Fast-tracking expatriate development: the unique learning environments of international volunteer placements

Abstract

International volunteering has traditionally been viewed as a pursuit that, while admirable, provided little benefit for the volunteer beyond altruistic satisfaction. Yet several recent studies suggest that an international volunteer placement can fast-track the development of valuable global skills and capabilities. To date, no research has offered a systematic explanation for this. This article presents a framework that outlines the unique mechanisms of international volunteer placements that contribute to them being fertile learning environments for expatriates. In doing so, it draws on evidence from a longitudinal study of the learning experiences of a sample of international volunteers from Australia and New Zealand.

Keywords:

• expatriates
• expatriate development
• international assignments
• international volunteers
• learning
• not-for-profit sector

Notes

1. A quantitative measure of the cultural distance between two countries can be calculated from Hofstede's cultural dimension indices using a method described by Kogut and Singh (1988). While this may offer limited explanatory power (Harzing 2003) it can help to illustrate the relative novelty of most IVPs in comparison to other expatriate postings. For respondents in our study, the average cultural distance between Australia and the host country, where comparative data exist, is 2.5. This compares with an average of just 0.1 for the countries hosting most Australian expatriates – Great Britain, the United States of America and New Zealand (Hugo 2006). Countries for which cultural dimension index scores were available are Indonesia, Thailand, PRC, South Africa, Vietnam and Lebanon. Lebanon's score is drawn from scores for the Arab World, incorporating Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

2. Most of these had taken leave without pay from an on-going position to fulfill their international volunteering ambitions.