Chulhee Kang

A Cross-Cultural Examination of Student Volunteering: Is It All About Résumé Building?

This research adopts the utilitarian view of volunteering as a starting point: we posit that for an undergraduate student population volunteering is motivated by career enhancing and job prospects. We hypothesize that in those countries where volunteering signals positive characteristics of students and helps advance their careers, their volunteer participation will be higher. Furthermore, regardless of the signaling value of volunteering, those students who volunteer for utilitarian reasons will be more likely to volunteer but will exhibit less time-intensive volunteering. Using survey data from 12 countries (n = 9,482), we examine our hypotheses related to motivations to volunteer, volunteer participation, and country differences. Findings suggest that students motivated to volunteer for building their résumés do not volunteer more than students with other motives. However, in countries with a positive signaling value of volunteering, volunteering rates are significantly higher. As expected, students motivated by résumé building motivations have a lower intensity of volunteering.

Service-Learning: Findings From a 14-Nation Study

Service-learning literature has been dominated by studies from North America with little cross-national comparative work. This article reports on a survey of university students conducted across 14 different countries. The study examines the relationships between service-learning programs (both compulsory and optional) at high school and university, along with current volunteering, study subject, and sociodemographic variables. The survey found variation in service-learning across the different countries along with relationships between service-learning participation and gender, family income, and study subject. By contrast to previous research, however, both mandatory and optional service-learning at high school and university led to higher participation in general volunteering.

What gives? Cross-national differences in students’ giving behavior

Abstract This study is targeted to understanding the giving of time and money among a specific cohort – university students across 13 countries. It explores predictors of different combinations of giving behaviors: only volunteering, only donating, neither, as compared to doing both. Among the predictors of these four types of giving behavior, we also account for cross-national differences across models of civil society. The findings show that students predominantly prefer to give money than to volunteer time. In addition, differences in civil society regimes provide insights into which type of giving behavior might dominate. As expected, in the Statist and Traditional models of civil society, students consistently were more likely to be disengaged in giving behaviors (neither volunteering nor giving money) in comparison to students in the Liberal model who were more likely to report doing ‘both’ giving behaviors. An important implication of our findings is that while individual characteristics and values influence giving of time and money, these factors are played out in the context of civil society regimes, whose effects cannot be ignored. Our analysis has made a start in a new area of inquiry attempting to explain different giving behaviors using micro and macro level factors and raises several implications for future research.

Informal social networks in Korea: Covering the cost of major life events

Abstract This article investigates an informal voluntary social arrangement for financial assistance with discrete major life events known in Korea as Sang-Ho-Bu-Jo. This informal voluntary arrangement is neither public nor private, but is based on social networks that produce a unique form of civic society. Sang-Ho-Bu-Jo covers peoples transitional one-time needs. This study explores the practice of Sang-Ho-Bu-Jo and its origins and provides the first systematic empirical study of this social phenomenon. Three large databases are used to analyze the scope and level of participation, as well as what variables correlate with such involvement. The study finds a high rate of participation, over 80% of households, and an average investment of 2–4% of household expenditure. Sang-Ho-Bu-Jo can help scholars and policy makers worldwide in understanding the role of socialization, social networks, and social capital in explaining innovative informal methods of social care.

Toward Valuation in Social Work and Social Services.

Social work and social services are known to be beneficial to society, but to date no systematic valuation of their contribution has been attempted. The aim of this article is to advance our ability to quantify both the known direct benefits and some of the positive externalities of social work. The authors make the case of why valuation is important for social work and social services. Relying on the rich literature on valuation, the authors provide a review of key valuation methods. The authors then demonstrate how social work and social services can apply each method to assess the value of their contribution to society. The authors conclude with a call for further refinements of social work valuation.

Turnover and Retention in Nonprofit Employment: The Korean College Graduates’ Experience

Korea’s nonprofit sector has undergone a sudden expansion in the last decade and its nonprofits experienced high employee turnover. This study is the first in Korean literature to examine workforce shifts in nonprofit organizations and explore influential factors that explain job changes from the nonprofit sector to other sectors. Using a three-wave panel data set of community college/university graduates, the Graduates Occupational Mobility Survey, we conducted a discrete-time survival analysis with the dependent variable of actual turnover. Our findings indicate that over half of employees left nonprofits within a year, and the majority found a new job in for-profit organizations. Different factors predicted turnover to for-profits, government agencies, and educational or research institutes. Age, wage level, employment type, and the size of nonprofit organizations explained employee shifts. Satisfaction with one’s overall job, job content, social reputation, and opportunities for career development were significant predictors. Implications for nonprofit organizations are discussed.

Giving in South Korea: A Nation of Givers for the Population under Public Assistance

South Korea has a relatively short history in philanthropic development. Before the late 1980s, South Korea was a recipient of the foreign philanthropic supports from economically advanced countries such as the United States, Canada, Germany and others. Due to the economic hardship after the Korean War, there was little development in domestic charity and philanthropy until the mid-1980s. Instead of charity and philanthropy, mutual aid — such as mutual insurance — long served as a source of great relief for the predominantly poor Korean people. The tradition of mutual aid among South Koreans has remained very strong even after achieving the industrial advancement and economic growth in the late 1980s. Nevertheless, South Korea also opened a new door to philanthropy after the late 1980s, aided by three socio-economic and political events: a successful political transition from the authoritarian dictatorship to democracy; a successful economic transformation, called ‘Miracle on the Han River’; and the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. Especially through the democratization process, the citizens became increasingly aware of diverse social issues such as welfare, human rights, environmental issues and others, providing a basis for their participation in resource mobilization projects of diverse nonprofit organizations (NPOs).