanalysisofvolunteersfromdevelopingcountries–eitherintheformofnationalvolunteersorthegrowingnumbersthattraveltootherdevelopingand developed countries to volunteer.

Understanding the dynamics of volunteering in terms of changes–bothduringandafterplacements–acrossamorediversetypologyofvolunteeringisespeciallytimelygiventheincreasedemphasisbeinggiventotheroleofvolunteersinfuturedevelopmentagendas.TheUnitedNationsVolunteers(UNV)StateoftheWorld’sVolunteeringReport2015 Transforming Governance(UNV,2015)emphasiseshowvolunteeringcanactasaplatformandcatalystforsocialaction.Specifically,ithighlightstheroleofvolunteerisminmobilisingpeopleandcivilsocietyorganisationsandenhancingtrustandinclusioninordertoachievesustainabledevelopment.Thissentimentisechoedinthe2030AgendaforSustainableDevelopment(UN,2016)andtheSustainableDevelopmentGoals(SDGs)withtheUNSecretaryGeneral’sRoad to Dignity reportstatingthat:

“As we seek to build capacities and to help the new agenda to take root, volunteerism can be another powerful and cross-cutting means of implementation. Volunteerism can help to expand and mobilize constituencies and to engage people in national planning and implementation for sustainable development goals. And volunteer groups can help to localize the new agenda by providing new spaces of interaction between governments and people for concrete and scalable actions” (2014: para 131).

Theincreasedrecognitionofvolunteeringintheglobaldevelopmentagenda,whilstwidelyhailedasapositivestep,alsoraisesissuesaroundhowitscontributionisbettermeasured(HaddockandDevereux,2015).Crucially,inrelationtothisstudy,italsohighlightsaneedtobetterunderstandhowvolunteer experiences can lead to more long-term changes which,inturn,contributetofurtherdevelopmentimpacts.Furthermore, with the growth of volunteering models such asinternational,South-SouthandNorth-Southvolunteering(wherebypeoplefromcountriesintheglobalSouthvolunteerinothercountriesintheglobalSouthandNorth)andnationalvolunteering schemes in developing countries, there is theaddedprospectthatvolunteersmaycontinuetohavedevelopmentimpactsintheirowncommunitiesoncethey havecompletedtheirplacements.Withmoreattentionbeinggiventotheneedforglobalactiononglobalissues,volunteering-for-developmentorganisationsarealsorealisingthattheirnetworksofalumnimaybemoreinclined,becauseof their volunteering experience, to lend support to campaigns andundertakefurtheraction.

Alimamy Kargbo, a carpenter, trains young boys after school hours in Makeni, Sierra Leone.

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2. Approach2.1. Methodological approach

Utilisinganetworkofapproximately15,000returnedvolunteerswhoundertookplacementswithVSO,thestudyadoptedamixedmethodologicalapproachdrawingonrealistevaluation(PawsonandTilley,1997)andgroundedtheory(GlaserandStrauss,1967).Therationaleforcombiningtheseapproachesis rooted in the context that the study is aiming to understand unintendedoutcomes(behaviouralandattitudinalchangesofvolunteersandtheirsubsequentactionaftertheirvolunteerplacement),andtounderstandwhenandhowthese outcomes occur.

Realistevaluationisanapproachwhichrecognisesthecomplexcontext which surrounds volunteering dynamics. It explicitly seekstounderstandtherelationshipbetweencontext,outcomes,andimpactbyasking“whatworks,forwhom, inwhatrespect,towhatextent,inwhatcontexts,andhow?” Inordertoanswerthesequestions,therealistapproachaimstoidentifytheunderlyinggenerativemechanismsthatexplain‘how’theoutcomeswerecausedandtheinfluenceofcontext.These mechanisms are the underlying social or psychological driversthatinfluencethereasoningoftheactors.Contextisimportantbecauseitinfluencesreasoning,andmechanisms canonlyworkifthecircumstancesareright.Therealistapproachiswellsuitedtounderstandingcomplexsituationsbecauseitallowsforadeconstructionofthecausalwebofconditionsunderlyingtheoutcomes.

Typically, the realist approach tests programme theories throughalinkedsetofhypothesesaboutthemechanismsthatcauseaninterventiontoworkornotworkinparticularcontexts,andtoleadtospecificoutcomes.Withinthisstudy,theoutcomesarenotclearlydefinedattheoutset–afactorthatinformedthedecisiontocombinearealistapproach with grounded theory.

Groundedtheorystartswithreviewingdatafromwhichthetheorythenemerges,whichisverydifferentfromtraditionalpositivistapproacheswhichtesttheories.Dataaretaggedandcoded,andwhentheyarereviewed,codescanbegroupedinto concepts and then into categories. These categories may becomethebasisforanewtheory.Thisapproachisparticularlyrelevanttothisstudybecauseofthelackoftheoreticalknowledgeandunderstandingthatexistsaboutthereasonsforandwaysinwhichvolunteersundertakeactionaftertheirplacement.Aspectsofthisapproachhavebeenusedto inform the analysis of data at all stages of the study.

2.2. Methods

Thestudyisbasedonthreephasesofdatacollection,eachusingadistinctresearchmethod.Thispaperpresentsthefindingsfromallthreestagesofthestudy.

Thefirststageusedaninteractiveweb-baseddiscussionplatformtofacilitatedebateonactivitiesundertakenbyvolunteersaftertheirplacements.Atotalof841participantsregistered a view in response to the statement, “Since my VSO placement, I have been involved in activities to reduce poverty and injustice”.Inaddition,598participantsmadeatotalof693contributingstatements.ThesedatawereanalysedusingNVivoandthefindingsinformedthedevelopmentoftheresearchtools for the next stage of the study.

The second stage involved a total of 63 in-depth semi-structuredinterviewsusingastratifiedsampleofcorporate(n9),internationalNorth-South(n28),internationalSouth-South(n7),national(n3),youthnational(5),youthinternational(n9)andpolitical(2)volunteers.Thepurposeoftheseinterviewswastoexplorewhenandhowreturnedvolunteersbecomeinvolvedincommunity,social,andpoliticalactionaftertheirplacement.Therewasaparticularfocusonhowplacementsmayhaveinfluencedorinformedsuchactionandanychangesinbehaviourwhichledtoit.Thesampleframewasdevelopedtoreflectthediversityofvolunteersacrossarangeofattributesincluding, age, gender, country of origin, country of placement, typeofplacement(thematicarea,roleandtypeofpartnerplacedwith),numberofplacements,lengthofplacement,andthe decade in which they volunteered.

Theinterviewschedulewasinformedbythefindingsfromthefirststageofthestudyandwaspilotedattheoutset.Interviewswerecarriedoutbyateamoffiveinterviewers,allofwhomhadknowledgeandexperienceofVSO’svolunteeringapproaches.DatawereanalysedinNVivousinggroundedtheoryprinciplestoenablethedevelopmentofanemergentcodingframework.Oncethisanalysiswascompleted,asecondstageofanalysiswasundertaken.Thisinvolvedtracingacasemap for each of the 63 interviews, showing the journey of the volunteer.Theaimofthisexercisewastoidentifypatternsofcontext-mechanism-outcomeformations.Socialactionbeforeplacementandmotivationtovolunteerweremappedalongsidethe personal changes that occurred for individuals during placement,anyactionthattheyhadbeeninvolvedwithsincetheirplacement,andwherepossiblethereportedimpactoftheaction.Ateachstageofthejourneycontextualfactorswerealsomapped–individualcontextualfactors,placementcontextandthecontextoftheircurrentsituationandlocation.Linksbetweeneachofthestageswereillustratedusingarrows,withthewidthofthearrowrepresentingthestrengthofthelinkasarticulatedbytheparticipant.Diagram1(seepage8)showsaworkingillustrationofthemappingstructure.


Approach

ThethirdstageoftheresearchtooktheformofawideronlinesurveyofvolunteersonVSO’sreturnedvolunteerdatabase. The survey tool was developed drawing on the themes emerging duringthefirsttwostagesoftheresearch,andcanbefoundinAppendixA.Itwaspilotedusingcognitivetestingandadaptationsweremadeinformedbytheresultsofthisexercise.Theaimofthesurveywastounderstandmoreaboutthescaleofbehaviouralandattitudinalchangesofvolunteersasaresultoftheirplacement.VSOalumniweresentalinktothesurveyin

anemailwithafollow-upreminder,andtheywereasked toforwardittotheirnetworksandcontactsofotherreturnedvolunteerstotryandengagethosewhomaynotbeonthealumnidatabase.ItwasopenfortwoweeksinSeptember 2016 and received a total of 2,735 valid individual responses.

Ofthoseresponding,57%werefemaleand42%male;therewasabroadspectrumofagerangesandalsoawiderangeofagesatthepointthattheyfirstvolunteered;

Context before placement Mechanisms

Outcomes

Before placement motivations:• Challenge and well-being (mid-lifecrisis,

neededachange,hadaseriesoffamilytraumas)• Make a difference (consideredhimselfand

hisfamilyluckytogetthroughchallenges)• Utilisation of existing skills (medicalprofessional)

Before placement action: Yes• Voluntary work • Fundraising for charity • Networking to raise funds

Type of volunteer: International-N.S

Gender: Male

Country before placement: UK

Age bracket now: 61-70

Length of placement: 1-2 years

Type of organisation: Healthprovider

Nature of role: Practitionerskillsdevelopment

Placement context: Placedinahospital,alsotaughtmedicalcourseat the university, his wife was an accompanying partner

Changes during placement: • Networks, contacts, friendships and relationships

(tookayearbutdevelopedreallystrongnetworks)• New skills (publicspeaking,chairingmeetings,lecturing)• Increased resilience (notfrightenedbymuchanymore)• Awareness of poverty (peopleintheUKareunawareof

thereality)• Awareness of culture (howitvariesacrosscontexts)• Increased confidence• Self-awareness and change in attitude

Post-placement action: • Trustee and formal volunteer position (volunteeredinlocal

authoritypublicstandardspositions,nowvolunteers2days aweekensuringstandardsofserviceprovision)

• Influencing others - development (daughterhassincebeenactive inliving/workingindevelopingcountries)

• Volunteering promotion (givingtalkstolocalgroups)• Networking (intouchwithalumnigroups)• Change in practice (betterrelationshipsandrespectforothers)• Career change or direction (morelinkedtoprofessionalfrustrations)

Additional context:InUKsince2010.Workedabroadfor1-yearpostplacement.Hadbreakdownuponreturning

Total no. of placements: 1

Country now: UK

Impact:• Selected as chair of the

committee (directlinkstoexperience inchairingmeetings)

• Contributing to service standards of prisons

Additional context:Tookearlyretirement,livedinEurope,motivatedbywifewhovolunteers

Diagram 1 – Example of Context-Mechanism-Outcome map


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most(83%)hadcompletedoneVSOplacement,justoverhalf(53%)wereinternationalNorthtoSouthvolunteerswithaspreadacrossothercategoriesofvolunteer;most(80%)hadvolunteeredforaperiodofmorethansixmonths;72%werelivinginEuropebeforetheirplacementand63%werenowlivinginEuropewithsoutheastAsiaandtheHornandEastAfricabeingthenextmostwellrepresentedregionsinwhichrespondentswerebased,bothpriortotheirplacementandatthepointofcompletingthesurvey.Respondents’sdecadeoffirstplacementrangedfromrecentvolunteersthroughtothosewho volunteered in the 1960s, with two thirds of respondents undertakingtheirfirstplacementthiscenturyandonethirdpriorto2000.Aroundathirdofrespondents(35%)identifiedtheprimaryfocusoftheirplacementtobeeducation,anotherthirdwasdividedbetweenhealth(14%)andlivelihoods(13%),and the remainder were spread across a wide range of areas. ThemajoritywereplacedwithgovernmentorNGOpartnersandtherewasafairlyevenspreadworkingacrossnational,regionalandlocal/districtlevels.

Adescriptiveanalysisofthedatawasundertakentoshowtheresultsofthedataset.Inferentialanalysiswasalsoundertakenwithaparticularfocusoncertaintargetedquestionsinformedbyfindingsfromearlierstagesoftheresearch.Thepurposeoftheuseofinferentialstatisticsistomakejudgementsoftheprobabilitythatobserveddifferencesbetweengroupsisadependableone,oronethatmighthavehappenedbychancein the study. There were a series of hypotheses emerging from thequalitativeworkwhichthisanalysisaimedtotest:

• Volunteeringincreaseslevelsofsocialaction.• Volunteeringresultsinarangeofchangesforthevolunteer

during their placement.• The changes that happen during placement impact on

thelevelandtypeofsocialactionthattheyundertake post placement.

• Theageatwhichpeoplevolunteerforthefirsttimeaffectsthe changes that happen for them during placement.

• Thelengthofplacementaffectsthechangesthathappenduring placement.

• Thelocation(bycountry)ofplacementaffectsthechangesthat happen during placement.

• The changes that happen during placement vary for differentvolunteertypes.

• Thetypeofplacement(role,thematicarea,typeof partnerplacedwith)affectsthechangesthathappenduring placement.

• Changesthathappenduringplacementvary,dependentonwherethevolunteerlivesinrelationtothecommunitieswithwhichtheywork.

• The challenges that volunteers experience during their placementaffectthechangesthathappenduringplacement.

• Motivationtovolunteeraffectsthechangesthathappenduring placement.

• Motivationtovolunteerisdifferentfordifferenttypes ofvolunteerandalsoisvariableforvolunteersof differentages.

Insomecasesitwasnecessarytoaggregatesub-elementsofthedatasetsforthefeasibilityofthisanalysis.Thefollowingstatisticaltestswereapplied,dependingonthenatureofthetwovariables:

• Chi-squarefordichotomousanddichotomousordichotomousandnominalvariables

• MannWhitneyfordichotomousandordinalvariables• Kruskal-Wallisfornominalandordinalvariables• Spearman’srankforordinalandordinalvariables.

Thestatisticaltestingconductedusesap-valuetoindicatethestatisticalsignificanceofanassociationbetweentwovariables.Thesignificanceusedis5%andthisisidentifiedbyateststatisticwith a p-value of 0.05 of less. This provides results which give 95%confidencethatthereisagenuinestatisticaldifference.

Theinferentialanalysisisalsocontainedwithinaseparatereport(availableondemand)andbothsetsofanalysisarereferencedwithinthisfinalsummarypaper;howeverkeychartsarereferencedinthisreportandareincludedinAppendixB.

Local teacher Shila Dhakal donates her spare time to talk to children in Lamjung, Nepal, about school and earthquake preparedness.

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Analysis

Thefollowinganalysispresentsfindingsstructuredaroundchanges that volunteers experience during their placement, theinfluenceofpre-placementactivitiesandmotivations, post-placementoutcomes,therelationshipsbetweenchangesandoutcomes,andfinally,impacts.Findingsarealsoinvestigatedforvariationsacrossdifferenttypesofvolunteers. It is recognised that there are numerous ways in which volunteerscanbedisaggregatedaccordingtotype,butforthepurpose of this analysis, volunteers were categorised according tothetypeofVSOplacementorprogrammetheyundertook.Assuch,researchparticipantsfellintooneofseventypes:

i. InternationalNorth-Southvolunteers, where the volunteer isrecruitedfromacountryintheglobalNorthandplacedinacountryintheglobalSouth;

ii. InternationalSouth-Southvolunteers, where the volunteer isrecruitedfromacountryintheglobalSouthandplacedinanothercountryintheglobalSouth;

iii. Corporatevolunteersthattypicallytakepartinavolunteeringschemesupportedbytheircorporateemployerorganisation;

iv. NationalInternationalCitizenService(ICS)volunteers whoarevolunteersfromtheglobalSouthaged18-25 thatteamupwithUKvolunteerstoundertakethree-monthplacementsintheircountry(sometimesintheirowncommunitybutofteninanotherpartofthecountry);

v. YouthforDevelopment(Y4D)volunteersthatparticipatedinaone-yearvolunteerscheme(whichisnolongeroperating)foryoungpeoplefromtheUKaged18-25yearsofage.Volunteerswereexpectedtohavehadsomepreviousworkexperience;

vi. GlobalXchangevolunteers from the UK. This scheme precededtheInternationalCitizenServiceandinvolvedUKvolunteersaged18-25yearsofageundertakingathree-monthplacementinacountryintheglobalSouthalongsideanationalvolunteercounterpart,andthenalso athree-monthplacementintheUK;

vii. Polvolparliamentarianvolunteerswhoundertakeshort-termplacementstohelpinternationalpartnersstrengthentheiradvocacyandcampaigns,influencenationalpolicies,andsupportthecapacityofelectedrepresentatives.

Throughapplicabilitycriteria,anumberofthesetypesalsoseparatevolunteersaccordingtoothercharacteristics,suchas age with the youth volunteering programmes. Whilst the volunteertypeisthemainfocusoftheresearchquestionsforthisstudy,thereisalsosomeanalysisofvariationsacrossage,gender, region of placement, the length of placement and the lengthoftimesincetheyvolunteered.

Inkeepingwithrealistevaluation,theanalyticalcategories of context, mechanisms and outcomes are used throughout tounderstandthecomplexconfigurationsoffactorsthat lead to change happening. The diagram on the right illustrates –makinguseofthequalitativedata–therespectiveprofilesofdifferentvolunteertypesacrosstheirjourneyfrompre-placementactivityandvolunteeringmotivations(context);changestotheirunderstanding,attitudeandbehaviour duringplacement(mechanism);andpost-placementchangesintermsofbehaviourandcommunityandsocialandpoliticalaction(outcome).

Beginningwiththemechanismsrelatingtochangesduringplacement,thefollowingsectionsexploreemergingfindings on the complex pathways that lead to volunteer impact. In each section,generalfindingsarepresentedbeforevariationsareinvestigatedacrossdifferenttypesofvolunteer.

3. Analysis

3.1. Understanding mechanisms: the impacts on understanding, attitudes and behaviours of volunteers towards inequality and social justice during volunteering placements

Thesurveyidentifiedthatmanyrespondentsdescribedexperiencing changes in awareness during their placement. Respondentswereaskedtoidentifyareaswheretheyfelttheyhad experienced a change of awareness and then indicate whether the scale of the change was small, medium or large. Table1(seepage8)showstheresponses,withthefirstcolumnshowingthoseidentifyingbigchangesandthesecondcolumn showing all levels of change aggregated. An increase inculturalawarenesswasthemostsignificantchange,with60%experiencingalargechangeand85%experiencingsomelevelofchange.Therewerealsonotableshiftsinawarenessofdevelopment,poverty,equalityandinjustice,communitychallenges and needs, and volunteering.

Thesurveyalsoaskedaboutpersonalchangesthatvolunteersexperiencedduringtheirplacementandagaintheywereaskedtoindicatedthescaleofchange.Table2(seepage8)showstheresponses,withthefirstcolumnshowingthoseidentifyinglarge change and the second column showing all levels of changeaggregated.Themajorityofrespondentsidentifiedsome level of personal change across all the categories listed, withnewknowledgeandlearning,increasedadaptability,increasedconfidence,increasedresilience,andincreasedself-awarenessbeingmostfrequentlycitedaslarge-scalechangesfor individuals during their placement.

Thesurveyalsoaskedrespondentstoidentifyotherareasofchange.ManydescribedexamplesthatlinktothecategorieslistedinTables1and2.


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Context Mechanisms Links Outcomes

Diagram 2 – The volunteer journey from pre-placement to volunteer changes in understanding, attitude and behaviour to post-placement outcomes using a realist evaluation framework

Type Pre-Placement Action

Motivation

Global Exchange

Youth for Development

National ICS

Corporate

InternationalSouth-South

InternationalNorth-South

Diverserangeofaction

Gaincareerexperience

Gaincareerexperience

• Gaincareerexperience

• Influencedbyothers

• Makeadifference

• Utiliseexistingskills

• Gain career experience

Veryactive

Not very active

Varyingdegrees- some very, some through university requirement

• Increasedadaptability• Awareness of poverty

etc.

• Newskills,knowledgeand learning

• Increased resilience• Networks,contacts,friendships,relationships

• Increased awareness (spreadacrossdifferentareas)

• Increasedconfidence• Networks,contacts,friendships,relationships

• Awareness of culture• Newskills,knowledge

and learning• Increasedconfidence• Networks,contacts,friendships,relationships

• Culturalandself-awarenesslinktochangeinpractice

• Increasedconfidenceandmotivationlinktocareerdirection

• Increased cultural and environmental awarenesslinktoconsumerpatterns

• Diverselinkstocareerchange

• Increased awareness of culture, development, community challenges andself-awarenesslink tochangeinpractice

• Diverselinksacrossmechanisms to outcomes

• Increased awareness of culture with people from placement country and corporate colleagueslinktochangeinpractice

• Noclearlinkstocareerchange

• Changeinpractice• Careerchange/direction• Consumerpatterns• Campaigning

• Careerchange/direction(strengtheningexistingdirection)

• Changeinpractice

• Changeinpractice• Careerchange/direction(experiencetogetjoband clarity on career direction)

• Setupgroup

• Changeinpractice(cross-culturalworking)

• Careerchange/direction(mainlywithpre-placementorganisation)

A wide range from very activetonotactive

Spreadacross6categories:1. Faith-based

action2. Throughwork3. Previous

internationalvolunteering

4. Politicallyactive /campaigning

5. Active-fromverytoalittle

6. Notactive

Diversereasons - no explicit patterninreason

• Gaincareerexperience

• Adventure and challenge

• Utiliseexistingskills

• Makeadifference

• Influenced byothers

• Newskills,knowledge and learning

• Networks,contacts,friendships,relationships

• Awareness of culture• Increasedconfidence• Changeinattitude

• Increased awareness of culture, development, communityneeds/challenges, inequality

• Self-awareness• Newskills,knowledge

and learning• Networks,contacts,friendships,relationships

• Changeinattitude• Increasedconfidence

• Newskills,learningandknowledgelinktocareerchange

• Newskillslinktochangeinpractice

• Increased cultural and environmental awarenesslinktoconsumerpatterns

• Newskills,learningandknowledgelinktocareer change

• Increased awareness of development and inequalitylinktochangeinpractice

• Rangeoflinkstochangeinpractice

• Living/workingwithlimited resources and awareness of poverty linkstoconsumerpatterns

• Careerchange/direction• Changeinpractice• Networking• Furtherinternational

volunteering

• Careerchange/direction• Changeinpractice• Volunteeringpromotion• Furtherinternational

volunteering• Campaigning• Influencingothers• Supportinglocalcharities• Trustees and formal volunteeringpositions

• Consumerpatterns• Grassrootscommunity

development


Analysis

Increasedconfidence,enhancedcreativity,greaterflexibilityandpatiencewerefrequentlymentioned.Sometalkedaboutanincreaseordecreaseinfaithorspiritualityandothersspokeof anincreasedawarenessoftheperspectivesofotherreligions.Notallchangesidentifiedwereperceivedaspositive;sometalkedaboutadecreaseinconfidenceandonementionedadecreaseinpatience,statingthattheplacementhad“usedup”alltheirpatience.Anumberofrespondentssaidthattheyhadbecomedisillusionedwithdevelopment,andinparticulartheworkofINGOs,duringtheirplacement.

Analysis of the interviews and online discussion responses largelysupportsthedatafromthesurveyfindingsandrevealsthatmanyrespondentsmadelinksbetweenchangesinunderstanding,attitudesandbehaviourswhichoccurredduring their placement, as well as increased awareness across a spectrum of areas such as poverty, development, culture, poverty,powerdynamics,inequalityandinjustice.Aswiththe survey, an increased awareness of culture was the most frequently cited change of awareness, with nearly two-thirds ofinterviewrespondentsmakingatleastonereferencetothis,whichincludedawarenessofculturaldifferencesandalsosimilaritiesacrossculturesaswellasculturaldynamics:

“If I hadn’t done those placements I would still be someone striving for equality, but I wouldn’t have an understanding of other cultures....” (Y4D volunteer)

Itwasnotonlyinternationalvolunteersthattalkedaboutincreasedawarenessbutalsonationalvolunteerswhowereplacedinlocationsawayfromtheirhome:

“Before I didn’t have the opportunity to interact with different people from different tribes....learning a new culture and finding out about people from different ethnic groups was a very good experience.” (ICS national volunteer)

Increasedawarenessofdevelopment–intermsofinternationaldevelopmentprocessesandimpacts–alongwithanincreasedawarenessofinequalityandinjusticewerebothseparatelyreferencedbynearlyhalfoftheinterviewrespondents.Inequalityandinjusticeencompassedabroadrangeofissues,includingcorruption,injusticewithinorganisations,specificreferencestodevelopingtheirownthinkingoninequalityandinjusticeonapersonallevel,anddiscriminationrelatingtodisability,ethnicity,culture,genderandsexuality.

An increase in self-awareness received nearly as many references in the interviews with over half of respondents mentioningitsimpactontheirunderstanding,attitudeandbehaviour.Commonthemesonthisissueincludedincreasedunderstandingofhowandwhypreconceptionsofthe countryandcultureinwhichtheywereplacedmayhavebeeninaccurate,andrealisationsaroundhowindividualbehaviourhasanimpactoninteractionandthedevelopment ofrelationships.

Table 1 – Q17 Awareness increase during placement (n=2,735)

Responses Large increase % Any

increase %

Powerdynamics 664 24% 1,831 67%

Poverty 1,262 46% 2,294 84%

Inequalityandinjustice 1,137 42% 2,168 79%

Environment 578 21% 1,886 69%

Development 1,306 48% 2,259 83%

Culture 1,632 60% 2,334 85%

Communityneeds 1,069 39% 2,128 78%

Communitychallenges 1,175 43% 2,094 77%

Volunteering 1,097 40% 2,120 78%

Table 2 – Q18 Changes during placement (n=2,735)

Responses Large increase % Any

increase %

Changeinattitude 991 36% 2,261 83%

Increasedadaptability 1,298 47% 2,341 86%

Increasedconfidence 1,191 44% 2,300 84%

Increased resilience 1,166 43% 2,240 82%

Motivation 887 32% 2,053 75%

Widened professional networksandcontacts 603 22% 1,942 71%

Newknowledge and learning 1,302 48% 2,309 84%

Newskills 966 35% 2,237 82%

Increased self-awareness 1,109 41% 2,226 81%


321 654 87

Aroundathirdofrespondentsmentionedincreasedawarenessof each of the three areas of poverty, community needs, and communitychallenges.Somedescribedtheirexperienceashelpingtogroundtheminrealities:

“In the course of my own work in international development pretty much whenever I meet someone else who really seems to have empathy for the people with whom they work in developing countries it turns out that they are [return volunteers] I’ve also met many more people working in international development (including some of those working for the government) who have no such empathy or cross-cultural understanding. I really do think the volunteering experience that VSO provides grounds volunteers in the realities and complexities of the lives of disadvantaged and marginalised people and thus equips us with the skills and attitudes we need to work to reduce poverty and injustice whether it is with such groups ‘back home’ or in continuing work overseas.” (International North-South volunteer)

Fewer,thoughstillasignificantnumberofreferencesweremade to awareness of volunteering, power dynamics, and the environment.

Newknowledgeandlearningalongsidenewskillsgainedduringplacementweresignificantdriversofchangesinunderstanding,attitudeandbehaviours.Abroadrangeofskills,knowledgeandlearningwasreferredto,reflectingnotonlythediversityofvolunteerrolesundertaken,butalsomorebroadlyhowthegainingofnewskillsandlearningisstronglyassociated with volunteer placements, even when it involves professionallyskilledvolunteers.Participantsarticulatedhowtheirexperienceshadbuilttheirknowledgeskillsandlearningontheimportanceofconstructingrelationships,bringingpeopletogether,listeningtothepeopletheyareworkingwith,andusingparticipatoryapproaches.Manyinternationalparticipantsinparticularsaidthattheyhadanticipatedsharingtheirskillspriortotheirplacement,buttherealitywasthattheylearntmuchmorethantheywereabletopassontoothers.ThefollowingTables3and4showthetypesofnewskills,knowledgeandlearningthatrespondentsmostcommonlyreferenced.

Achangeinattitudewasacommonlymentionedtheme,withrespondentstypicallycommentingonchangessuchasthinkingmorepositively,realisingwhattheytookforgrantedintheirpre-placementcountry,beingmorethoughtfulandconsciousofotherpeople’sopinions,havingincreasedpatience,calmnessandanappreciationfordifferenceanddiversity.Asonerespondent stated, “I have become more easy going, even when it is stressful. I try to smile more... maybe my attitude became more optimistic” (Corporate volunteer).

Table 4 – Knowledge and learning

Table 3 – Skills developed

Skills area Examples

RelationalNetworking,listening,observing,patience,buildingtrust,interpersonalskills,tolerance,teamworking,capacitybuilding,negotiation,partnershipbuilding,donorrelationshipmanagement,diplomacy,crossculturalworking

Communication Publicspeaking,debating,lobbying,givingadvice,facilitation,self-expression,newlanguage

Management Organisationalprojectmanagement,event management, people management, leadership, programme management, chairingmeetings,strategic,reportwriting,decisionmaking

Analytical Research,monitoring,logistics,criticalthinking

CreativeParticipatoryapproaches,problemsolving

Resilience Adaptability,lifeskills,openness

TechnicalProducingnewsletters,teaching,farming,livelihoods,radiopresentations,finance,consultancy,proposalwriting,fundraising,workingwithchildren,workingwithcommunities,workingwithpatients,peacebuilding,budgeting,advocacy,campaigning

Knowledge/learning level Examples

Country Culture,religions,stigma,diversity

State/institutional

Politicspolicy,howgovernmentsoperate,structureofUN,howdonorswork,corruption–challengepreconceivedideas,governance, legal rights, advocacy

CommunityTraditionsandpractices,importanceofworkingatthegrassrootslevel,importanceofcontextualisingactionsandprogrammes,stigma,governance,howtoengagecommunities,participatoryapproaches,localpolitics,advocacy,volunteering

Individual Motivationsforchange,howpeoplelearn,behaviourchange,impactoffaith,volunteering


Analysis

Insomecases,changesinattitudealsooccurredalongsideotherchanges.Forexample,despitebeingabroadercategorythan increased self-awareness, there were cases where the twooverlappedandpotentiallysupportedeachother.Onerespondentdescribedhowvolunteeringhas“influenced the way I see the world and how I see myself. I think it’s having a much deeper understanding, a much greater sympathy and understanding of other people” (International North-South volunteer).Insuchcases,anoutwardfacingchangeinattitudetowardissues–orintheaforementionedexample,theworld–isaccompaniedbyincreasedinwardfacingself-awareness.Somerespondentsreferredtoachangeinattitudeinrelationtoincreasedawarenessinaparticularareasuchaspovertyorcommunityneeds.Withregardstodiscriminationonthebasisof sexuality, a youth volunteer shared how “....my view on LGBT changed a lot – before, my environment says LGBT no way. I would just run away. Heterosexuality was the only world I knew. We discussed a lot with other volunteers and now I think` live and let live’” (ICS National volunteer).

Thedevelopmentofnewnetworks,contacts,friendshipsandrelationshipswasafrequentlyreferredtochangeduringthe course of volunteer placements, with nearly half of respondentsmentioningthis.Withinthis,acommonthemewasnewpersonalandprofessionalconnectionswithbothpeople from the placement country and other volunteers. Many respondents also noted how their placement experience influencedthewayinwhichtheybuiltanddevelopedpersonalandprofessionalrelationships.Asonerespondenthighlighted,“the friendships and networks gained is one thing that really stands out” (Y4D volunteer).

Increasedconfidencewasasignificantthemethroughouttheresponses,withjustunderhalfmakingexplicitreferenceto it in the interviews. Responses here are less diverse with respondentsclearlyidentifyingalinkbetweenhowtheplacementexperienceandsenseofachievementcontributedtoanincreaseintheirconfidence.Inonecasearespondentdescribedhow“it built my confidence. Gave me the confidence to do stuff – if ever I am having a bad day or if I [am] putting myself down I do think I did all this stuff and just get on with it” (International North–South volunteer).

Someobservedchangesreceivedfewerreferencesintheinterviews,butthesurveyresultsindicatedthattheywereexperiencedbymanyvolunteers.Firstly,respondentsnotedanincreasedsenseofmotivationwhichincludedcommentsrelatingtoincreasedcommitmenttotheworktheywereundertaking,personaldriveandeffortstoaddressissuesrelatingtoincreasesintheirawareness–forexample,beingmoremotivatedtotackleinequalityandinjusticeinresponsetoexperiencingit.Thesurveyresultsshowedthat75%ofrespondentshadexperiencedachangeinmotivation,and32%indicatedthistobeabigchange.Secondly,somerespondentsreferredtobecomingmoreadaptableasaresultoftheirplacement,specificallyinhavingtoworkandliveinnewandsometimeschangingsettingsandcontextswheretheir

expectationswerechallenged.Theresultsshowedthat86%ofrespondentshadexperiencedanincreaseinadaptabilityand47%indicatedthistobeabigchange.Finally,increasedresiliencewasmentioned,ofteninrelationtootherfactorssuchasdevelopingandusingnewskillsinnewenvironmentsand living with limited resources. The survey results showed that82%ofrespondentshadexperiencedanincreaseinresilienceand43%indicatedthistobeabigchange.Inboththe survey and the interviews, some volunteers experienced a changeintheirbehaviourinrelationtolivingand/orworkingwithlimitedresources,whichsomelinkedtoadaptabilityandresilience: “The biggest thing [I learnt] is just about resilience and flexibility, finding solutions when you don’t have a lot of resources” (International North–South volunteer).

Variation across different types of volunteerThe survey data were analysed to explore if there were any differencesinthechangesthatwereexperiencedbyvolunteersacrossdifferentdemographicgroupsduringtheirplacement.This analysis indicated that the type of awareness raised during placementvariedverylittle,irrespectiveofgender,typeofpartner placed with, length of placement, type of role, sector ofplacement,urbanorrurallocation,livinginthecommunitythattheywereworkingwithorawayfromthecommunity,andinitialmotivationtovolunteer.However,forvolunteersplacedinAfricaandCentralAmerica,thereappearedtobeahigherlevelofpovertyawarenessraised.Furtherinterrogationofthedatashowedasignificantchangeofawarenessofpovertyfor volunteers with placements in Africa compared to Asia (AppendixB,Chart1).

InternationalSouthtoSouthandICSnationalvolunteersgenerally experienced the greatest awareness changes although ICSnationalvolunteersexperiencedlowerlevelsofculturalawareness-raisingthanothervolunteertypes(AppendixB,Chart2).InternationalNorthtoSouthvolunteersgenerallyexperienced lower levels of change in awareness, apart from changesinculturalawarenesswhichwerehigh(AppendixB,Chart2).Analysisbydecadeinwhichtheplacementtookappeared to show that in recent years, the increase in cultural awareness-raisingwaslower,butthereweregrowinglevelsof awareness of development issues, power dynamics, and communitychallenges.Changesinawarenessofbothculture(AppendixB,Chart3)andenvironment(AppendixB,Chart4)were greater for those volunteers who were younger at the timeoftheirplacement. Analysing the survey data to explore other changes that tookplaceduringplacementidentifiedlittledifferencebygender, length or decade of placement, type of role, sector ofplacement,urbanorrurallocation,whetherlivinginthecommunitythattheywereworkingwith,orawayfromit,andtheinitialmotivationtovolunteer.InternationalSouthtoSouthvolunteersandICSnationalvolunteersgenerallyexperiencedhigherlevelsofchange,andinternationalNorthtoSouthvolunteersexperiencedlesschange.Corporatevolunteers


321 654 87

experiencedlowerlevelsofchange,buthadslightlyhigherlevelsofchangeinattitude(AppendixB,Chart5)andself-awareness(AppendixB,Chart6),comparedtoothertypesofvolunteer.CorporateandinternationalNorthSouthvolunteersexperiencedlowerlevelsofmotivationalchange(AppendixB,Chart7).ICSnationalvolunteers,however,reportedslightlyhigherlevelsofmotivationalchangethanothertypesofvolunteer(AppendixB,Chart7).Youngervolunteersappearedmorelikelytoexperiencesignificantincreasesinconfidence,andoldervolunteersappearedmorelikelytoexperiencewideningnetworksandcontacts.Furtherinterrogationandtestinghighlightedthatyoungervolunteerswerestatisticallymorelikelytoexperiencechangesinattitude(AppendixB,Chart8),increasedadaptability(AppendixB,Chart9),increasedconfidence(AppendixB,Chart10),increasedresilience(AppendixB,Chart11),wideningprofessionalnetworks(AppendixB,Chart12),andincreasedself-awareness (AppendixB,Chart13).Furthermore,oldervolunteers weremorelikelytoexperiencebigchangesinmotivation(AppendixB,Chart14)andskills(AppendixB,Chart15).

Duringthequalitativeinterviews,thecorporatevolunteersweremorelikelytoemphasiseincreasedculturalawarenesswithsubstantiallylessreferencemadetoawarenessofpovertyanddevelopment;howeverthistrendisnotsupportedbythesurveyresults.NationalICSrespondentsdididentifychangesinlevelsofawareness,butnoparticularareaspredominated.ForinternationalSouth-Southvolunteers,increasedawarenessof culture emerged as the major change in awareness, withsomementionofpovertyanddevelopment;howeverdata from the survey show that an increased awareness of communitychallengeswasjustassignificant.Intheinterviews,internationalNorth-Southrespondentsmadespecificreferencetomultipleareasofincreasedawarenessacrossawiderrangethan any other type of volunteer. These included increased awareness of culture, development, community needs, challenges and inequality. For some volunteer types, the qualitativeinterviewsprovidedamorenuancedinsightintotrendsbetweencertainvolunteertypes.Ofallthevolunteertypes,Y4Dvolunteersweretheonlyoneswhereincreasedawareness in one or more areas did not emerge as one of the mostsignificantreportedchanges.Acrosstheothertypes,GlobalXchangerespondentsemphasisedincreasedawarenessspecificallyonpovertyandcommunityneedsandchallenges.

Newskills,learning,andknowledgefeaturedheavilyacrossvolunteertypesinthequalitativeinterviews,reflectingthefindingsfromthesurvey.However,forGlobalXchangevolunteers,itdidnotemergeasoneofthekeychangestotheextent it did for other forms of volunteering. Instead, increased adaptabilityandawarenessofpovertyandcommunityneeds/challengesstoodoutasdefiningchangesforGlobalXchange.TheemergenceofincreasedadaptabilityhereisrelevantasGlobalXchangewastheonlytypeofvolunteerwhereitwasrecognisedasamajorchange.Oneotherchangethatsharedsomeoverlapwithadaptabilitywasincreasedresilience,somethingthatwasidentifiedasakeythemefortheY4D

volunteer.Althoughincreasedresilienceandadaptabilitydonotemerge as themes in other volunteer types in the interviews, the survey suggests that they were consistent changes across all types of volunteer.

Duringtheinterviews,increasedconfidencewascommonlyreferencedasachangefornationalICS,corporate,andinternationalSouth-Southvolunteertypes,andwasmuchlessfrequentlymentionedbyinternationalNorth-Southvolunteers.Thesurvey,however,showsincreasedconfidenceas commonly occurring across all volunteer types. Interviews withinternationalNorth-SouthvolunteersplacedinAfricancountriesappearedtobemorelikelytoidentifyincreasedconfidenceasachangethanthoseplacedinAsiancountries,andfurtherinterrogationofthesurveydatasupportedthis,showingthatthosevolunteersplacedinAfricaweremorelikelytoexperiencealargechangeinconfidence(AppendixB,Chart16)andalsoanincreasedabilitytolivewithinlimitedresources(AppendixB,Chart17)thanthoseplacedinAsia.ThoseplacedinAsiaweremorelikelytoexperienceabigchangeinthesizeoftheirnetworks(AppendixB,Chart18).Duringtheinterviews,internationalNorth-Southwastheonlytypeofvolunteerwhereincreasedself-awarenesswasidentifiedasamajorchangeinattitudeandbehaviour,butagainthesurveyrevealedthatthiswas a common change across all types of volunteer.

Thedevelopmentofnetworks,contacts,friendshipsandrelationshipswaslessfrequentlyidentifiedasasignificantchangeformostvolunteertypes,butagreateremphasiswasplacedonthisasanimportantchangewithGlobalXchangevolunteers.However,analysisoftheinterviewdatasuggeststhat the nature of change in this area varies across volunteer type.InternationalSouth-SouthandNorth-Southvolunteersreferred to the development of personal and professional contactsandfriendships;Y4Dvolunteersmadesimilarreferences,butalsospecificallyemphasisedhowtheselinkagesoftenhappenedwithothervolunteersintheirteam.Thiswasechoedbycorporatevolunteers,whoalsomainlyundertaketheirplacementsthroughVSOinateamwithothervolunteers.Forcorporatevolunteers,newrelationshipsandnetworkswiththeir volunteer colleagues emerged as an important change during their placement.


Analysis

3.2. Understanding context: the influence of pre-placement activities, motivation for volunteering and other factors in enabling change

Establishinglinksbetweencontextualpre-placementfactorssuchasmotivationsforvolunteeringandpreviouscommunity,socialorpoliticalaction,andchangesduringplacementinrelationtounderstanding,attitudeandbehaviourprovedtobedifficult.Whilstinterviewrespondentsprovidedinformationonallthreeareas,theyrarelyexpressedanexplicitlinkbetweenthem.Nevertheless,thereisinterestinglearningintheanalysisof factors that led people to volunteer and the extent of the community,socialandpoliticalactiontheyundertakebeforetheir placements.

Motivations for volunteeringThemostcommonlyreferencedmotivationforvolunteeringinthe interviews was to gain experience for career development –approximatelyhalfofinterviewrespondentscitedthisas a reason. Associated with this, some also said how they hoped the placement would help to inform their career direction.Whencombined,overtwo-thirdsmentionedcareerdevelopmentordirectionasamotivationforvolunteering. The second most frequently given reason, with just under half ofinterviewrespondentsreferringtoit,wasadesiretomake adifferenceorhaveanimpact.

Threesignificantmotivatingfactorsthatfeaturedinresponsesfromtheintervieweesweretheutilisationofexistingskills,tohaveanadventure,andbeinginfluencedbyotherstovolunteer–fromfamilytofriendstomentorsandcolleagues.Fewer,

thoughstillsignificantnumbers,alsoreferredtowantinganexperience of cultural immersion as part of their placements, havingageneraldesiretovolunteer,wantingachallengeand/ortochallengethemselves,andbeingmotivatedbylearning. Astrongreasoninthosethatmentionedpersonalwellbeingwasrelatedtodissatisfactionwithpersonallifestylesorprofessionalemployment.Asonerespondentstatedinrelationtotheirwellbeing,“...maybe it was my time, my time to do something for me, entirely for me for the first time in my life really” (International North-South volunteer).

Itisworthnotingthatthewayinwhichparticipantsarticulatemotivationmaybeinfluencedbytheirpersonalperspective.Althoughmanydidtalkaboutcareerdevelopmentasasignificantmotivatingfactor,somemayhavefeltdisinclinedto focus on it although it does not necessarily mean it was not important for them.

Thesurveyrespondents,however,showedquiteadifferenttrend,with54.2%citingmakingadifferenceorhavingimpactastheirmostsignificantmotivationtovolunteer;13.2%sayingitwasadesiretouseexistingskillsinavolunteeringcapacity;and8.2%identifyinggainingexperiencetodevelopacareerastheirmostsignificantmotivation.Atotalof7.5%ofsurveyrespondentssaidtheirmainmotivationwaspersonaldevelopmentandlearning;7.4%saiditwastoexperienceothercultures;andfor7.3%itwasforanadventureorchallenge.Figure1belowshowstheresponsesindicatingthemostsignificantmotivations,andalsothesecondandthirdmostsignificantmotivations.

Analysisofthemotivationtovolunteeragainstaquestiontotestlevelsofactionpostplacementshowedastatisticallysignificantassociationbetweentheprimarymotivationforthe

Figure 1 – Volunteer motivations

Mostsignificant Secondmostsignificant

Third most significant

What were your main motivations to apply to volunteer (Pleaseindicateupto3motivationsinorderofsignificance)

Makeadifference/haveanimpactGainexperiencetodevelopcareerTo experience other culturesPersonaldevelopmentandlearningAdventure and challengeUseexistingskillsanddesiretovolunteerOther

2,640 2,479 2,217

7%

27%

19%

19%

15%

6%

6%17%

17%

12%

12%

22%

4%

15%

54%

8%

8%

8%

13%

7%

2%


321 654 87

placementandthechangeinactionpostplacement.Thosewhohadprimarymotivationstomakeadifferencebeforeundertakingtheirplacementweremorelikelytobeengagedwithcommunity,socialorpoliticalactionpostplacement.(AppendixB,Chart19)

Pre-placement community, social and political actionAnalysis of the interview data revealed that volunteers were involvedinadiverserangeofpre-placementaction,bothintermsofthescopeofactivitiesandthedepthofengagementwiththem.Broadlyitwaspossibletoidentifysixcategoriesinrelationtotherangeandlevelofpre-placementcommunity,socialandpoliticalaction:

i. Activethroughfaith-basedactivitiesand/ororganisations.ii. Involvementthroughwork/work-basedactivitiessuch

associalwork,beingemployedbyacharity/NGO,orarequirement as part of a university or school course.

iii. Previousinternationalvolunteeringexperience.iv. Politicallyactiveand/orinvolvementincampaigningsuch

aswritingletterstopoliticiansorattendingmarchesanddemonstrations.

v. Otheractionsincorporatingawidespreadofactivities andrangingfrombeingveryactivetoalittleactive.

vi. Notactiveincommunity,socialorpoliticalaction.

Typeandextentofpre-placementactionvariedgreatlyacrosstherespondents,althoughsometrendswereobservablewithinvolunteertypes.Thisisdiscussedfurtherbelow.

Surveyresponsestothequestiononpre-placementcommunity,socialandpoliticalactionareshowninFigure2.Donatingtocharitieswasthemostcommonformofaction(15%),followedbygrassrootscommunitywork(11%),influencingfriendsandfamily(8%),campaigningandadvocacy(7%),andformalvolunteeringpositions(7%).Atotalof7%ofrespondentssaidthattheywerenotinvolvedinanysuchactivitiesbeforetheirplacement.

Other influencing factorsInterviews and online discussion forum responses revealed that thechallengesandbarriersthatvolunteersexperiencewhilstontheirplacementscanhaveaparticularimpactonchangesinrelationtotheirunderstanding,attitudesandbehaviour.Interview respondents also noted things that surprised them ontheirplacementswhich,inchallengingtheirexpectations,hadnoticeableimpactsuponthem.

Intermsofbarriersandchallenges,itisimportanttofirstnotethatinmanycasestheydidnotleadtonegativechangesandoutcomes.Somerespondentsdidrefertoincreasedcynicismandscepticismonissuessuchasdevelopmentandcorruption.Simultaneouslyhowever,thiswaslinkedtoincreasedawarenessintheseareasandforsome,alsoledtohigherlevelsofmotivationandgreaterclarityonhowtheycouldbringaboutchange.

Figure 2 – Pre-placement community, social and political action

Before your VSO placement, were you involved in any community, social or political action? (Tickallthatapply)

0 200 400 600

CampaigningandadvocacyDonatetocharitiesEntrepreneurshipFaith-basedaction

InternationalvolunteeringGrassrootscommunitywork

InfluencingamongstfamilyandfriendsNetworking

PoliticallyactiveReflectivepractice

SetupanewgroupSetupacharity

Setupanewinitiative

Research

MentoringandbefriendingTrustee

FormalvolunteeringpositionPromotionofvolunteering

NotactiveOther

7%15%

4%

11%11%8%

4%5%

5%

3%6%

4%6%

7%

7%

6,940

5011,043

231337

237777

525345

303226

352168

74156

379105

490197

47024

800 1000 1200

3%

5%3%

5%

3%

2%

2%

1%

5%

2%

3%

7%


Analysis

“Specifically I wouldn’t change it, I mean it was ups and downs of course and you look back, what ten years ago I think with ‘oh it was all wonderful’; I remember it wasn’t always wonderful but I’m really glad I did it and no regrets at all” (International North-South volunteer).

Frequentlymentionedchallengesandbarriersrelatetoorganisationsandpeoplewithwhichvolunteersmostlyinteracted.TwoinparticularweretheVSOcountyofficeinthevolunteers’placementcountry,andtherelationshipwiththepartnerorganisationhostingthem.VSOcountryofficescameinforamixofpraiseandcriticismwiththechallengesrelatingto levels of support provided to volunteers. In some cases this createdfrustrationswiththeplacementexperienceandinothersitaffectedvolunteerviewsonhowthedevelopmentindustryanddevelopmentorganisationsoperate.Withregardstovolunteerhostingpartnerorganisations,responseshighlight cases of some volunteers feeling that the partner organisationwasnotappropriateforthedevelopmentprojectbeingundertaken,andanumberfelttherelationshipbetweenvolunteerandpartnerorganisationbrokedown.Inspiteofthis,someexplicitlystatedhowthisledtothembecomingmoreoptimistic.

In some of the team volunteering approaches such as theGlobalXchangemodel–wherevolunteersundertookplacementsingroupswithothervolunteers–groupdynamicsemergedasasourceofchallenges.Differingpowerdynamicsandcommunicationstyleswerereferencedascausesofthis.However,responsesalsosuggestthatfindingwaysaroundtheseissuescanbeanimportantpartofthevolunteeringexperience.Arangeofotherissueswerementioned,rangingfrompersonalchallenges such as dealing with loneliness, and a sense of beingoverwhelmedbythescaleofcommunityneedssuchaspoorinfrastructure,civilunrestandcorruption.Interestingly,

anumberofrespondentsnotedhowtheirplacementroleevolvedorchangedfromitsoriginaldesign,butthiswasnotasfrequentlyhighlightedasanegativechallenge.

In terms of surprises and unexpected factors during placements thatinfluencedchanges,responsesvariedconsiderablyandwereoftenspecifictoindividualvolunteers.Howevercommonthemesincludedshockattherealitiesofpovertyandinequality,theactionsofpoliticiansandattitudestowardsthem,surprisethatthingswerenotasbadasexpected,and,insomecases,surprisebytheirownactionsandreactions.Forexample,onenationalICSvolunteersaidthathewassurprisedathowhebeganforthefirsttimetotalkaboutsexuality.Aspects of inequality that surprised volunteers ranged from localperspectivesongender,hierarchy,religionandtribaldivisions.Exposuretotheseinequalitiesoftenelicitedastrongemotionalreactioninvolunteerswhodescribedfeelingangerandfrustration.Interestingly,someoftheUK-basedGlobalXchangevolunteersweremoreshockedbythepovertythatthey encountered on their UK placement than their overseas placement.Onepersondescribedthatshewasshockedbytheway in which people in her country of placement placed very littleexpectationonpoliticiansandacceptedthestatusquo.This highlighted to her the importance of good governance, whichinturninfluencedhercareeraspirations.

Barriers,challenges,anddealingwiththeunexpectedemergedclearlyasfactorsthatinfluencevolunteersduringtheirplacements.Howtheydealwithandinterpretthemislikelytobelinkedtochangesinunderstanding,attitudeandbehaviour.

Thesurveyaskedparticipantstoidentifyanypersonalchallenges that they had experienced during their placement. TheresultsareshowninTable5below,withfrustrationbeingthemostsignificantchallengeandloneliness,feelingoverwhelmedandfeelingstressedallbeingexperiencedbyoverhalfofallofvolunteersatsomelevel,andbeingasignificantchallengeforconsiderablenumbers.

Furtheranalysisfoundastatisticallysignificantassociationbetweensomeconsiderablepersonalchallengesduringplacementandthechangeinactionpostplacement.Thosewhoexperiencedfrustration(AppendixB,Chart20)orreducedmotivation(AppendixB,Chart21)asasignificantchallengeduringtheirplacementwerelesslikelytobeinvolvedwithactionpostplacement,whilstthosewhofeltoverwhelmed(AppendixB,Chart22)duringtheirplacementweremorelikelytobeinvolvedinactionpostplacement.

Participantsweaskedtoidentifymorestructuralchallengesthat they experienced during their placement and the results areshowninTable6ontheright,withtwo-thirdsidentifyingchallengeswiththeirpartnerorganisationandoveraquarterconsideringthistobeamajorchallenge.Poorinfrastructure,corruption,andtheVSOcountryofficealsowerecitedaschallenges for around half of the respondents.

Table 5 – Q21 personal challenges during their placement (n=2,735)

Responses Challenge % Significant challenge %

Loneliness 1,681 61% 452 17%

Feeling overwhelmed 1,492 55% 498 18%

Lossofconfidence 916 33% 152 6%

Reducedmotivation 954 35% 200 6%

Frustration 2,074 76% 1,006 37%

Reductioninnetworksand contacts

921 34% 195 7%

Feeling stressed 1,416 52% 374 14%


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Furtheranalysisfoundthatthosewhoidentifiedexperiencingasignificantchallengewiththeirpartner/hostorganisation(AppendixB,Chart23)ortheVSOcountryoffice(AppendixB,Chart24)werelesslikelytobeinvolvedwithcommunity,political,orsocialactionpostplacement.

Variations across different types of volunteerForthosetakingpartintheinterviews,gainingexperienceforcareerdevelopmentwasasignificantmotivationacrossallvolunteertypes.However,therearesignificantvariations.WithintheinternationalSouth-Southvolunteertype,therewasadiversespreadofmotivationstothepointwheretherewasnoclearorderbetweenthemostinfluentialfactors.Incontrast,internationalNorth-Southvolunteersclusteredaroundsixcoremotivations–gainingexperience;wantingadventure;wantingachallenge;utilisingexistingskills;makingadifference;andbeinginfluencedbyothers.Ofthese,gainingexperienceforcareerdevelopmentwasthemostprevalent,butwhenwantinganadventureorachallengewerecombined,theytookonequalstatuswithgainingexperience.Inparticular,theadventurecomponentofvolunteeringseemedtohavespecialsignificance–internationalNorth-Southvolunteersweretheonlytypewhereadventureandchallengefeaturedaskeymotivatingreasonsforvolunteering.Utilisingexistingskills,makingadifference,andbeinginfluencedbyothersallsharedasimilarnumberofreferencesandappeartobesignificantreasonsforsomeinternationalNorth-Southvolunteers.

Fortheyouth-focusedschemesofGlobalXchangeandY4D,gaining experience for career development was the major recurringthemeandsomethingthatwasmentionedatleastoncebyeveryinterviewrespondent.Similarly,nationalICSvolunteersstressedtheimportanceofthis,buttheyalsoemphasisedtheinfluenceofothersontheirdecisiontovolunteer.FriendswhohadpreviouslytakenpartintheICSscheme,aswellasmentorsorrespectedpeople,werereferencedasthesourceofthisinfluence.

Thecorporatevolunteertypeexhibitednoprevalenceforaspecificmotivationwithreferencesspreadrelativelyevenacrossthreereasons.Makingadifferenceorhavinganimpactwasfrequentlyreferredtoandappearedtobemoreofadrivingfactor for corporate volunteers than other types of volunteer. Similarly,utilisingexistingskillswasacentralreasonandseeminglymorecommonlyreferredtothanbyothervolunteertypes.Onereasonforthismightbeduetotheprofessionalskilledstatusofcorporatevolunteers;however,itstillfeaturedmorestronglyforthemthaninternationalvolunteers(North-SouthandSouth-South),whoarerequiredtohaveminimumstandardsintermsofprofessionalskillsandexperience.Finally,corporate volunteers also referred to gaining experience to develop their careers, though this was frequently directed towards furthering their career within their corporate employerorganisation.

Analysisofthesurveyresultsshowedastatisticallysignificantassociationbetweenthemostsignificantmotivationidentifiedbyrespondentsandvolunteertype.ForexamplecorporatevolunteersweremorelikelytosaythattheirmainmotivationforvolunteeringwastomakeadifferenceandICSnationalvolunteersweremorelikelytosaythattheyweremotivatedbytheopportunityforpersonaldevelopmentandlearning(AppendixB,Chart25).Therewasalsoastatisticallysignificantassociationbetweenthestrongestmotivationtovolunteerandtheageofthevolunteer.Volunteerswhowereolderatthestartoftheplacementweremorelikelytosaythattheirmostsignificantmotivationwastomakeadifference,utiliseexistingskills,andtheirdesiretovolunteer,whereasthosewho were younger at the start of the placement were more likelytoidentifypersonaldevelopmentandlearningorgainingexperienceofotherculturesastheirmostsignificantmotivation(AppendixB,Chart26).

Intermsofdifferencesacrossvolunteertypeforpre-placementcommunity,socialandpoliticalaction,theinterviewshighlightedsuchadiversevariationbetweenvolunteersthatitwasonlypossibletoidentifyverybroadtrends.ForinternationalSouth-SouthvolunteersandGlobalXchangeyouthvolunteers,actionoccurredinarangeofareasandvariedfrombeingveryactivetonotactiveatall.NationalICSyouthvolunteersweresimilar,withtheexceptionthatsomepre-placementactionwasassociatedwithschoolactivitiesorpartofuniversitystudies/trainingcourses.Incontrast,Y4Dvolunteerswereallveryactiveintheirpre-placementactivities,butthisislikelytobeduetothespecificrecruitmentrequirementthatonlythosedemonstratinganengagementwithactivitiesthatsharevalueswithvolunteeringwouldbeconsidered for the scheme.

Responses Challenge % Significant challenge %

TheVSOcountryoffice

1,300 48% 377 14%

Host/partnerorganisation

1,795 66% 733 27%

Othervolunteers 1,188 43% 258 9%

Neighbours/membersofthelocalcommunity

964 35% 167 6%

Poorinfrastructure 1,561 57% 639 23%

Civilunrest 994 36% 247 9%

Corruption 1,406 51% 518 19%

Table 6 – Other challenges during placement (n=2,735)


Analysis

Analysis of the interviews revealed corporate volunteers to betheleastactiveinundertakingpre-placementcommunity,socialorpoliticalaction.Nevertheless,therewerethosewhoexhibitedsomeactivityandstand-outcaseswithlotsofaction.InternationalNorth-Southvolunteerswereespeciallydiverseintheirpre-placementaction.Linkingbacktothesixbroadcategoriesofactionpreviouslyidentifiedacrossallrespondents,internationalNorth-Southvolunteershadcasesthatfittedintoeach.Therewerecasesoffaith-basedaction,involvementthroughpaidemployment,previousinternationalvolunteering,peoplewhowerepoliticallyactiveandinvolvedincampaigning,aswellasamixofotheractivitieswithsomepeopleextremelyactive,somelesssoandsomenoneatall. As with other types of volunteering, it would appear that there are diverse pathways towards people deciding to volunteer.AnalysisofthesurveyresultsshowsthatinternationalNorthtoSouthvolunteersandICSUKvolunteersweremorelikelytodonatetocharitiespriortotheirVSOplacementthanothertypesofvolunteer.InternationalSouthtoSouthvolunteersweremorelikelytobeinvolvedingrassrootscommunitywork,networkingandresearchbeforetheirplacement.

3.3. Understanding outcomes: post-placement changes

Analysisofthequalitativedatashowsaverywiderangeofpost-placementoutcomesfrompersonalchangesinbehaviourtointeractionwithothers,aswellasthenatureanddepthofcommunity,socialandpoliticalactionundertaken.Intermsofthefrequencyofreferencesacrossallthequalitativedata,fivebroadlevelscanbeidentified.Thefirstlevelincludesthethreemostcommonlymentionedoutcomesofanimpact–careerchangeordirection;influencingothers(includingadvocacyandfundraising);andachangeinpractice,withthelatterreferringtowaysinwhichrespondentsmayhavedonethingsdifferentlyaftertheir placements with typical examples including references to howtheyengagewithpeople,buildrelationshipsandconsiderargumentsandpointsofview.Sections3.4and3.5interrogatethe responses under these outcomes in more detail.

The second level includes four commonly referred to outcomes forvolunteers.Thefirstisnetworking,withrespondentshighlightingcontinuedlinkswithpeoplefromtheircountryofplacement,connectionsandfriendshipswiththosethatvolunteeredwiththem,andnewlinkswithvolunteeralumninetworksintheirpost-placementcountry.Someoftheseconnectionswereobservedtobesustainedforlongperiods(insomecasesfordecades)aftervolunteerscompletedtheirplacements.Secondly,manyvolunteersbecameadvocatesforvolunteering,withasignificantnumbersayinghowtheyhavepromoted the act of volunteering to family and friends as well asinamoreofficialcapacity,suchasbygivingtalks.Thethirdandfourthoutcomeswithasimilarnumberofreferenceswithinthequalitativedatarelatetopost-placementcommunity,social

andpoliticalaction.Manyvolunteersengageincampaigningpost-placementwithsomehighlightinglinkstocampaigningonissues related to their increased awareness gained during their placements.Grassrootscommunityworkalsofeaturesstronglywithvolunteersreferencingspecificcommunityactiontheyhaveundertakensincevolunteering.

Thethirdleveliscomposedoffiveoutcomesthatreceivedfewer,thoughstillsignificant,numbersofreferences–typicallymentionedbyaroundafifthtoaquarterofinterviewrespondents.Oneoftheseoutcomeswasfurtherinternationalvolunteering,sometimesthroughVSOandsometimeswithotherorganisations.Actsofadditionalinternationalvolunteeringvariedfromthosethatoccurredstraightafterthefirstplacementandothersthatwereundertakensomeyearslater.Supportinglocalcharitieswasanotablepost-placementoutcomeaswasbeingpoliticallyactive,whichvariedfromstandingforelectiontoactivelyengagingwithpoliticalprocesses.Consumerpatternswere slightly less pervasive and typically related to outcomes suchasmakingmoreethicalchoices,beingmoreconsiderateinhowmoneywasspent,andviewingchoicesinrelationtowiderargumentsaroundsustainability.Anumberofrespondentsreferredtotakingproactiveactiontoestablishgroups,new NGOsand/orcharities.

Thenatureofthegroups,NGOsandcharitiesthatvolunteerswentontoestablishpostplacementvariedgreatly.AnalysisshowsthatinsomeinstancevolunteershavegoneontoestablishformalNGOs,businessesandnetworkswhilstothersformedlessformalgroupsandnetworks.SomevolunteersdescribedaspirationsforsettingupNGOsandsomewereactivelyintheregistrationprocess.Othersestablishedorganisationsmanyyearsagoandtheyarestillveryactiveworkingwithincommunitiesatagrassrootslevel.Thetypesofareascoveredbytheseorganisationsrangefromworkingwithwomenandgirlsonnon-communicablediseases,genderawareness-raisingincludingchildmarriageandgenderbasedviolence.andworkingwithchildrenwithdisabilities.

Amongthelessformalnetworksandgroups,manyhadbeenestablishedbyyouthvolunteers.Insomecases,thesegroupstargetedICSalumnitosupportongoingdebateandaction,butinother instances they were trying to target a much wider audience to raise awareness and encourage others to engage in social action.Onevolunteerhadsetupagroupwhichrespondedtoahumanitariancrisisbyorganisinganairdrop.AnothervolunteerdescribedestablishingagrouptobuildlinksandpartnershipsbetweentheirhomecommunityintheUKandtheMuslimcommunityofGunjurinTheGambiainresponsetotheBrandtreport–thisgrouphasnowbeenrunningfor33years.

Certainvolunteersdescribedestablishingbusinesseswhichhavebeeninfluencedbytheirvolunteeringexperience.ExamplesincludeabusinesstoincreaseenvironmentalawarenessinthePhilippines,anethicaljambusinessintheUK(whichhasnotbeensustained),andasurfclubwhichtrainsyoungpeoplewhohavedroppedoutofschoolinhospitalityskills.


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The fourth level of outcomes features outcomes that were referredtobyfewernumbersofrespondents.Withinthese,returningtothecountryofplacementreceivedmentionanoticeablenumberoftimesanditshouldbenotedthatthisnumbermaybeslightlylowerduetotheinclusionofnationalICSvolunteersthatundertookplacementsintheirowncountry.Somerespondentsmadereferencetobecomingtrusteesoforganisationsandtakingupformalvolunteeringpositions(suchasofficialvolunteeringpositionswithcharitiesoraspartofstate-runservices).Supportingindividualseitherwithmonetaryresourcesoradvicebothintheirvolunteerplacementcountryandsubsequentcountriesofresidencefeaturedasanoutcome,asdidprovidingadditionalandongoingsupporttothepartnerorganisationthathostedthemduringtheirplacements.Otheroutcomesincludedgoingontostudyinginternationaldevelopmentorissuesrelatingtotheirplacementsanddonatingtocharitablecauses.

Finally,anumberofoutcomesreceivedasmallnumberofreferences.Theseincludedanimpactonfamilyrelationships,suchasmeetinglifepartnersthroughvolunteeralumni,theinfluenceonchildrearingandgreaterconsiderationtofamilydynamicsasaresultofincreasedculturalawareness.Specificreferencestoreflectivepracticeweremadealthoughthisalsooverlappedwithgeneralchangesinpracticeaswellasengaginginentrepreneurshipandfaith-basedactivities.

Intermsofthethematicareasthatrespondentswentonto workandvolunteerinpostplacement,adiverserangewasreported.However,thespecificsectorsofeducation,healthandHIV/AIDS,livelihoods,youthandgenderappeartobemore prevalent than others which are perhaps not surprising giventhatthesearethekeythematicareasinwhichVSOhastraditionallyworked.Beyondthis,volunteersreportedgoingontoworkandvolunteerinfieldssuchashumanitariananddisasterrelief,fundraising,disability,environmentandsustainability,participationandgovernance,inclusion,poverty,sanitation,socialjustice,socialcare,housing,andworkingwithvulnerablegroups,asylumseekersandrefugees.

Thesurveycontainedfourquestionsdesignedtoexplorepost-placementaction.Thefirstquestionaskedrespondentstocomparetheirlevelofcommunity,socialorpoliticalactionbeforeandaftertheirplacementinordertoidentifychanges.Figure3ontherightshowsthatoverhalfofrespondents(55%)saidthattheyweremoreinvolvedwithcommunity,socialorpoliticalactionpostplacement.Only5%saidthattheywerelessactiveaftertheirplacement,andjustunderaquarter(22%)saidthattheywerejustasactivebuthadbecomeinvolvedwithdifferentthings.

Respondentswerethenaskedwheretherehadbeenachangeintheleveloftheircommunity,socialorpoliticalactionbeforeandaftertheirplacementtowhatextenttheirVSOplacementinfluencedthischange.Figure4showsthat40%feltthattheirVSOplacementhadinfluencedthechangetoasignificantextentand32%saidthatthatithadinfluencedthechangetosome extent.

AsignificantextentTo some extentA small extentNot at allUnsureNotapplicable

2,399

54%

6%5%8%

10%

32%

If there has been any change (increase or decrease) in the level or type of community / social / political action since your placement, to what extent did your VSO volunteer placement influence this change?

Figure 4 – Influence of placement

Less involved More involvedAs involved, similar thingsAs involved, differentthings

2,508

5%

22%

18%

55%

Please indicate which of the following statements best describe your action post-placement.

Figure 3 – Action post placement compared to action pre placement


Analysis

Do you think that your first VSO placement has influenced any of the following?

A lot

8,934 7,884 4,375 2,488

Someextent Alittle Not at all

CareerchangeordirectionConsumerpatternsThewayyouapproachyourworkKnowledge of development issuesYourresilienceAttitudetowardsfamily relationships

YouradaptabilityAttitudetowardsvolunteering

Yourconfidence

Desiretolearnmoreaboutdevelopment/socialjustice

Other

Figure 6 – Pre placement community, social and political action

10%

4%8%

16%

11%

6%

12%

11%

10%

12%1%

8%

10%

12%

10%

11%

8%

11%

10%

10%

10%

10%

15%

11%

5%

9%

12%

10%

9%

10%

9%

20%

15%

9%1%

22%

5%8%

8%6%2%

5%

Figure 5 – Post placement community, social and political action

Please indicate the types of action you have been involved in since your VSO placement (tickallthatapply)

0 500 1000 1500

CampaigningandadvocacyDonatetocharitiesEntrepreneurshipFaith-basedaction

InternationalvolunteeringGrassrootscommunitywork

InfluencingamongstfamilyandfriendsNetworking

PoliticallyactiveReflectivepracticeSetupanewgroup

SetupacharitySetupanewinitiative

SupportingindividualsinplacementcountryFurtherworkinplacementcountry

MentoringandbefriendingTrustee

FormalvolunteeringpositionPromotionofvolunteering

NotactiveOther

7%12%

3%3%

4%7%

11%7%

4%5%

2%1%

3%6%

4%6%

3%5%

7%1%

12,605

8261,527

417325

524930

1,416841

482610

271188

408749

466711

319581

89192

31


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Thesurveythenaskedrespondentstoidentifythecommunity,socialandpoliticalactionthattheyhadbeeninvolvedwithsincetheirplacement.Figure5ontheleftshowsasimilardistributionofactivitiesaspreplacement,butwithalmosttwiceasmanyactivitiesbeingreported.Thegreatestdifferenceapartfromsignificantlyhighernumbersofactivityisanincreasingemphasisonthepromotionofvolunteeringpostplacement compared to pre placement.

ThesurveyalsoaskedrespondentsiftheyfelttheirVSOplacementhadinfluencedotherthingsintheirlife.Figure6showsarangeofareas,withknowledgeofdevelopmentissues,desiretolearnmoreaboutdevelopmentandsocialjustice,adaptability,resilience,attitudetowardsvolunteering,confidenceandcareerchangeordirectionallbeingfrequentlycited.

Thefollowingsectionsanalysethethreemostcitedoutcomesduringthequalitativeinterviewsof:careerchange/direction;influencingothers;andchangesinpractice,beforethevariationsareexploredacrossvolunteertype.

Impact upon career change and directionImpactuponcareerdirectionwasthemostfrequentlycodedoutcomeforpost-placementactionamongstinterviewandonlinediscussionplatformrespondents.Analysisshowsthat,of those that reported an impact on their career, the twin factors of increased experience and heightened personal drive ormotivationwerekeydriversinfacilitatingthechange.Takentogether,increasedprofessionalexperiencecombinedwithpersonalinterestandmotivation,werefoundtoimpactuponcareerdirectioninanumberofdifferentways.

i. A substantial change from a different career to one with internationaldevelopmentand/orhumanitarianworkMany respondents cited the experience that their placements gavethemaslayingthefoundationsandcreatingopportunitiesforacareerchangeintotheinternationaldevelopmentsector.Termssuchas‘springboard’,‘launch-pad’,gettinga‘head-start’and‘foundation’wereusedtodescribetheimpactofvolunteerplacementsonenablingafuturecareerininternationaldevelopment. As one respondent stated, “actually I had enjoyed my experience with international development and jumped at the opportunity to continue my career in it. It transformed my career. There are no other words for it”.

Noticeably,manyrespondentsemphasisedtheimpactoftheirplacementsonamoveintointernationaldevelopment,irrespectiveofhowlongagotheyvolunteered.Forexample,arespondenttotheyouthonlinediscussionplatformstatedhow“InowworkforaninternationalNGO,workingdirectlyonreducingpovertyandinjustice.ThisisasadirectresultofmyVSOplacement,whichchangedmywholecareerpath”. In contrast, a respondent who volunteered over a decade ago,describedhow:

“It provided the foundation for what I’m doing now, for 10 years after the placement I’m still doing the similar kind of

work. I think really from a selfish point of view, VSO gave me a chance of having a career of working oversees in development that I wouldn’t have been able to access in any other way”.

Manyrespondentsusedtermsthatechoedthesesentiments. Inonecase,arespondentspecificallystatedhowtheyknewtheyonlygotaninterviewfortheirfirstpost-placementjobbecauseoftheirvolunteerexperience.Experiencewasoftenaccompaniedbyviewsthattheplacementhadignitedapassionfororledtoarealisationthattheywantedafuturecareerininternationaldevelopment.Careerchangeintointernationaldevelopmentthereforeappearstobetriggeredbythetwindriversofincreased experience and personal interest in the sector, with thelatterbeinginparttheresultofincreasedawarenessgainedthrough volunteer placements. Within this, respondents noted that experience gained during their placements gave them theconfidencetochangetheircareerdirection,andinsomecases,enthusiasmforworkingininternationaldevelopment.Participantsalsoreportedincreasedculturalsensitivitygainedduringtheirplacementassupportingacareermoveintothesector.Someparticipantssaidthattheirplacementhadbroadenedthescopeofwhattheydidorshiftedtheirapproachorfocus,forexampletoworkinginamoreparticipatorywayorbeingmorecommunity-orientated,andinsomecasesthiswaslinkedtocareerchangesintothesector.Thesechangesdidnotappeartobecontextspecificastheywerereportedwidelyacrossdifferentvolunteeringtypesandothercontexts.

ii. A greater commitment to international development as a pre-existing career pathForanumberofrespondents,thechangesinunderstanding,attitudeandbehaviouroverthecourseoftheirplacementsserved to strengthen their commitment and clarify their desire foracareerininternationaldevelopment.Asonerespondentstated, “I was always destined for this career path. But the VSO experience definitely made me want to do it and believe in it more”.AparticipantintheonlinediscussionplatformdescribedvolunteeringwithVSOasa‘steppingstone’intointernationaldevelopment as it provided the necessary experience to gain accesstoopportunitiesforpaidemploymentinthesector.Another respondent stressed how volunteering presented an avenueintointernationalvolunteeringwitheveninternshipsbeingtoocompetitiveanentrypointintothesector.Whilstforsome,volunteeringincreasedtheirmotivationandcommitment,forothersitalsogavethemtheexperiencetobebetterattheirjobs.Oneinternationalvolunteerhighlightsthispoint:

“It also, not necessarily changed the direction of what I was going to do because what I do now is actually quite similar to what I did before I went away but it’s definitely had like a major impact on the kind of trajectory of my career. Like I think that the impact of doing VSO has meant that I have much more to say, much more depth of experience”.

Amixtureofincreasedexperience(includingincreasedawareness)andincreasedmotivationaredriversforvolunteerscontinuing,andmoreactivelypursuing,careersininternationaldevelopment.

ConsumerpatternsThewayyouapproachyourworkKnowledge of development issuesYourresilienceAttitudetowardsfamily relationships

YouradaptabilityAttitudetowardsvolunteering

Yourconfidence


Other


Analysis

iii. A career change to the sector worked on during placementInsomecasesrespondentsreportedundertakingvolunteerplacementsinsectorsinwhichtheyhadnoorlittlepreviousexperience.Someofthesecasesinvolvedapplyingparticularskillssuchasfundraising,campaigning,ormonitoringandevaluationtonewsectorssuchasgender,socialinclusion, orhealthandHIV/AIDS.

Inanumberofcases,thistriggeredasubsequentpost-placement career change to the new sectors that volunteers were involved in during their placements. In some other cases, exposure to more grassroots community development processesappearstohavebroadenedvolunteers’interestbeyondverytechnicallyfocusedareas.Asaresult,anumberreportmovingintomoregeneralfieldslinkedtocommunitydevelopment.

iv. More responsibility and/or promotion upon returning to pre-placement roleNumerous respondents noted how, upon returning to the sameorsimilarrolesafterplacement,theyweremoreeffectiveinundertakingtheirduties.Crucially,somenotedhowtheirmanagersnoticedchangesintheirconfidenceandcompetencies–asaresultsomehighlightedhowtheyhadbeengivenmoreresponsibilitiessuchasbeinginvolvedinmanagement decisions. Respondents typically put this down toarangeoffactorsbutnotablynewskills,knowledgeandlearning, an increased awareness of culture that precipitated betterapproachestodevelopingworkingrelationshipsandincreasedconfidence.Corporatevolunteersparticularlyemphasisedhowtheirplacementexperienceshadcontributedtowardsthemprogressingwithintheirorganisationsthroughpromotionsandincreasedresponsibility.Interestingly,corporatevolunteersgenerallyremarkedhowthevolunteerexperiencehadstrengthenedtheirjobsatisfactionandsense ofprideintheirorganisation. “I am more proud of being an IBMer, now more than ever before. They’re doing this for all the right reasons. It’s about human capital. It makes me proud and makes me want to stay in a place like this. From that perspective I have more job satisfaction and a willingness to stay long-term” (Corporate volunteer).

v. Exposure to potential employer organisations during placementTwostrandscanbeseenasfallingunderthiscategory. Firstly,asmallnumberofvolunteershighlightedhow,duringtheirplacements,theygainedexposuretoandknowledgeofspecificorganisationsthattheythenwentontoworkfor. Oftenthiswasdrivenbyincreasedawarenessandrespectfortheseorganisations,whichledvolunteerstoseekpaidemployment with them.

Secondly,throughnetworkingandgainingnewcontactsduringtheirplacements,anumberofvolunteersfoundemploymentopportunities,manyofwhichfolloweddirectlyonfromtheir

placements and involved them remaining in their placement country.Insomecases,opportunitiesathostpartnerorganisationshavebeentakenupbyvolunteerscompletingtheir placements.

vi. Greater clarity on career pathMore generally, analysis revealed that the volunteer experience appearedtoprovidegreaterclarityoncareerdirection,whetherthatbeininternationaldevelopmentorotherwise.For some respondents, the volunteer experience made them reflectonwhatjobsatisfactionmeantforthem.Asupportingfactor here for greater clarity on career path occurred for those thatrealisedjobsatisfactionentailedfindingemploymentthatsoughttomakeadifferenceorhaveanimpactforothers.

For others, the experience helped in achieving career goals and clarifying career pathways. As one respondent noted, “I don’t think it influenced my career choices as such, I was always going to make these choices, but they did help me get there though”.

For others, the placement was vital in providing more direction:“The position propelled me. I know we talk about it was a volunteering thing but it was a vital step in my career development. If you are looking at impact in my career development that definitely contributed a great deal with what I am doing now... it refined and refocused my trajectory”.

Whilstchangesinunderstanding,attitudeandbehaviourduringplacementundoubtedlyaffectedthecareersofmanyvolunteers,itwasnottheonlycontributoryfactor.Importantly,thetimeattheendofvolunteerplacementsofteninvolvesmajorchanges,suchasgeographicalrelocationand/orachangeinemploymentstatus.Assuch,arangeofadditionalcontextualfactorsandpotentialmechanismscomeintoplay.Twofactorsthatmanyrespondentsreferredtoweretheavailabilityofpotentialemploymentopportunitiespostplacementand the impact of other personal contextual factors.

For some respondents, their main goal during their placement wascompletingitwithlittleconsiderationgiventowhathappenedaftertheplacement.Asonevolunteerstated,“AfterIcameback,Ididn’thaveagameplan...therewasacertainamountofpushandpull”.Forothers,althoughtheymayhavehadanincreaseddesiretoworkinsectorssuchasinternationaldevelopment,theirfuturecareerpathwasheavilyinfluencedbytheavailableemploymentopportunities.Thefollowingquotesums up the dilemma for one volunteer:

“I did look to see if there was work in the NHS [National Health Service] because that was where I’d come from and it just seemed a bit hopeless so I just thought, well, I’ll see what is around in the NGO world and haven’t looked back”.

Anotherrespondentdescribeditas‘serendipitous’thattheyendedupworkingininternationaldevelopment;suchwasthecomplexityoffactorsthatinfluencedtheircareerdirection.


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For some respondents, changes in personal contextual factors, combinedwithchangesduringtheirplacements,influencedfuturecareerdirection.Aftercompletingsometimeslengthyplacementsoverseas,anumberofrespondentsexpressedhesitationaboutlivingoverseasagaintopursueacareerininternationaldevelopment.Onevolunteer,forexample,expressedhowthethoughtofmissingtimewiththeirgrandchildrenwasadisincentivetocontinuingdevelopmentworkoverseasdespitetheirdesiretodoso.Conversely,somepersonalcontextualfactorsalsocontributedtovolunteersundertakingfurtherinternationalvolunteeringand/orplacement overseas.

Insummary,Diagram3belowillustratesthebroadinfluencingfactorsonthecareerdirectionofvolunteerspostplacement.Whilstchangesinunderstanding,attitude,andbehaviourduring placement were seen to provide increased professional experienceandpersonaldrive,thesehavethepotentialtobesupported,countered,andinfluencedbyotherpost-placementfactorssuchaspersonalcontextualfactorsandtheavailabilityofcareeropportunities.

Influencing peopleVolunteersfrequentlyspokeabouthowtheyhaveharnessedtheirexperienceswhilstonplacementtotryandinfluenceothers when their placement had ended. In some instances, theinfluencingtooktheshapeofchallengingnegativebehaviourssuchasanarticulationofstereotypesand

prejudices, and in other cases it focused on encouraging and fosteringpositivebehaviourssuchaspersuadingotherstovolunteer,donateto,orjoincampaigns.Someinfluencing was more neutral in nature and less purposeful. For example, inanumberofcasesvolunteersrecountedtalkingabouttheir experiences to others and in some instances this had an unintendedimpactonthepeopletheytalkedto,whichinturnresultedinthoseindividualstakingaction,suchasfundraisingorvolunteeringactivities.

Participantsdescribedinfluencingactionsastakingplaceatfivedifferentlevels:individual;group;organisation;government;andglobal.Largernumbersofparticipantsdescribedinfluencingattheindividuallevel,whereassmallnumberstalkedaboutinfluencingatahigherlevel.Ateachlevelinfluencingactivitiesalsospannedformalandinformalchannels,althoughindividualinfluencingwasmorecommonlyassociated with informal approaches and formal approaches weremorecommonlyassociatedwithinfluencingatotherlevels.Diagram4onpage26summarisestheidentifiedlevels ofinfluencing.

Atanindividuallevel,manyparticipantsdescribedinfluencingfamily and friends or individual colleagues and this was most commonwithinaninformalcontext,bychallengingperceptionsorstimulatinginterestindevelopment,socialactionandvolunteering,orinsomeinstancesencouragingdonations orengagementwithfundraisingactivities.

Diagram 3 – Post-placement factors influencing career direction

Increased professional experience

Career opportunities

Increased personal drive /

motivation

Personalcontextual

factors

Career direction


Analysis

“My mum has posted a picture on Facebook of her and some people giving out bags and books to school children. I feel like she would have never have done that and I feel as if I have had an influence on her. When I told her I wanted to do ICS she did not understand ... I thought it was my own cup of tea but now my mum has joined the breakfast so we have to share the tea. It’s taken four years” (ICS national volunteer).

Sometalkedaboutthepersonalchangestheyexperiencedonplacementandhowtheyinfluencedthewaytheyhaveraisedtheir children, and felt that this has had some impact on their children’slifechoicesandattitudes.

“My VSO placement was towards the end of the 80s and since then I have had two children and continued working full time. I mention the children as one of the influences that VSO has had is in the way I have brought them up. They are both keenly aware of social justice issues, both volunteer and one is now involved with human rights and the other teaching in an inner city school. I therefore consider this a legacy” (online discussion platform for international volunteers).

Someoftheinfluencingdescribedwaswithgroups,suchasschoolassembliesandawarenessraisingdaysincollegesandyouthevents,orthroughfaith-basedgroupsandinstitutions:

“I held an event. I was able to convince and bring together groups of people and NGOs and we had some drama acted by school children to show what they think violence is in the home, in the community and at school. It attracted quite a big group of people” (international south/south volunteer).

Othersusedsocialmediatoinfluenceorhavesetupwebsites,writtenblogsorinputtedintoradioprogrammes.Onepersonhaddesignedboardgamesreflectinghisexperienceofdevelopment with the aim of encouraging others to engage andthinkaboutsomeoftheissuesthathisplacementhadraised for him:

“I did a radio programme. I was surprised that I was given this opportunity. I used it for fundraising and I was surprised that people donated” (ICS national volunteer).

Thistypeofinfluencingwasusuallymorestructuredthanindividualinfluencing,withintentionsofraisingawarenessandencouragingaction.Generally,groupinfluencingfocusedonglobalissuessuchasSDGs,povertyandenvironmentalissues.Someoftheinfluencingwashowevermoreadvocacy-based,suchasanti-discriminatorypracticesandrightsawareness workwithelders:

“My experiences in my volunteering with VSO about planning and monitoring has helped me to lead a group of senior citizens to plan projects and activities according to their capabilities and considering their age. Awareness of their rights makes them courageous to demand care and respect from the government….” (Online discussion platform for international volunteers).

Whilstsomeofthesetypesofinfluencinghavetakentheformofaone-offsession,othersmayhavestartedinthiswayandthenevolvedtobecomemoreembeddedwithinorganisationsornetworks:

Diagram 4 – Levels of influencing

Global

Government

Organisation

Group

Individual

Formal

Informal


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“As a teacher and eventually a primary head teacher I have been actively involved in developing both staff and children’s international awareness. I have worked with teaching teams to achieve International School Status, facilitated Global Education programmes and encouraged curriculum changes to include community cohesion and greater understanding of global issues” (online discussion platform for international volunteers).

Manyoftheexamplescitedwhereinfluencinghadtakenplaceatanorganisationallevelwerefromvolunteerswhowereworkinginthedevelopmentsector.Theydescribedhowtheyhadbroughtaboutchangewithintheorganisationstheyworkfor,andwhilsttheymayhavecarriedouttheseactionswithout their volunteer experience, it had informed how they approachedtheiraction;othersfelttheymaynothavemovedtoworkinthissectorwithouttheirvolunteerexperience.Oneofthecorporatevolunteershadtriedtoinfluencehiscompanytofinanciallysupportaprojectthatheplannedtoactionwhenhereturnedtowork.Hewasnotsuccessfulinthisendeavourbutthenwentontoapproachotherorganisationstoaskforsupport and sponsorship.

Atanationalorgovernmentallevel,anumberofparticipantstalkedaboutwritingtoandlobbyingMPs.Sometimesthiswasdoneatanindividuallevelandsometimesthroughgroupsandnetworks.OneparticipanthadbeeninstrumentalinsettingupapolicyandadvocacyprogrammeforNGOstoinfluencebothgovernmentsanddonors.Asmallnumberofparticipantshadbeeninvolvedinadvisinggovernment;forexampleoneperson had advised on inclusive economic development andanotherhaddirectlyinputtedintoawhitepaper.Oneparticipantdescribedhowhisplacementhadhelpedhimcometotherealisationthatitispossibletoinfluencegovernmentalchangebyworkingwithingovernment,ratherthanjustthroughexternallobbying.

Somevolunteerswereinvolvedininfluencingthroughglobalnetworksfeedingintoglobaldebatesoninequalityandsocialaction.Someoftheyouthvolunteershadsetupplatformsforglobaldebateandonevolunteerwasdirectlyinvolvedininternationalbroadcasting:“Much of my career: my interests, my reporting, my coverage for the BBC has been influenced by VSO” (international North-South volunteer).

Whilstsomeoftheseinfluencingactionswouldhavebeenundertakenbyindividualsirrespectiveoftheirvolunteeringexperience,therewasaperspectiveforsomethattheirplacementexperiencehasgivenexposureandskillswhichhaveinturnprovidedconfidenceandmotivationtoinfluenceindividualsandorganisations.

Changes in practiceParticipantstalkedabouthowtheirplacementexperiencehadresultedinchangesinpracticeaftertheirplacement.Unsurprisinglythecontextinwhichtheywereworkingorlivinginaftertheirplacementimpactedonthetypesofchangein

practice.Forthosewhonowworkfororganisationsthatworkwithandthroughvolunteers,theirinsightfromfirst-handexperience of volunteering informed how they have gone on to supportandworkwithvolunteers.Forsomeoftheparticipantswhoworkindevelopment,theirVSOplacementhasinformedtheirapproachtoprogrammedesign,relationshipswithfundersandpartners,andopennesstocollaborationandsharing:

“The VSO placement challenged me to think critically about: development and the impact we are trying to make, critically about our work with government, relationships with the donor as a funder and pressure for deliverables and meeting the needs on the ground. It has helped me to design stronger programmes and develop and prioritise partnerships”.

Somedescribedhowtheyhaveusedlearningfromtheirplacementtoengageandworkwithcommunitiesandleadersandtheyhaveappliedittosubsequentwork.Theimportanceofworkinginaparticipatorywayandensuringthatthevoicesofmostmarginalisedarereflectedandheardwereotherprominentchangeswhichparticipantslinkedtotheirplacementexperience.Participantsdescribedhowtheyareactivelyusingtheseapproachesintheirworkandsomearedisseminatinglearning to others.

Anumberofcorporatevolunteershadbeenpromotedsoonaftertheirvolunteerplacementandtalkedabouthowtheyhave used approaches learnt from their placement in their new roles.Theydescribedincreasedpatience,betterinterculturalcommunicationswithcolleaguesandclientsandonesaidthattheyfeltanincreasingprideintheirorganisationaftertheirplacement.OneparticipantsaidthatafterherplacementshearrangedforyoungpeoplelivingwithHIVandAIDstocometoparliament;shefeltthatshemaynothaveusedthisapproachbeforeherplacementbutthatherplacementhadhighlightedthepowerofbringingpeoplefromthecommunityleveltoinfluencedecisionmakers.

Irrespectiveofcurrentcontext,manyparticipantstalkedabouthowtheirplacementhadhelpedtoimprovetheirabilitytolisten,observeandtaketimetoworkthingsout;lookingbeneaththesurfacetounderstandbehavioursandmotivationsratherthanmakingassumptionsandjumpingtoconclusions.Manysaidthatithashelpedthemadjusttheirpaceofworkandapproach things in a more considered way rather than rushing in.Thisinturnhassupportedthemintakingacalmerapproachtowork,butalsolifebeyondwork.Somealsosaidthattheirplacementhasinfluencedtheirabilitytothinkcriticallyandhaveconfidenceinchallengingindividuals,colleaguesandorganisations.

Variations across volunteer typeEvenwhendisaggregated,animpactoncareerchangeordirectionpredominatesasanoutcomeacrossallvolunteertypes.However,therearesubtlevariationsinthekindofcareerchange.ForinternationalSouth-SouthandNorth-Southvolunteers,aswellasGlobalXchangeyouthvolunteers,the


Analysis

impactisexperiencedinarangeofways,reflectingthediversityofscenariosidentifiedinthesectionaboveoncareerchange.However,forY4Dvolunteers,itappearsthattheoutcomewasmorelikelytobeacementingofpre-existingplansforcareerdirectionratherthanachange.AlltheY4Dvolunteerssaidthattheywerealreadyplanningorembarkeduponacareerininternationaldevelopmentpriortotheirvolunteerplacement,andthismaybelinkedtotheexpectationthatthiscadreofvolunteers were expected to have some relevant experience prior to their placement. They consistently gave examples of howtheirvolunteerexperiencehadsupportedtheirexistingcareertrajectory.FornationalICSyouthvolunteers,referencewasmadetoincreasedclarityoncareerdirectionandhowexperience gained through placements opened up new career opportunities.Forcorporatevolunteers,frequentreferencewasmadetosubsequentcareerdevelopment–particularlyintermsofpromotionsandincreasedresponsibilities–withintheircorporateemployerorganisations.

Outcomesintermsofchangesinpracticeappeartobesimilaracross volunteer types, with respondents commonly referring to beingmorepatient,morerespectingofdiversityanddifference,betteratbuildingrelationshipsandmoreunderstanding.Onespecificreferencerecurredwithcorporatevolunteers,whoemphasisedachangeinpracticeinbeingbetteratcross-culturalworkingwithcolleaguesbasedintheirorganisations’officesinothercountries.

OthervariationsincludethefactthatfurtherinternationalvolunteeringwasmorefrequentlyreferencedbyinternationalSouth-SouthandNorth-Southvolunteersincomparisontoothervolunteertypes.InternationalNorth-Southvolunteersmademorespecificreferencetovolunteeringpromotionandarangeofoutcomesincludingcampaigning,supportinglocalcharities,undertakinggrassrootscommunitywork,influencingothersandconsumerpatterns.Oftheothervolunteertypes,onlyGlobalXchangeyouthvolunteersmadesignificantreference to campaigning and impacts on their consumer patterns.Interestingly,acoupleofreferencesweremadetosettingupnewgroupsandcharitiesbynationalICSvolunteers–somethingthatwillbeworthyoffurtherinvestigationinsubsequentdatacollection.Responsesmayalsoreflectdifferentlevelsofawarenessanddefinitionsofinternationalvolunteeringandhowitisperceivedbyrespondents.

The survey was analysed to explore whether there was a relationshipbetweenthetypeofvolunteerandpost-placementaction.TheonlystatisticallysignificantdifferenceidentifiedwasthatICSnationalvolunteersaremorelikelytobeincommunity,socialorpoliticalactionpostplacement(AppendixB,Chart27).

Thesurveyidentifiedthatthereisastatisticallysignificantassociationbetweenageatthestartoftheplacementandthechangeinactionpostplacement,withthosewhowereyoungerwhentheyundertooktheirplacementbeingmorelikelytoincreasetheircommunity,socialandpoliticalactionpostplacement(AppendixB,Chart28).

Therewasnostatisticallysignificantrelationshipbetweenpost-placementactionandgender,typeofpartnerplacedwith,thematicareaorwhetherlivingwithinorawayfromthecommunitywithwhichthevolunteerwasworking.Therewas,however,arelationshipbetweenthetypeofrolebeingundertakenbythevolunteerandpost-placementaction.Thosewithaprimaryroleofcommunitycapacitybuilding,trainingorthoseinvolvedindirectservicedeliveryaremorelikelytobeinvolvedincommunity,socialorpoliticalactionaftertheirplacement(AppendixB,Chart29).Therewasalsoarelationshipbetweenthedecadeinwhichtheplacementtookplacedandpost-placementaction.Thosewhovolunteeredinearlierdecadesweremorelikelytobeactivepostplacement,butthismayjustbebecausetheyhavehadmoretimeinwhichtobeactive(AppendixB,Chart30).

3.4. Understanding relationships between mechanisms and outcomes: links between changes during placement and post-placement activities and behaviours

Giventhediverserangeofchangesduringplacementandsubsequentoutcomesintheformofpost-placementactivity,manyinterviewrespondentsdidnotmakeexplicitlinkagesbetweenspecificfactors.Theoverridingimpressionfromtheanalysisprocesswasthatacomplexcombinationofchangesduringplacementcontributedtoawiderangeofpost-placementoutcomes–linkagesthatrespondentsoftenstruggledtodefine.Itisthereforenotpossibletoidentifycommonlinearpatternsofchangethroughoutthe volunteer journey.

Nevertheless,itwaspossibletoextractfromtheinterviewdataanumberofrelationshipsbetweenmechanismsofchangesinunderstanding,attitudesandbehavioursduringplacementandpost-placementoutcomes.Intermsofcareerchange–themostfrequentlyreferencedoutcome–similaritiesanddifferencesarevisibleacrossvolunteertype.ForinternationalNorth-SouthandSouth-Southvolunteers,aclearlinkismadebetweentheacquisitionofnewskills,knowledge,andlearningduringtheplacementandsubsequentcareerchangesanddirection.ForinternationalNorth-Southvolunteers,afurtherlinkismadebetweenincreasedawarenessofdevelopmentandinequalityduringplacementandcareerchange/direction.Incontrast,forGlobalXchangeyouthvolunteersundertakingthreemonthplacements,astronglinktocareerchange/directionafterplacementisincreasedconfidenceandmotivationduringtheplacement.Althoughmentionedfrequentlybyallothertypesofvolunteers,noexplicitclearlinksaremadebetweenchangesduringplacementandsubsequentcareerchangeanddirection.


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Post-placementchangesinpracticevaryintheirlinkagestochangesinunderstanding,attitudeandbehaviouracrossvolunteertypes.InternationalNorth-SouthandcorporatevolunteersaswellasGlobalXchangeandY4Dvolunteersallreferenceincreasedawareness–particularlyofculture,development,communityneeds/challengesandself-awareness–asimpactinguponpost-placementchangesinpractice,suchasbeingmorepatientandbettercross-culturalworking.Interestingly,forinternationalNorth-Southvolunteers,someofthoseplacedinAfricancountriesmentionednewskillsaskeytochangesinpractice,whereasthoseplacedinAsiancountriesspokemoreoftheimportanceofincreasedawareness,changesinattitude,andbuildingrelationshipsduringtheirplacements.TheonemajorpointofdifferencewaswithinternationalSouth-Southvolunteerswherethegainingofnewskillsduringplacement,suchasmanagementskillsandhumanrelations,washighlightedashavingadirectlinktopost-placementchangesinpractice.

The only other post-placement outcome that respondents expressedclearlinkagesbacktotheirplacementexperiencewaschangesinconsumerpatterns.ForinternationalNorth-Southvolunteers,living/workingwithlimitedresourcesand anawarenessofpovertywereseenasmechanismsindifferentcasesforchangeinconsumerpatterns.Incontrast,some GlobalXchangevolunteershighlightedincreasedawarenessofcultureandtheenvironmentasresponsibleforchangestoconsumerpatterns.

ThesurveyshowedastatisticallysignificantassociationbetweenthelevelofchangeinactionpostplacementandtheextenttowhichtheVSOplacementwasidentifiedasinfluencingthischange.(AppendixB,Chart31).Thismeansthatthosevolunteerswhohavebeenmoreinvolvedwithsocialactionpostplacementaremorelikelytosaythatthischangeisduetotheirplacementtoasignificantextent.Therewasalsoastatisticallysignificantassociationbetweenthechangesthathappenedduringplacementandthechangeinactionpostplacement.AppendixBpresentsaseriesofcharts(Charts32-40)showinganalysisofthepost-placementchangesforthosewhoidentifiedbigchangesinawarenessduringtheirplacement.Charts41-50show analysis of the post-placement changes for those who identifiedbigpersonalchangesduringtheirplacement.

3.5. Impacts resulting from post-placement changes

Whereinterviewparticipantsdescribedpost-placementactivitytheywereaskediftherehadbeenanyimpactofwhichtheywereaware.Unsurprisingly,participantswereoftennotableorconfidenttodescribespecificimpactsbecauseofthenatureoftheactivity.Thelengthoftimethathadelapsedsincetheendoftheplacementvariesconsiderablyacrossthesampleandthisinturnaffectsthepotentialforimpacttoberealised.Identifiedimpact fell into four categories:

i. Personal (daily influence, foundations, step-change in views)Manyparticipantsrecountedhowtheiractionsbeyondtheirplacement have resulted in changes at a personal level. For manythiswaslinkedtocareerdevelopmentandopportunities.Forsomethiswasaboutanincreasedcommitmenttoongoinglearninganddevelopment,andforothersitwasmoreaboutchangesinpracticeorchangesincareerdirection.Somehadfeltconfidenttoundertakemoreformalvolunteeringpositionsasaresultofskillsandconfidencegainedontheirplacementandtalkedabouttheimpacttheyareabletohavethroughthesepositions.Manyofthecorporatevolunteersinterviewedhad,sincetheirplacement,beenpromotedwithintheircompanyandsomespokeofgreaterjobsatisfaction,prideinthe company and enthusiasm to remain within the company. Theyfeltthattheirpromotionhadbeensupportedbyskillsenhanced through their placement.

ii. CommunityAnumberofparticipantswhohadbeeninvolvedwithinfluencingfriendsandfamilysaidthattheyhadobservedthattheyarenowmorelikelytodonatemoneytosupportorganisationsworkingtosupportsocialjustice,reductionofpovertyandinequality,andhumanitarianaction.Otherssaidthattheyhavegivenpresentationstopeoplewhohavegonetovolunteernationallyorinternationally.

Someparticipantstalkedabouttheirroleininfluencingpolicychange–theydescribedhowtheirenergyandenthusiasmforparticularissueshadbeensparkedorreignitedbytheirplacementandhowtheknowledgegainedinplacementhadincreasedtheirlevelsofconfidenceinthattheyhadbecomeinvolvedinpolicyinfluencing.AreasofpolicythatparticipantstalkedaboutincludedSDGdevelopment,gender,fairtrade,andenvironmentalcampaigns.Forexample,oneparticipantbecamemoreactiveinsustainabledevelopmentduringherplacementandtookuptheroleofchairofthelocalfairtradepartnershipafterherplacement.Hercitywentontobecometheworld’sfirstfairtradecityinthe2000s.

iii. Within existing organisations/structuresSomeparticipantsrecountedhowtheiruseofskills,knowledgeand learning from their placement has resulted in them consideringthemselvestobemoreeffectiveintheircurrentrole.Onecorporatevolunteer,forexample,hadsetupaninformalnetworkofcorporateemployeeswhichshefeltwouldhaveanimpactoncompanyperformance.Othershadbeeninvolvedinthepromotionofvolunteeringwithinthecompanyandthishadresultedinmorepeopleapplyingtotakeupvolunteeringopportunitiesandstrongerpartnershipstosupport volunteering placements.

Someparticipantshadbeeninvolvedinthedevelopment,promotion,ormanagementofstandardswithineitherpaidorvoluntarypositionssincetheirplacement.Thishasrangedfrom monitoring prison standards to fair trade standards for vegetablesandcarboncreditstandardstopromotesustainablepracticeamongstfarmers.


Conclusions

Someofthoseworkingintheinternationaldevelopmentsectordescribedhowtheyhaveappliedlearningfromtheirplacementto their current role. Many said that their placement had given theminsightintotheperspectiveofthecommunitiesthattheyarenowworkingwithandalsoanincreasedawarenessoftheimportanceofworkinginaparticipatoryway.Theyfeltthattheseinsightshaveenabledthemtodesignbetterprogrammesandbemoreeffectiveinotherareassuchasadvocacy,fundraising,donormanagement,andcampaigning.Oneparticipanttalkedabouthowhisplacementmadehimawareofthepotentialforvolunteering,andhenowbuildsvolunteeringintohisprogrammedesignandalsoplacesasignificantemphasisontheimportanceofpartnershipinhiswork.

iv. New initiativesSomeparticipantsmadestronglinksbetweentheirplacementexperienceandthemestablishinggroups,networksandorganisations.Insomecasesthesewereveryinformalarrangements,butinothercasestheywereformalorganisations.Manywerequitenewandhadnotbeenrunninglongenoughtoseeanyclearimpact,butsomeothershadbeenestablishedforaconsiderableperiod.Oneparticipant,forexample,hadestablishedanorganisationworkingwithfamiliesofchildrenwithdisabilitiesinhiscountryofplacementandhasworkedwith6,000childrenovera28-yearperiod.Inthiscase,theworkspansservicedeliveryandcampaigningondisabilityrightsandhasincreasedaccesstoservicesforchildrenwithdisabilitiesinthatcountry.Anotherparticipantdescribedsettingupacharitywhichhasworkedwith3,000familiesandvulnerablechildrenaffectedbyHIV/AIDs.

South-Southinternationalvolunteerswereparticularlyactiveandinvolvedinestablishingnewinitiativesaftertheirplacement.Oneorganisedareliefoperationtoremoteareasfollowinganationaldisaster,anotherhasopenedacommunityprogrammeonsexualandreproductivehealthandHIV/AIDs,andonehassetupacharityprovidingskillstrainingtowomenwhichhassofarworkedwithover1,000women.Otherstalkedaboutsupportingentrepreneurshipintheirowncountryaftertheirplacement,andonehadsetupanorganisationwhichraisesmoneyforgender-basedcommunityprojectsfocusingonchildmarriageandgender-basedviolence.

Youthvolunteershavealsobeenactiveinestablishingnetworksandgroupswhichareoftenlessformalandhavenotbeeninexistenceforaslong,sohavenothadsufficienttimeforimpactstobeclearlyunderstoodanddefined.OnehadestablishedaWhatsAppgroupfocusingonAfricanpoliticsandsocialjustice,andthegroupnowhasover2,000members.Anothersetupayoungenvironmentalistgroupwhichhasbeenrunningforanumberofyears.

7-year-old Blessing Asokiyine (centre) with her classmate Klevin Atinga and VSO volunteer Mary Carnable, at Goriko kindergarten in Bolgatanga, Ghana.

©VS

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a M

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4.1. Key findings

The Impact Beyond Volunteering studyhasrevealedinterestingdetailsonthecomplexpathwayswherebyvolunteersexperience changes during the act of volunteering, how this translatesintopost-placementoutcomes,andthecontributionthispotentiallymakestosubsequentdevelopmentimpacts.

Intermsofvolunteermotivations,thestudyfoundthatadesiretomakeadifferencewasthemostsignificantdrivingfactor,withcareerdevelopmentanddirectionalsobeingimportant.However,theutilisationofexistingskillswasalsonoted,suggestingthatprofessionalvolunteeringhasparticularappealtovolunteerswithspecificskills.Familyandfriendswereobservedtohaveanimpactonvolunteermotivations,andinternationalNorth-Southvolunteersaremorelikelytobemotivatedbytheprospectofadventure.

Duringvolunteering,awiderangeofchangesinunderstanding,knowledgeandattitudescantakeplace.Mostprevalentisanincrease in awareness across a wide range of issues, including poverty,development,inequalityandinjustice,culturaldifferences,similarities,anddynamics.Theacquisitionofnewskillsandknowledgeisalsoimportantandislikelytobejustassignificantforvolunteersthatalreadyhaveprofessionalskills.Manyvolunteersnoteachangeinattitude,bothexternallyintermsofhowtheyinteractwithothersandinternallyinrelationto an increase in self-awareness. In these cases, volunteers becomemoreawareofculturalsensitivities,placemoreemphasisonrelationshipbuildingandreflectontheirownpreviouslyheldviews.Manyvolunteersidentifyaclearlinktoanincreaseinconfidence,andforsome,increasedresilienceandadaptabilityarefelttobesignificant.

Oncevolunteershavecompletedtheirplacements,manyrefertochangesincareerdirection,howtheyhadgoneontoinfluenceothersandthewaysinwhichtheydothingsdifferentlythroughchangesinpractice.Intermsofcareerchangeanddirection,somemoveintothefieldofinternationaldevelopment and some experience a greater commitment to remainintheinternationaldevelopmentsector,suggestinglinkagestopre-placementmotivations.Othersnoteanincreased interest in the focus area of their placement and gainedgreaterresponsibilityintheirjobsasaresultofnewskills,knowledgeandexperience.Intermsofinfluencingothers,volunteersoftenusetheirincreasedawarenessgainedthroughtheirplacementstochallengenegativebehavioursandstereotypesandpromotepositivecausesthrough,forexample,persuadingpeopletocampaign.Theformatofthisinfluencingisseentobebothformalandinformalandtotakeplaceatthelevelofindividuals,groups,organisations,governments,andglobally.Thereisasignificantincreaseinthelevelsofcommunity,socialandpoliticalactionforvolunteersaftertheirplacement,andmanyindicatethatthisshifthasbeendirectlyinfluencedbytheirplacementexperience.

Identifyingpost-placementimpactsismorechallenging.Althoughitispossibletoidentifychangesandimpactsatan individual and personally experienced level, respondents werelessconfidentwhendescribingimpactsonothers.Nevertheless,someimpactshavebeenreportedandcanbebroadlycategorisedasoccurringatthecommunitylevel,withinexistingorganisationsandstructures,andthroughtheestablishmentofnewinitiatives.

4.2. Limitations

Themostsignificantlimitationofthisstudyistheextenttowhichparticipantshavebeenabletoarticulatethelongertermimpactofpost-placementactions.Impactsonvolunteeractionpostplacement,forthepurposesofthisstudy,canonlybeself-reportedandnottriangulatedwithinthecommunitiesinwhichtheyoccurandinmanycases,participantswereunawareorunsureoftheimpactoftheiractions.Despitethislimitationthestudyhasbeenabletocaptureusefuldataonthechangesthatoccurred for individuals during their placement and the ways in whichthesechangeshaveresultedinchangesinaction.

Theonlinediscussionplatform,whichwasthefirststageofthestudy,aimedtoestablishabroadrangeofresponsesfromaswideanddiverseagroupofreturnedvolunteersaspossibleinordertogaininsightintothespectrumofperspectivesandexperiences. The responses from this phase were used to informthesecondphase–thein-depthinterviews.

The aim of this second phase was to understand where changes do occur for individuals during placement, how and why this happens and similarly, where these changes impact on the actionsofthevolunteeraftertheirplacementandagain,howandwhythishappens.Inordertobeabletocapturerelevantdatatoanswerthesequestions,thesampleforthein-depth interviews targeted volunteers who felt that they had experienced changes. It is expected that not all volunteers will experience these changes. The survey however aimed to test the scale of changes for volunteers and also explore the extent to which change does not occur for volunteers.

Itisalsoworthnotingthatthewayinwhichparticipantsarticulatemotivationmaybeinfluencedbytheirpersonalperspective.Althoughmanyvolunteersdidtalkaboutcareerdevelopmentasasignificantmotivatingfactor,somemayhavefelt disinclined to focus on it, although that does not necessarily mean it was not important for them.

4. Conclusions


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UNV,2015.UNV State of the World’s Volunteerism Report 2015:TransformingGovernance.Availableat: www.volunteeractioncounts.org/en/swvr-2015.html(accessedon08.06.2016).

VolunteerNow,2016.Volunteering Impact Assessment Toolkit.Availableat:www.volunteernow.co.uk/training-and-standards/volunteer-management-training/volunteer-impact-assessment-toolkit(accessedon08.06.2016).

Wearing,S.,2001.Volunteer Tourism. Experiences that Make a Difference.Oxford:CABI.


Appendix A - Survey tool

6. Appendix A – Survey toolHas your VSO volunteering experience changed your life or those of others?VSOisundertakingastudytounderstandifandhowglobalvolunteeringcontributestoimpactaboveandbeyondtheplacementitself.WewanttofindouthowVSOvolunteeringmay have had a long term impact on the lives of volunteers aftertheirplacementandanysubsequentimpactthishashadonpovertyandsocialinjustice.

AsaformerVSOvolunteerweareaskingyoutotakepartinthissurvey.YourfeedbackwillbeextremelyvaluableinhelpingustoimprovetheimpactthatVSOandourvolunteershave.Thankyouforparticipatinginthisstudy,weverymuchappreciateyourtimeandeffort.Wedonotrequireyournameorcontactinformationsotheinformationyouprovidewillbeanonymous.Ifyouhaveanyquestionsregardingthestudy,[email protected]

About you1. How old are you? (Singlechoice)• Under 20• 21-25• 26-30• 31-40• 41-50• 51-60• 61-70• Over70

2. What is your gender? (Singlechoice)• Female• Male• Other

3. What country are you living in now? (Singlechoice,drop-downlist)• [All countries]

About your placement(s)4. How many VSO placements have you completed? (Singlechoice.Limittonumeric.If0taketodisqualificationpage,thissurveyisspecificallyforVSOvolunteers–thankyouforyourinterest)• 0• 1• 2• 3• 4• 5 or more

5. In what country was your first placement? (Singlechoice,drop-downlist)• [All countries]

6. For your first VSO placement what type of volunteer were you? (Singlechoice,drop-downlist)• InternationalSouth-South(camefromglobalsouthto

volunteerindifferentcountryinglobalsouth)• InternationalNorth-South(camefromglobalnorthto

volunteeringlobalsouth)• National(volunteeredinthecountrythatIlivedinpriorto

volunteering)• Corporate(schemesupportedbyemployer)• ICS-national(volunteeredinthecountrythatIlivedin

priortovolunteering)• ICS-InternationalfromUK• ICS-International(camefromglobalsouthtovolunteerin

adifferentcountryinglobalsouth)• GlobalXchange–UKvolunteer• GlobalXchange–non-UKvolunteer• Youthfordevelopment• Polvol• Other(pleasestate)

7. What year did your first VSO placement start? (Numericinputbetween1900and2016)

8. How long did your first placement last? (Singlechoice)• Under 1 month• 1-3 months• 4-6 months• 7-12 months• 13- 24 months• 25-36 months• Greaterthan3years

9. What type of partner organisation were you placed with in your first placement? (Tickallthatapply)(Multiplechoice)

National level

Regional/ district level

Local level

Government

NGO(non-governmentalorganisation)

Network

Privatesectororganisation

Other(pleasespecify)


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10. What was the main focus of your placement? (Ifyoufeelyourplacementhadmorethanoneareaoffocus,pleaseindicateoneareainthefirstcolumnandthenindicateotherareasinthesecondcolumn,butiftherewasoneclearfocusjustcompletetheprimaryfocusbox) (Oneperrow)

11. Which best describes your volunteer role during your placement? (Ifyoufeelyourrolehadmorethanoneareaoffocuspleaseindicateoneprimaryfocusinthefirstcolumnandanyotherareasinthesecondcolumn,butiftherewasoneclearfocusjustcompletetheprimaryfocusbox) (Oneperrow)

Area of focus Primary focus

Other areas of focus (optional – tick all that apply)

Health

Education

Livelihoods

Gender

Participationandgovernance

Environmental

Disability

Inclusion

Resilience


Role Primary role Other roles (optional – tick all that apply)

Advocacy

Policy

Directservicedelivery(e.g.teachinginaschoolorworkingasadoctorinahospital)

Research, monitoring andevaluation

Buildingpractitionercapacity/training

Buildingpractitionercapacity/training

Communitycapacitybuilding/training

Awareness raising

Fundraising/resourcemobilisation

Organisationaldevelopment

Entrepreneurship/businessdevelopment

Financial management


12. Was your placement in a rural or urban setting? (Singlechoice)• Urban• Rural • Mixed• Unsure

13. During your placement which best describes where you lived? (Singlechoice)• Ilivedinthecommunitythatmypartnerorganisation

workedwith• Ilivednearthecommunitythatmypartnerorganisation

workedwith• Ilivedfarfromthecommunitythatmypartnerorganisation

workedwith• Mypartnerorganisationdidnotworkwithaclearlydefined

communitylinkedtoageographicalarea• Varied(livedindifferentplacesatvaryingdistancesfrom

thecommunitythatmypartnerorganisationworkedwith)• Noneoftheabove

Before your placement14. What country did you live in before your placement? (Singlechoice,drop-downlist)• [All countries]

15. What were your main motivations to apply to volunteer?(Pleaseindicateupto3motivationsinorderofsignificance)(Onepercolumnandrow)

continuesinnextcolumn


Appendix B - Key charts

Most significant motivation

Second most significant motivation (optional)

Third most significant motivation (optional)

Makeadifference/have an impact

Gainexperiencetodevelop career

Influencedbyotherpeople who have volunteered(e.g.friends,family)

Useexistingskills

Adventure

Personaldevelopment

A challenge

Improve own wellbeing

Learning

To experience other cultures

Desiretovolunteer


16. Before your VSO placement were you involved in any community, social or political action? (Tickallthatapply)(Multiplechoice)• Campaigning• Donatetocharities• Entrepreneurship• Faithbasedaction• Internationalvolunteering• Grassrootscommunitywork• Influencingandawarenessraisingamongstfriendsand

family• Networking• Politicallyactive• Reflectivepractice• Setupanewgroup(e.g.supportgroup,campaigninggroups)• Setupacharity• Setupanewinitiative

• Mentoringandbefriending• Trustee• Formalvolunteeringpositions• Promotionofvolunteering• Notactive• Other(pleasespecify)

During your placement 17. During your placement did your awareness increase in any of the following areas? (Tickallthatapplyandindicatethelevelofincrease)(Multiplechoice)

18. During your placement did you personally experience any of the following changes? (Tickanythatapplyandindicatethelevelofchange)(Multiplechoice)

Small increase

Medium increase

Large increase

Powerdynamics

Poverty

Inequalityandinjustice

Environment

Development

Culture

Communityneeds

Communitychallenges

Volunteering

Small increase

Medium increase

Large increase

Changeinattitude

Increasedadaptability

Increasedconfidence

Increased resilience

Motivation

Widened professional networksandcontacts

Newknowledgeandlearning

continuesinnextcolumn


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Small increase

Medium increase

Large increase

Newknowledgeandlearning

Newskills

Increased self-awareness

Increasedabilitytoworkand live with limited resources

19. Please describe any other changes that you experienced during your placement (Opentext)

20. Thinking about your volunteer placement, how challenging did you find the experience? (Singlechoice)• Verychallenging• Moderately challenging• Slightlychallenging• Not challenging at all

21. Did you experience any of the following personal challenges during your placement? (Pleasepickallthatapplyandindicatethescaleofthe challengeforyou)(Oneperrow)

22. Did you experience challenges with any of the following? (Pleasepickallthatapplyandindicatethescale ofthechallengeforyou)

Minor challenge

Significant challenge

Loneliness

Feeling overwhelmed

Lossofconfidence

Reducedmotivation

Frustration

Reductioninnetworksand contacts

Feeling stressed

Minor challenge

Significant challenge

TheVSOcountryoffice

Host/partnerorganisation

Othervolunteers

Poorinfrastructure

Civilunrest

Corruption

Other(pleasestate)

Since your placement 23. Please indicate the types of action you have been involved with since your VSO placement (tickallthatapply)(Multiplechoice)• Campaigning• Donatetocharities• Entrepreneurship• Faithbasedaction• Internationalvolunteering• Grassrootscommunitywork• Influencingandawarenessraisingamongstfriends

and family• Networking• Politicallyactive• Research• Setupanewgroup(e.g.supportgroup,campaigning

groups)• Setupacharity• Setupanewinitiative• Supportingindividualsincountry/locationofplacement• Furtherworkincountryofplacement• Mentoringandbefriending• Trustee• Formalvolunteeringpositions• Promotionofvolunteering• Notactive• Other(pleasestate)

24. Please indicate which of the following statements best describes your action post placement (Singlechoice)• AftermyfirstVSOplacementIhavebeenLESSinvolved

withcommunity/social/politicalactionthanbeforemyplacement

• AftermyfirstVSOplacementIhavebeenMOREinvolvedwithcommunity/social/politicalactionthanbeforemyplacement



• AftermyfirstVSOplacementIhavebeeninvolvedwithcommunity/social/politicalactionataSIMILARleveltobeforemyplacementanddoingSIMILARthings

• AftermyfirstVSOplacementIhavebeeninvolvedwithcommunity/social/politicalactionataSIMILARleveltobeforemyplacementbutdoingDIFFERENTthings

25. If there has been any change (increase or decrease) in the level of type of community/social/political action since your placement to what extent did your VSO volunteer placement influence this change?• Asignificantextent• To some extent • A small extent • Not at all• Unsure• Notapplicable

26. Do you think that your first VSO placement has influenced any of the following?

Not at all A little Some

extent A lot

Careerchangeordirection

Consumerpatterns

The way you approach yourwork

Knowledge of development issues

Yourresilience

Attitudetowardsfamilyrelationships

Youradaptability

Attitudetowardsvolunteering

Yourconfidence


Other(pleasedescribe)

27. The above questions have focused on your first VSO placement. If you have done more than one placement and feel for you that significant changes happened on a later placement and have not been included in your responses please summarises these changes below.(Opentext)


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7. Appendix B – Key chartsChart 1 – Q17 large awareness change during placement by continent (Africa n=1,578 and Asia n=825)

Chart 2 – Changes in awareness during placement by volunteer type - culture (n=2,716)

Test statistic (Chi-square) =53.14 with p value<0.001

Chart 3 – Changes in awareness during placement by age – culture (n=2,671)

Test statistic (Mann-Whitney z) =2.67 with p value=0.008



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Chart 4 – Changes in awareness during placement by age – environment (n=2,671)


Chart 5 – Changes during placement by volunteer type – change in attitude (n=2,716)


Chart 6 – Changes during placement by volunteer type – increased self-awareness (n=2,716)




Chart 7 – Changes during placement by volunteer type – motivational change (n=2,716)


Chart 8 – Changes during placement by age – change in attitude (n=2,671)

Test statistic (Mann-Whitney z) =4.48 with p value<0.001

Chart 9 – Changes during placement by age – increased adaptability (n=2,671)



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Chart 10 – Changes during placement by age – increased confidence (n=2,671)


Chart 11 – Changes during placement by age – increased resilience (n=2,671)


Chart 12 – Changes during placement by age – widened networks (n=2,671)




Chart 13 – Changes during placement by age – increased self-awareness (n=2,671)


Chart 14 – Changes during placement by age – increased motivation (n=2,671)


Chart 15 – Changes during placement by age – new skills (n=2,671)



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Chart 16 – Personal change during placement by continent – increased confidence (Africa n=1,578 and Asia n=825)

Test statistic (Chi-square) =9.81 with p value=0.002

Chart 17 – Personal change during placement by continent - working with limited resources (Africa n=1,578 and Asia n=825)


Chart 18 – Personal change during placement by continent - networks (Africa n=1,578 and Asia n=825)


Chart 19 – Primary motivations for volunteering against post placement action

Test statistic (Kruskal-Wallis) =15.1 with p value=0.01.



Chart 20 – Action post placement by personal challenges during placement (Frustration) (n=2,508)

Test statistic (Mann-Whitney z) =5 with p value<0.001

Chart 21 – Action post placement by personal challenges during placement (reduced motivation) (n=2,508)


Chart 22 – Action post placement by personal challenges during placement (feeling overwhelmed) (n=2,508)



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Chart 23 – Action post placement by other challenges during placement (host/partner organisation) (n=2,508)


Chart 24 – Action post placement by other challenges during placement (vso country office) (n=2,508)




Chart 25 – Most significant motivation by type of volunteer (n=2,607)


Chart 26 – Most significant motivation by age of volunteer (n=2582)

Test statistic (Kruskal-Wallis) =121.1 with p value<0.001

Chart 27 – Action post placement by volunteer type (n=2,503)

Test statistic (Kruskal-Wallis H) =20.3 with p value=0.003


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Chart 28 – Action post placement by estimated age at start of placement (n=2,465)

Test statistic (Spearman’s rank) = -0.153 p<0.001

Chart 29 – Action post placement by primary role (n=2,423)

Test statistic (Kruskal-Wallis) =20.0 with p value=0.001

Chart 30 – Action post placement by decade of placement (n=2,677)

Test statistic (Spearman’s rank) = -0.127 p<0.001



Chart 31 – Action post placement by extent of VSO placement influence (n=1,879)

Test statistic (Spearman’s rank) = 0.273 p<0.001

Chart 32 – Action post placement by changes of awareness during placement – power dynamics (n=2,508)


Chart 33 –Action post placement by changes of awareness during placement – poverty (n=2,508)



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Chart 34 – Action post placement by changes of awareness during placement – inequality and injustice (n=2,508)


Chart 35 – Action post placement by changes of awareness during placement – environment (n=2,508)


Chart 36 – Action post placement by changes of awareness during placement – development (n=2,508)




Chart 37 – Action post placement by changes of awareness during placement – culture (n=2,508)

Test statistic (Spearman’s rank) = 0.273 p<0.001

Chart 38 – Action post placement by changes of awareness during placement – community needs (n=2,508)


Chart 39 – Action post placement by changes of awareness during placement – community challenges (n=2,508)



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Chart 40 – Action post placement by changes of awareness during placement – volunteering (n=2,508)


Chart 41 – Action post placement by personal changes during placement – change in attitude (n=2,508)


Chart 42 – Action post placement by personal changes during placement – increased adaptabaility (n=2,508)




Chart 43 – Action post placement by personal changes during placement – increased confidence (n=2,508)


Chart 44 – Action post placement by personal changes during placement – increased resilience (n=2,508)


Chart 45 – Action post placement by personal changes during placement – motivation (n=2,508)



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Chart 46 – Action post placement by personal changes during placement – networks (n=2,508)


Chart 47 – Action post placement by personal changes during placement – knowledge and learning (n=2,508)


Chart 48 – Action post placement by personal changes during placement – new skills (n=2,508)




Chart 49 – Action post placement by personal changes during placement – increased self-awareness (n=2,508)


Chart 50 – Action post placement by personal changes during placement – coping with limited resources (n=2,508)



Acknowledgements

8. AcknowledgementsWewouldliketothankNinaLaurie(StAndrewsUniversityandformallyNewcastleUniversity)andMattBaillieSmith(NorthumbriaUniversity)fortheirsupportandinputwiththeliteraturereview,researchtoolsandoutputs;BarbaraTrapani(VSO)forherextensivesupportatallstageswiththeprocesses,researchdesignandoutputs;BenetReid(StAndrewsUniversity)forhissupportwiththeliteraturereview;EmmaCarter(Character)forherstatisticalanalysisandguidance;PaulDePonte(VSO)forhissupportwiththedesign,discussionplatformandin-depthinterviews;HannahRoss(VSO)andGeorginaRichards(VSO)fortheirsupportwiththein-depthinterviews;andNicholasZhangforhisanalysisofthe descriptivedata.


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Voluntary Service Overseas is registered in England (number 00703509). Charity Registration 313757 (England and Wales) SCO39117 (Scotland).

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