proMENTE AVSO research - impact of youth voluntary service in Europe

Shaping policy for voluntary service through research

The impact of long-term youth voluntary service in Europe

Steve Powell & Esad BratovićproMENTE social research, Sarajevo

www.promente.org | www.avso.org

In the headlines

Lifelong learning

Intercultural competence

Compulsory service?

Can volunteers fill more gaps in social services?

Social cohesionSocial inclusion

Social capitalEuropean

citizenship


Why research the impact of youth voluntary service?

Reason 1: voluntary service is increasing in popularity Reason 2: feed into hot debates on youth policy

– Voluntary or compulsory service?– Should volunteers play a major role in provision of social services?

Reason 3: help to improve quality Reason 4: check claims Reason 5: how to use the voluntary service toolbox


Vision

Golden rules for „matchmaking“ volunteers to placements

Golden rules for „matchmaking“ volunteers to placements

Voluntary service makes young people more tolerant than language study or gap years

Voluntary service makes young people more tolerant than language study or gap years

5 out of 10 inter-cultural leaders were volunteers5 out of 10 inter-cultural leaders were volunteers

Girls benefit more from voluntary service than boys: what to do about it

Girls benefit more from voluntary service than boys: what to do about it

Voluntary service worth4 Billion EUR in EU

Voluntary service worth4 Billion EUR in EU

Social scientists agree that voluntary service is proven to produce more mature, tolerant young people

Social scientists agree that voluntary service is proven to produce more mature, tolerant young people

EU adopts proven EVS model to encourage inter-religious dialogue in inner citiesEU adopts proven EVS model to encourage inter-religious dialogue in inner cities


Definitions Voluntarism:

– freely chosen – unpaid or only for expenses – structured – benefits strangers

Voluntary service: a special form of voluntarism– + intense (time-limited & full-time)

Youth voluntary service – + youths: older than 15 - 18 and younger than 25 - 30– + non-skilled– + focus on personal growth

Impact studies … … on long-term service… … in Europe


The spirit of voluntary service

Long-term youth voluntary service is special Has a long history Now more than ever: rites of passage It’s about values


Survey purpose

What do we know about voluntary service impact

What do we still need to find out


Studies reviewed

Over 300 documents analysed: published and unpublished research and evaluation studies

50 directly relevant to the impact of youth long-term voluntary service in Europe.

About 7 with acceptable research design … a lot of anecdotal evidence …


Main result

You get the impact you program for.


So …

Voluntary service regularly produces those kinds of impact for which voluntary service by definition provides the input:– Personal growth, independence– Career orientation


Human capital Voluntary service can impact

– Employment ?– Employability –


Voluntary service reduces career indecision

????


Social capital … plus, with the right kind of service, placements, pre-departure training

and mentorship, voluntary service can impact:– Social & communication skills and teamwork; networking; sense of belonging

– Active citizenship / civic values / social activism

– Tolerance / intercultural competence / bridging social capital

– Basic European identity; attitudes to Europe / EU

– Intention to continue to volunteer

– Improved discipline; decreased crime and risk taking

– But: "Ceiling effects"

–


Impact on community: social capital

– Understanding between regions– Integration of less advantaged young people


Impact on community: economic capital

Preliminary analyses show that EVS probably does at the very least pay for itself in terms of the value of work done in relation to the cost of the program – and maybe much more


Good news …

Voluntary service works for everyone!


Secondstage oftertiary

First stageof tertiary

Postsecondary,non-tertiary

Uppersecondary

Lowersecondaryor secondstage of

basic

Primary orfirst stageof basic

Notcompleted

primaryeducation

Father's highest level of education

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%Mean

vo

lun

teere

d f

or

an

y o

rga

nis

ati

on

in

last

12

mo

nth

s

Cases weighted by Design weight

… but not everyone is doing it


3 models of how voluntary service can impact volunteer lives

1. Traditional volunteers – easy to find2. Non-traditional volunteers – value for money3. Volunteers with disadvantaged backgrounds –

good results & social inclusion


Recommendations Be aware of the extraordinary impact and future potential of voluntary service

– Toolbox for social change – but we need more knowledge about what works Program for specific goals

– Minimum standards generally and for additional components– Recognition – Mainstreaming other policy issues

Crossing the new borders: more cost-effective, more challenging, more relevant Role of voluntary service in regional understanding We only have anecdotal evidence

– Stop wasting money on traditional evaluation approaches! We need an impact measurement framework

– Generic enough for voluntarism as a whole– Improve volunteer/placement fit – matchmaking– This research was funded by the Ford Foundation!

Technology

proMENTE AVSO research - impact of youth voluntary service in Europe