A Study of Volunteer in Beijing

A Tentative Study of Volunteer Work in Universities of China

Pei Xingchen
Department of Foreign Languages
Beihang University

Abstract 3 Key Words 3 1. Introduction 4 2. Functions and Motivations of volunteer work 5 2.1 Overview of Volunteer Work 5 2.2 Overall Functions and Motivations of Volunteer Work 5 3. Current Situation of Volunteer Work in University 6 3.1 Brief Introduction of Beihang University 6 3.2. Analysis Results 6 3.3 Overall conclusion 7 4. Perfection of Volunteer Work System 8 4.1 Importance of the solutions 8 4.2 Specific solutions 8 4.3Expectations of volunteer work in China. 8 References 9 A Questionnaire about Volunteer Work of University students 10

Abstract In today’s China, there is a tendency that volunteer work relies more and more upon university students. China has held several big events like 2008 Olympic Games and the World Expo in the last few years. However, the volunteer work system in universities is still imperfect till now. he stages of the development of the system in different universities are dissimilar. It is of great importance for public service to improve and integrate the volunteer work system in university. This thesis takes the effort to study the functions and motivations of volunteer work in universities of China, and at the same time take Beihang University as an example to illustrate the current situation of volunteer work among university students. In this paper, the author offers some approaches and principles regarding the volunteer work system in university, hoping that it might be of help for other researchers in this field.

Key Words Volunteer work system, functions of volunteering, university students, current situation, approaches and solutions

A Tentative Study of Volunteer Work in Universities of China

1. Introduction In today’s society, the word volunteering seems to be so popular among people. People talk about volunteering and apply for voluntary work. Since the concept volunteering was raised in 1600s, volunteering has become a part of the life of Westerners. Recently, it also steps into our daily life in China. In fact, volunteering and voluntary have raised a great deal of public attention all over the world. In today’s China, there is a tendency that volunteer work relies more and more upon university students. China has held several big events like 2008 Olympic Games and the World Expo in the last few years. Although university volunteers performed well in most of the big events and built up a positive image of China, there still exist some problems in volunteer work system. There is no doubt that there will be a plenty of volunteer work which has to be allocated to university students in the future. One big thing worth mentioning here is that currently we do not pay enough attention to areas like whether most of the university students want to participate in volunteer work. According to the research of Chinese Young Volunteers Association ( http://baike.baidu.com/view/113559.htm), from 1994 to 2012, it only attract 36 corporate members and 402 individual members which means the national volunteer work system is not solid and mature yet, let alone those systems in universities. It goes without saying that if we want to establish a mature and effective volunteer work system in China and mobilize the enthusiasm of the public, we should first improve the smaller volunteer work system in university.

2. Functions and Motivations of volunteer work 3.1 Overview of Volunteer Work Volunteer work is generally considered an altruistic activity, intended to promote good or improve quality of human life. It is considered as serving the society through one’s own interest, personal skills or learning, which in return produces a feeling of self-worth and respect, instead of money. Volunteering takes many forms, and can be performed by anyone with ones own set of skills. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work in, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Other volunteers serve on an as-needed basis, in response to a natural disaster or for a beach-cleanup. 3.2 The Overall Functions and Motivations of Volunteer Work To many people, volunteering is so attractive that they can even devote their limited spare time to it. Some of them even make their minds to take the volunteer work as their lifelong career. People believe in the positive side of volunteering. According to Peggy A. Thoits and Lyndi N. Hewitt(2001), volunteer work indeed enhances all six aspects of well-being and, conversely, people who have greater well-being invest more hours in volunteer service. That is to say, the higher social statu one has, the greater the possibility for him to do volunteer work. It is the same in university. Students who want to strengthen themselves are more likely to do social work like volunteering. At the same time, the experience will enhance different kind of skills of the volunteer. According to Jack Shand and Kenneth Thacker (2002) , Volunteers gain from their experience in many ways, such as the following: 1. You can express your values in activities that are meaningful.
2. You will increase your knowledge and learn new skills through networking with other knowledgeable peers.
3. You gain an insider’s knowledge of the organization to grow the value of your membership.
4. You enhance your career and gain prestige by building relationships with new contacts and old friends. All above are the functions of volunteer work. At the same time, they are all belong to the category of the motivation of volunteer work. What’s more, Rosenthal, Robert, Rosnow, and Ralph L mentioned in their book THE VOLUNTEER SUBJECT (1965) that volunteer also has great impact on the whole society and it can make the whole world more warm and harmonious. All above are the functions and motivations of volunteer work. These apparent benefits can be seen by everyone. Volunteering is also famous for the skill development, for socialization, and for fun. It is also intended to make contacts for possible employment or for a variety of other reasons. Some people do it because of the benefit which is reasonable. However, why the others are unwilling to participate in it? 3. The Current Situation of Volunteer Work in University The current situation of volunteer work in universities is different in different regions. Besides, the situation changes in different kinds of universities. Even the location of the university will change the situation. That is to say, students in southern universities hold different views with those from northern universities. I did a research into the volunteer work system in Beihang University and gained some findings after analysis. 4.3 Brief Introduction of Beihang University As one of the top-ranked research university, BUAA has had more than 40 projects that were ranked first in China, since it was established in 1952. Nowadays, it has evolved into a multi-disciplined, research-oriented university of engineering science and technology with an emphasis on aeronautic and astronautic engineering, covering such diverse fields as science, technology, liberal arts, law, economics, management, philosophy, foreign languages and education. Situated in the capital in the center of Zhongguancun Science Park, next to China ' s National Olympic Center, with an area of over 100 hectares, BUAA is China ' s first university of aeronautical and astronautical engineering. ( http://ev.buaa.edu.cn/about/index.php?page=introduction)
3.2. Analysis Results In March of 2012, I gave out 200 questionnaires to students from Shahe campus of Beihang University. 176 questionnaires were collected in the end and the rate of the valid questionnaires among all is 88 per cent. The main target students are those of grades 10 and 11, covering students majoring in science, arts, and engine. Most of the target students are communist youth league members while others are Party members. First of all, according to the data, 37 percent of the students are indifferent to volunteer work. They do not want to take part in it at all. It shows that the awareness of serving the people has to be raised. The main reason for them to refuse to do volunteer work is that they have no reliable access to the systematic volunteer work. Nearly 80 percent of the target students’ service time is less than 3 months, while 15 percent of the students’ volunteer work lasts 3 to 6 months. The number of the students who can do the work for one year is much smaller. It can be said that for a large amount of students, the volunteer work is still not systematic and the continuity of the work can be improved to make the volunteer more organized. When it comes to those who show great interest in volunteering work, they are still bothered by other problems. According to the statistics, nearly four fifths of the students do not have any forms of volunteer experience before they entered the university. That is to say, many reasons stop them from doing this in middle school. At that time, they have to shoulder the pressure of college entrance examination. So universities should take more responsibilities to provide the chances of volunteer work to students. Among those who once did the volunteer work, the latest time they participating in volunteer work are different. Only 20 percent of the students do volunteer work in a 3-month period. We can tell that the frequency of volunteer work for them is relatively low. The reasons for the low frequency can be summarized into two. To begin with, from the perspective of the students, they do not have enough time on or interest in. Secondly, to those organizers, they fail to hold series of activities of volunteer work. When students are faced with the question “Have you ever quit it?”, 62 percent of the students did have this experience once. Four reasons can account for the irresponsible behavior. The first one is that the volunteer work takes them too much time. They have to make a choice between it and many other things. We have to admit that in today’s society, volunteer work did cost people great amount of time including the time they spent on transportation and preparation. The second reason is that the freshness of a certain job disappears after several days’ work. Students participate in the work for experience but not the work itself. This reason can reveal how irresponsible those students are. They even do not know that they have to go on the work and fulfill their duty as long as they decide to do it. The third reason is that they disagree with the volunteer work system, which forces them to quit. In China, many organizations are controlled by political institutions, and those political institutions do not manage those organizations well. This political system brings bureaucracy to the organizations which should have been non-profit.

This indeed makes the volunteer work daunting at first. Still, students thought they have a different goal with the organizers. In the 1960s, Ivan Illich (1968) offered an analysis of the role of American volunteers in Mexico, he thinks that that system proposes the extension of power and authority over indigenous cultures around the world. The so-called Road of different non-phase plan, like different outlook on different parts, it would not unite. The last two reasons are reasonable here because the system of volunteer work is indeed imperfect right now in universities. However, the first two reasons are unforgivable because it can be regarded as irresponsible. Nowadays, people, especially college students, have a tendency to be anxious to achieve quick success and get instant benefits. They should be guided to a right road in a proper way.

When the question comes to the access where they get information to volunteer work, the answers are different. Nearly 30 percent of the students were introduced by their friends and teachers in universities. For university students, the monde of intercommunication is comparatively narrow. It is easy to understand that friends and teachers become their most important information source. What’s more, almost half of the students participate in volunteering work through the organization held by school. That is to say, the sources in university like friends, teachers and school-hold organizations, play a significant role in the whole volunteer work system. The statistics show that only 12 percent of the students get information by the magazines or themselves. On one hand, these kinds of sources are not so reliable that students can trust without any hesitation. They are likely to be cheated by these advertisements and get lost in the complicated society. On the other hand, it shows in another perspective that how important the volunteer work system held by school is and how meaningful for us to integrate the system. For the sake of the security, the volunteer work system in school must be improved.

According to the research in Beihang University, 66 percent of the students know that there is one or several organizations which can provide the chance to do volunteer work for students. The percentage is high compared with those who ever join in these organizations. Only 33 percent of the students ever participated in organizations like these, which is a big problem for the organizers to cope with.

3.3 Overall conclusion The current situation of volunteer work in Beihang University is not good enough that we can still find many problems in the system. These problems do not only exist in Beihang University, in fact, they are universal problems in universities in China. It is good for us to find these problems. Because of these problems, we can have more motivations to correct them and improve the whole system. Hence, to make these problem corrected, there is still a long road for every one of us to go. 4. What Can We Do to Cope with the Perfection of Volunteer Work System 5.4 Importance of the solutions Here the current situation of volunteer work system in universities should be changed as soon as possible. Compared with the Western world, the time university students in China spend on volunteer work is far less than those of western universities’ students. We stand on the starting point of transformation of the society of China. It is the time for us to make great progress on volunteer work.

4.2 Specific solutions As for the problem that nowadays voluntary activities lack efficient organization and variety, organizers should develop technique skills and spend more effort on the planning and organizing of the activities. On one hand the purpose of the service needs to be considered thoroughly. On the other hand, the participation of volunteers needs to be raised. Voluntary activities should aim at maximizing values other than merely regard volunteers as free labour.

Three different periods should be all considered when organizing voluntary activities in order to raise the publicity of the activities and the participation of volunteers. Before activities, a detailed report of the plan for the activities and the expectations for the volunteers should be publicized. During activities, volunteers ' personal safety and rights should be protected. After activities, feedbacks for the activities should be properly collected.

In order to have an efficient management of volunteers in the long term, the timing, evaluation and feedbacks of the activities should all be carried out properly. Training is also necessary to standardize the behavior and raise the technique or skills of volunteers. On one hand we should try to fulfill the expectation and need of volunteers, to do which spiritual and substantial encouragements are both needed. One the other hand, propagations should be carried out to raise the voluntariness of the public.

Volunteers should have a correct understanding of voluntary activities and should not expect a profit from these activities. They should actively participate in trainings, provide good service and be friendly towards other volunteers. They should be practical when choosing the voluntary activities that they want to be a volunteer in to realize their self-value.

4.3 Expectations of volunteer work in China. China has the greatest number of university students among other countries, so it has the potential to be a big country in volunteer work. For many years, China did not make the most of the advantage to develop itself. Large number of educated and qualified students can have a chance to devote themselves into volunteer work. That is good news to both the students and the society. Volunteer work makes the world a better place where the relationship between people can be closer and closer.

References

Anonymity (2012). Wikipedia. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volunteering

Anonymity (2004). BEIHANG University. From http://ev.buaa.edu.cn/about/index.php?page=introduction

Census Data (2011).Young Volunteers Association. From http://baike.baidu.com/view/113559.htm

Illich, M. (1968). To Hell With Good Intentions. InterAmerican Student Projects (CIASP). Mexico.

Jack, S. and Kenneth, T. (2002). Role of Volunteers in Non-Profit Organizations. USA: CSAE

Peggy, T. and Lyndi, N. (2001). Volunteer Work and Well-Being, Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 115-131

Rosenthal, R. and Robert, R. (1965). The Volunteer Subject. Human Relations. 18(4), 1965, 389-406.

A Questionnaire about Volunteer Work of University students

Personal information： sex：male____ female____ | department：science___ engine___ art___ | grade：______ | age： ______ |

1. Have you ever take part in volunteer work before you enter BUAA? ( )
A yes B no 2. Have you ever take part in volunteer work after you enter BUAA? （ ）
A no
B yes——to Q4

3. The reason you did not take part in.（ ）
A no spare time B no interest
C not knowing the access to it D others

4. The reason of your participation.（ ）
A strengthen yourself B helping others
C self-fulfillment D payback to society
E making friends F finishing the assignment
G promote the development of career H spending free time
I others

5. The latest time you participating in it.（ ）
A within 3 months B 3 months to 6 months
C 6 months to 1 year D one year ago

6. How much time the volunteer work last? （ ）
A within 3 months B 3 months to 6 months
C 6 months to 1 year D one year ago

7. Have you ever quit it? （ ）
A no B yes——to Q8

8. The reason of your quit（ ）
A it takes too much time B freshness disappears
C disagree with the system D disagree with the goal
E others

9. The access for you to get information of volunteer work（ ）
A finding it yourself B introduced by friends or teachers
C the ad from magazines D organized by school E others

10. Do you know the volunteer organizations in school? （ ）
A no B yes（such as ）

11. Have you ever entered the organization? （ ）
A no B yes

12. What you cannot bear most during the work? （ ）
A not respect by the target person B formalism
C no improvement D no allowance E the work is boring F the messy organization
G others

13. Will you continue taking part in volunteer work? （ ）
A yes（reason ）
B no （reason ）
C it depends 14. The percentage of students who once take part in it.（ ）
A high B above normal C average D low

15. The chances for you to take part in.（ ）
A many B average C few

16. What is the best way to promote volunteer work? （ ）
A awards B allowance C souvenirs
D others

Thank you for your time!

References: Anonymity (2012). Wikipedia. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volunteering Anonymity (2004). BEIHANG University. From http://ev.buaa.edu.cn/about/index.php?page=introduction Census Data (2011).Young Volunteers Association. From http://baike.baidu.com/view/113559.htm Illich, M. (1968). To Hell With Good Intentions. InterAmerican Student Projects (CIASP). Mexico. Jack, S Peggy, T. and Lyndi, N. (2001). Volunteer Work and Well-Being, Journal of Health and Social Behavior Rosenthal, R. and Robert, R. (1965). The Volunteer Subject. Human Relations. 18(4), 1965, 389-406.