The investment model of volunteering in the EU-27 countries: volunteering, skills development and employability. A multi-level analysis

ABSTRACT

This article contributes to a better understanding of the social acceptance of the investment model of volunteering, that is, the view that volunteering can enhance employability through the development of professionally relevant knowledge and competences. Based on the analysis of Eurobarometer data, the article explores (1) the prevalence of the investment model of volunteering in the EU-27 countries and the extent to which this varies between individuals with the potential to make hiring decisions (IHP) and the general population, (2) the demographic factors associated with the acceptance of this model, (3) whether national differences in the acceptance of the model are better explained by variation between countries or cross-national demographic factors and (4) whether national institutional characteristics related to the competitiveness of the national labour market, the specificity of the education system, the strength of the continuing vocational training system and cultural factors influence acceptance. The results show that the acceptance of the investment model of volunteering is relatively widespread in Europe and that variation in the acceptance of the investment model among the general population is driven by both individual (age and class) and between-country differences (related to the strength of training for unemployed people), but variation is more attributable to differences between countries than cross-national demographic groups. IHP, on the other hand, tend to be more homogenous in their acceptance of the investment model than the general population.

KEYWORDS:

• Skills
• employability
• volunteering
• Europe
• investment model
• social views

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Manuel Souto-Otero is Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences at the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University. His research focuses on the link between education and work, social stratification and inequality, internationalisation in education, and policy evaluation. He has recently co-edited the ‘Palgrave International Handbook of Higher Education Policy and Governance’ and edited the book ‘Evaluating European Education policy-making: privatization, networks and the European Commission,’ also published by Palgrave.

Robin Shields is Senior Lecturer in Higher Education Management at University of Bath. His research focuses broadly on the globalisation of education; with publications on international higher education and education in international development. He is a specialist in quantitative methodologies and social network analysis.

Notes

1 Extended versions of this model include also the acquisition of useful contacts and the signalling of one’s ability to prospective employers, in addition to the development of knowledge and competences (Duncan 1999).

3 We would like to thank one of the reviewers for the suggestion to include variables on the strength of continuing vocational training and culture in the analysis.