College Students' Volunteering: Factors Related to Current Volunteering, Volunteer Settings, and Motives for Volunteering

• Published in: College student journal Vol. 48; no. 3; pp. 386 - 396
• Main Authors: Moore, Erin, Warta, Samantha, Erichsen, Kristen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Project Innovation 01.09.2014; Project Innovation, Inc; Project Innovation (Alabama)
• Subjects: College Students; Demography; Health Services; Learning; Measures (Individuals); Motivation; Religiosity; Religious Factors; Social aspects; Statistical Distributions; Student Characteristics; Student Motivation; Student Surveys; Surveys; United States (Midwest); Values; Volunteer Settings; Volunteerism; Volunteers; United States
• ISSN: 0146-3934; 2691-3887

Research has not explored the types of settings that college students prefer to volunteer for and how these settings might be influenced by personal factors (e.g., demographic, academic major, volunteering motivation, religiosity). Students from a Midwestern university (N = 406, 71.9% female) completed a survey that inquired about their volunteering history and motivation for volunteering. This study found that most students (88.2%) reported a history of volunteering, although only 22.9% were current volunteers. The most common volunteer settings for participants were organizations related to promoting health and wellness, serving children/delivering education, and reducing poverty. Students volunteering in health-related settings were more likely to be currently volunteering. The strongest motives for volunteering in this study were Values (e.g., altruistic volunteering) followed by Understanding (e.g., volunteering for the opportunity for new learning experiences). These findings are useful for determining what factors might be used to promote continuous volunteering by college students.