Students' involvement in social volunteering

• Author: C. Bacter/C. Marc
• Position: University of Oradea/University of Oradea
• Pages: 81-88

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov

Series VII: Social Sciences • Law • Vol. 9 (58) No. 1 - 2016

STUDENTS' INVOLVEMENT IN

SOCIAL VOLUNTEERING

C. BACTER1 C. MARC2

Abstract: Understanding the motivation behind getting involved in

voluntary activities has been the topic of several studies conducted in

countries with tradition in this field and not only. The purpose of this paper is

to present some relevant aspects of volunteers' motivations and the

advantages of volunteering as they are described in the scholarly literature.

It also includes a good practice example, along with the results of a quality

study carried out among volunteer students of the Faculty of Social-

Humanistic Sciences of The University of Oradea. The results of the study

confirm and complete the information found in scholarly literature. The

subjects of the study stated that altruism, self-satisfaction and the need for

involvement, as well as professional development, the experience acquired,

the results of their work/the progress of the beneficiaries, are only some of

the internal and external motives behind the decision of getting involved.

Key words: benefits, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, social involvement/

responsibilisation, students, volunteering.

1. Introduction

Volunteering is an important component for the development of any society. After

1990, the number of NGOs and of volunteers has increased in many countries, and a

particular attention has been given to promoting volunteering in order to involve the

citizens in the life of local communities and make them responsible, the young generation

in particular.

In 2011, the European Year of Volunteering, a great number of events were organised

to celebrate the activity of volunteers, as well as to reaffirm the role played by

associations within the European Union. On this occasion, a study was conducted at

European level to analyse relevant aspects of involvement in voluntary activities, in the

areas of the continent where volunteering is popular, the European public opinion on

volunteering, as well as the citizens’ expectations of it. The results of the study backed

up the fact that in countries with a long tradition of volunteering, such as the Low

Countries, Denmark, Finland, Austria etc, involvement in voluntary activities takes place

on a regular basis, while in countries such as Poland, Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania etc the

scores are well below the average of the European Union. A relevant aspect of the study

results is the one which shows that volunteering does not depend on gender or age, but it

1 University of Oradea, claudianbacter@gmail.com.

2 University of Oradea, cristiana_marc@yahoo.com.