Students' Community Service: Self-Selection and the Effects of Participation

Numerous studies demonstrate the effectiveness of university-based community service programs on students' personal, social, ethical, and academic domains. These effects depend on both, the characteristics of students enrolled and the characteristics of the programs, for instance whether they are voluntary or mandatory. Our study investigates whether effects of voluntary service programs are indeed caused by the service experience or by prior self-selection. Using data from a pre-post quasi-experimental design conducted at a public university in Europe and taking students' socioeconomic background into account, our findings on self-efficacy, generalized trust, empathic concern, and attributions for poverty show that there are no participation effects. Instead, students who join in community service differ significantly from nonparticipants with regard to almost all investigated domains a priori, indicating strong self-selection. Our results underline the importance of structured group reflection, most notably with regard to attitude-related topics

Die Reproduktion sozialer Ungleichheiten in der Freiwilligenarbeit

Paul Rameder widmet sich der Frage, in welcher Form und in welchen Bereichen die Freiwilligenarbeit einen Beitrag zur Genese und Reproduktion sozialer Ungleichheiten leistet. Durch die Aura der Freiwilligkeit und Uneigennützigkeit entziehen sich die sozial nachteiligen Effekte der Freiwilligenarbeit der öffentlichen Wahrnehmung und expliziten Kritik. Die multivariaten Analysen von Mikrozensusdaten aus Österreich zeigen, dass der Zugang zur Freiwilligenarbeit in hohem Maße durch die Ressourcenausstattung der Individuen geprägt ist. Auch die Funktionsverteilung innerhalb der Freiwilligenarbeit reproduziert die ungleichen sozialen Machtverhältnisse. So tragen die Mechanismen der sozialen Schließung und Hierarchisierung auch in den Feldern der Freiwilligenarbeit zu einer Verfestigung gesellschaftlicher Ungleichheiten bei

Editorial: Civic Engagement in Higher Education Institutions in Europe

Editoria

Who Is in Charge? Social Inequality in Different Fields of Volunteering

Volunteering in civil society organizations (CSOs) is often idealized as an arena that is open to everybody. Prior research, however, has shown that participation in volunteer work also depends on an individual’s wealth, education, and social networks. CSOs are not open to every volunteer. Inequality within volunteers, however, has rarely been investigated, as are the factors that bring actors into more powerful positions in volunteering. Our research concentrates on this question. We aim to identify the characteristics and resources that are important for holding an executive position in the field of volunteering in general and in four selected subfields (culture and leisure, social services, religion, sports). To this end, we analyzed a large database created from the Austrian micro-census. The findings reveal significant relations between the actors’ economic, social, and educational resources, and their hierarchical positions in CSOs in each of the fields. Overall results indicate that social inequality is (re-)produced by the way CSOs select and promote volunteers. We embed our findings in Pierre Bourdieu’s Social Theory and conclude that volunteering, in particular, volunteering on boards and committees might be one of the hidden mechanisms that reinforce inequality in society

Campus-Community-Partnerships in der Hochschullehre: Aktuelle Daten aus Österreich

Community-Based Research und Service Learning sind hochschuldidaktische Methoden des anwendungsorientierten und erfahrungsbasierten Lernens (FELTEN & CLAYTON, 2011). Diese Lehrformate erfordern aufeinander abgestimmte Partnerschaften zwischen der Hochschule (Campus) und zivilgesellschaftlichen Organisationen (Community Partner). Bislang ist wenig über die Entstehung und Institutionalisierung dieser Campus-Community-Partnerships (CCPs) an österreichischen Hochschulen bekannt. Mittels eines Online-Survey wurden Hochschullehrende (N = 107) befragt, die im Rahmen ihrer Lehrveranstaltungen mit Community Partnern zusammenarbeiten. Erhoben wurden die initiale Motivation der Lehrpersonen, der Stellenwert und die Unterstützungsstrukturen an den Hochschulen sowie die konkreten Bedingungen der Umsetzung der CCPs. Die empirischen Ergebnisse verdeutlichen, dass CCPs an österreichischen Hochschulen bislang kaum institutionalisiert sind. Stattdessen bilden das persönliche Engagement und die Kontakte der Lehrenden den Ausgangspunkt für die Gestaltung der CCPs in der Hochschullehre

Embedding Social Innovation and Service Learning in Higher Education's Third Sector Policy Developments in Austria

Social innovation in Austrian HEIs is discussed under the headline of their “Third Mission.” The HE sector is pressured to have more and more impact on society. Internationally speaking, many countries benefit from national policies and networks in the Third Sector, but policies in Austria were initiated only recently, in 2017, on a national level. Interestingly, the service learning approach as an innovative and socially responsible teaching methodology stands out in Austrian HE. This article classifies the developments of the Third Sector in Austria in the form of a policy brief. Austria has a growing community of practice in social innovation and service learning. The article gives insight into the strategic developments in Austria and is underpinned with recommendable action to be transferred to others

Die Reproduktion sozialer Ungleichheiten in der Freiwilligenarbeit

Paul Rameder widmet sich der Frage, in welcher Form und in welchen Bereichen die Freiwilligenarbeit einen Beitrag zur Genese und Reproduktion sozialer Ungleichheiten leistet. Durch die Aura der Freiwilligkeit und Uneigennützigkeit entziehen sich die sozial nachteiligen Effekte der Freiwilligenarbeit der öffentlichen Wahrnehmung und expliziten Kritik. Die multivariaten Analysen von Mikrozensusdaten aus Österreich zeigen, dass der Zugang zur Freiwilligenarbeit in hohem Maße durch die Ressourcenausstattung der Individuen geprägt ist. Auch die Funktionsverteilung innerhalb der Freiwilligenarbeit reproduziert die ungleichen sozialen Machtverhältnisse. So tragen die Mechanismen der sozialen Schließung und Hierarchisierung auch in den Feldern der Freiwilligenarbeit zu einer Verfestigung gesellschaftlicher Ungleichheiten bei

Inequality in volunteering : building a new research front

Volunteering research focuses predominantly on predicting participation in volunteering, proceeding from the quasi-hegemonic foundation of resource theory and dominant-status theory. Empirical research in this tradition has provided extremely robust evidence that dominant groups in society are more likely to volunteer. At the same time, it has reinforced the status quo in the production of knowledge on volunteering, thereby neglecting the clear problematic of "inequality in volunteering." Compared to the guiding question of "participation," the concept of "inequality" can generate a more variegated, critical, and change-oriented research agenda. With this special issue, we aim to build a "new research front" in the field of volunteering. In this introduction, we advance a novel research agenda structured around a multidimensional understanding of inequality, concomitantly delineating four central research programs focusing on (a) resources, (b) interactions, (c) governmentalities, and (d) epistemologies. We discuss the focus of these lines of research in greater detail with respect to inequality in volunteering, their main critique of dominant research on participation in volunteering, and key elements of the new research agenda

Inequality in volunteering: Building a new research front

Volunteering research focuses predominantly on predicting participation in volunteering, proceeding from the quasi-hegemonic foundation of resource theory and dominant-status theory. Empirical research in this tradition has provided extremely robust evidence that dominant groups in society are more likely to volunteer. At the same time, it has reinforced the status quo in the production of knowledge on volunteering, thereby neglecting the clear problematic of “inequality in volunteering.” Compared to the guiding question of “participation,” the concept of “inequality” can generate a more variegated, critical, and change-oriented research agenda. With this special issue, we aim to build a “new research front” in the field of volunteering. In this introduction, we advance a novel research agenda structured around a multidimensional understanding of inequality, concomitantly delineating four central research programs focusing on (a) resources, (b) interactions, (c) governmentalities, and (d) epistemologies. We discuss the focus of these lines of research in greater detail with respect to inequality in volunteering, their main critique of dominant research on participation in volunteering, and key elements of the new research agenda