Back in 2012 and 2013, I was part of the ICT4EMPL Future Work project, focused on the countries of the European Union and funded by the European Commission. The overall project aimed to inform policy regarding "new forms of work" and pathways to employability that involved online technologies. The overall ICT4EMPL project produced a series of reports on the state of play of novel forms of internet-mediated work activity: crowd-sourced labour, crowdfunding, and internet-mediated work exchange (timebanks and complementary currency) and, of course, internet-mediated volunteering (virtual volunteering). For this project, I got to map the prevalence of virtual volunteering in Europe and explore how virtual volunteering could support people's employability: Here my final paper.
Included in this paper was Chapter 4, Internet-mediated volunteering and employability. The text of this chapter is reproduced below:
Begin excerpt:
The researcher could find literature regarding the relation of traditional volunteering to employability, and vice versa, but no research literature regarding how Internet-mediated volunteering and issues such as job / career skills development, nor regarding how the success rate of job seekers in finding employment, creating self-employment, job advancement or entrepreneurship might or might not be related to volunteering online.
This lack of data regarding Internet-mediated volunteering and employability presents an opportunity for further research that will be unique to the field.
While there is a lack of research regarding Internet-mediated volunteering and and links with employability, there is a good amount of research and literature regarding links between traditional volunteering and employability. As Internet-mediated volunteering is, indeed, volunteering, it is probable that research on traditional volunteering holds insights regarding the possibilities for online volunteering and skills development, career exploration, building networks of contacts related to employability and job advancement.
VERSO (Volunteers for European Employment) notes that “Traditional volunteering can provide a pathway to new skills and eventually a paid job; civic society and volunteerism can also be instrumental in creating new types of social spaces capable of including or connecting with marginalised groups whose employment needs are not currently met by the established employment systems.” The VERSO web site includes studies on volunteering in seven EU countries: Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Spain and The Netherlands. However, at this time, the site nor its report mention Internet-mediated, that the researcher could find in a cursory of its online materials. (VERSO 2012)
In Autumn 2010, vInspired (also known simply as v), The National Young Volunteers Service, commissioned the Institute for Employment Studies to explore the contribution of volunteering to employability for young people - the development of employability skills and attributes, networks and contacts, qualifications and accreditation, etc. According to the study's findings, young people had a stated belief that volunteering and work could be a means to improve their employability, enabling them to develop skills and enhance their CV. Participants said their expectations in relation to these factors were exceeded. Volunteers had an improved insight into future careers and believed the development of networks through their unpaid service might assist future transitions (Newton, Oakley, Pollard, 2011).
However, these and other studies reviewed by the researcher were mostly about perceptions related to volunteering as a path to employment, rather than data showing a substantiated correlation between volunteering and employment.
A recent study by the Corporation for National and Community Service in the U.S.A. used population and employment data and found that volunteering was associated with 27% higher odds of employment. “The association between volunteering and employment had the strongest effect on individuals without a high school diploma or equivalent (a 51% increase in odds) and individuals who live in rural areas (55% increase in odds). We found that the relationship between volunteering and employment is stable across gender, race, and ethnic categories, age, time, Metropolitan Statistical Area, and unemployment rate." However, the researchers also noted that, even with this approach, they did not establish a causal link between volunteering and employment (Spera, et al., 2013). A similar approach to studying links between volunteering and employability in any EU countries could not be found, however, that could be because of the research challenges and limitations detailed in Section 2.3 of this report.
A popular debate regarding the cause of unemployment among the young is whether they lack skills to be employable.34 A key question to be addressed is whether the skills that young people are said to lack could be addressed by providing them with volunteering experience. Looking at the tasks undertaken by online volunteers, listed earlier in Section 3.3, it can presumed that there is a correlation in the skills needed in the work force and skills applied by online volunteers.
For instance, the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Network (STEMNET) at the University of Exeter gives one of many definitions of ‘employability’:
Employability Skills can be defined as the transferable skills needed by an individual to make them ‘employable’. Along with good technical understanding and subject knowledge, employers often outline a set of skills that they want from an employee.
The skills identified were:
The Observatorio Navarro de Empleo, Servicio Navarro de Empleo at the Confederación de Empresarios de Navarra defined “10 competencias críticas para la empleabilidad de los jóvenes, con instituciones educativas y empresas navarras” (10 skills critical to employability of youth, with educational institutions and companies in Navarre). The competencies identified were:
Online volunteering tasks (see Section 3.3) could be assessed as building all of these skills, with the added benefit of also building skills around the use of software and hardware.
There are a number of challenges and risk in promoting online volunteering as a route to employability:
There is no hard data that the researcher could find as to whether or not skills acquired through unpaid work by a job applicant or employee would be valued by employers in Europe. Therefore, investment in activities to encourage people to volunteer online as a path to employability may frustrate volunteers if potential employers do not value their online volunteering activities.
Minimal skills and competencies that are necessary to volunteer online are the same, or similar, to the skills and competencies that have been identified for the modern work place. However, many unemployed people may not have the necessary skills or competencies for Internet-mediated volunteering, which would be a barrier to their participation.
The implication from research identified in this paper and other literature is that online volunteering, like traditional volunteering, could be associated with enhancing the employability of participants. However, as noted in a 1998 study for the nstitute for Volunteering Research, “The essence of the on-the-job experience was that volunteers could shadow paid workers and learn from them.” (Gay 1998, p. 40). Job-shadowing online is much more difficult, if not impossible, as volunteer and paid staff person are in two different locations. Gay's report also notes that another vital aspect of volunteering for employability, from the volunteer's point of view, “was the team-work element present in many of the work situations and volunteers commented on the importance of the comradeship of staff and fellow volunteers.” (1998, p. 40). Creating a sense of team, where online volunteers feel included in onsite activities or where they feel a sense of comradeship with other online volunteers, particularly if they are not working with these online volunteers regularly, can be difficult.
Volunteering, even online, may not be economically feasible for everyone, including youth. In an article from the BBC, Tom Geoghegan said, "the prospect of unwaged employment might not be so appealing if you're a cash-strapped school leaver who wants to help mum put food on the table." In this same article, Caroline Diehl, chief executive of Media Trust, says volunteering is much more accessible to economically affluent youth. "It's easier for the middle class because there's probably a parental expectation, it's easier because there may be parental support, it's easier because of the networking, the access and the knowledge will be there," she says. "It's not about a lack of interest among disadvantaged young people, it's more a lack of knowledge and financial resources. In communicating volunteering opportunities we haven't really reached out to those young people." (Geoghegan 2005).
The debate regarding internships and volunteerism, mentioned earlier, is one that would affect an effort to promote Internet-mediated volunteering to people in Europe, particularly youth, as a path to employability.
Whereas traditional volunteering allows volunteers to shadow professionals in their work and, therefore, understand different types of positions, this can be difficult in online volunteering situations. In addition, creating a sense of team or developing comradeship with employees can also be difficult in online volunteering situations. In addition, volunteering as a path to employment, even online, may not be economically feasible for everyone, including youth, who may not be able to afford to work without pay.
Finally, controversies around unpaid internships, which some consider volunteering and others do not, as well as controversies around volunteering as a path to employment, even when not called volunteering, can affect support and public debates regarding volunteering as a way to build the skills of people needing employment, to help job seekers regarding networking with potential employers, to help people explore careers or to help people advance in their current jobs. What the rights and expectations of people using volunteering as a path to employability should be, and the ethics of such volunteering, are frequently debated, and such debates will probably affect efforts to promote volunteering as a path to employability.
End of excerpt.
You can see the entire paper here. You can also read the References cited in the final paper, and above.
The
Last Virtual Volunteering
Guidebook published by Energize, Inc.
The most comprehensive resource available regarding
virtual volunteering.
Published January 2014.