Responses about Male Involvement in Service

For those of you seeking the information that I gathered from the SL listserv,
see below.  Thanks to everyone who sent me information about this subject.
 -Shari

Hello Shari, 
    
   I, too, have been interested in this topic and have done some exploratory 
  research in this area.  A place to start reading is "Recruiting Male  Volunteers:  
 A Guide Based on Exploratory Research" by Stephanie Blackman  (published 
by the Corporation for National Service.)  It is old, but a  place to start.  
 An excellent resource that touches on male volunteer  participation is "Engaging 
 the Next Generation:  How Nonprofits Can Reach  Young Adults" which I think 
 I downloaded at www.adcouncil.org.  It was a  study done
by the Ad Council, Mtv, with support from Pew. 
    
   I've also done a little testing with different forms of marketing, which 
  has been successful in drawing in more male college students to  volunteer.  
 Nothing scientific, but very, very interesting. 
    
   I have other articles that I've gathered over the years, but I don't have 
  them handy.  Please keep in touch with me and let's share resources!  Diane
  
    
   Diane Podolske, Ph.D. 
   Director, Service Learning 
   Community-University Partnerships and Service Learning 
   CSU-San Bernardino 
   909.880.7483 (direct) 
   909.880.7793 (fax) 
  
  Hi, I've recently done a little looking into this to help explain some
 results I found in my own research.  I've attached a bibliography with some 
 citations - many are not specifically about gender and service, but do talk 
 about gender as one factor associated with service.  A lot of the articles 
 also just seem to confirm the bias, without necessarily attempting to  explain
 it. 
   
  In terms of theories about why men serve less, I've seen a few different
  perspectives including: 
  - demographic (e.g., men have historically worked more and had less time
 to  volunteer) 
  - gender differences in perceptions about doing volunteer work (Smith,
1994)  
  - females are more motivated by altruistic reasons than males (Trudeau
&   Devlin, 1996) 
  - there are more volunteer opportunities of interest to women (Trudeau
&   Devlin, 1996)-- I think some work has also found that men are more
likely   to engage in political volunteer work 
  - females may be more affiliative than males (Trudeau & Devlin, 1996) 
 
  - females are more likely to report that their families encourage an ethic
  of social responsibility (Flanagan, et al., 1998) 
  - historically, women have relied on volunteer opportunities for social 
 affiliation because of more domestic roles (Musick, et al., 2000) 
  - women are more likely to be asked to volunteer, and those who are asked
  are more likely to volunteer (Independent Sector, 1996) 
  -females have been shown to be more likely than men to exhibit altruism 
and  empathy and feel guilty when they have not been compassionate (Flanagan,
 et  al., 1998) 
  - I'd guess that greater male valuation of autonomy may also be playing 
a  role (e.g., Miller 1994; Stukas et al., 1999) 
   
  good luck with your work. 
  Beth Covitt 
  
   
Shari,

I don't have research to share, but one thing that I do to try to increase male participation is to always include pictures of male students on brochures, flyers and our website (see www.asu.edu/duas/servlearn) about service learning opportunities.  I'm convinced that this helps them to identify the activities as something appropriate for them - peer approval, I guess.  I am similarly consc
 ious about including pictures of minority students.  I probably have an easier time of it because I coordinate science and math-related service learning internships.  Service learning interns lead children in science and math-related learning activities a
 nd projects.  This semester, of 51 service learning interns, 14 are male.  Not a great number, so even with pictures and science/math, my percentage isn't very good.

Nancy Crocker
Arizona State University

Hi Shari,
I don't know of any research on this topic, although it does seem to be a
curious truth. A few points to consider, based on anecdotal observations: 

1) In one discussion among various faculty and service-learning directors of
campuses across New England, the view was put forth that men were just as
likely as women to become involved in service when it was a one-time event
-- a day working with Habitat, or what have you. (The obvious joke that
followed -- men were afraid of commitment. It's a cute joke, but I don't
think it's a complete explanation by any means.) 

2) In other places I've observed, the differential seems to even out or even
swing the other way when community-based learning is framed as "activism"
insteads of "service." Of course you can turn to Carol Gilligan's views on
an ethic of care vs. an ethic of justice for an explanation of this.

3) Following close on the heels of #2, service-learning often relies on K-12
locations for placements. In our society these sites (as well as elder care,
etc.) are predominantly staffed by women. In these cases, service-learning
reproduces gender differentials in the broader society (again, probably due
to the same complex of influences that lead to these social institutions
being differentiated by gender.)  

Good luck with the study, would love to see what you come up with!
David

David Snyder, Ph.D.
Associate Dean, Service Learning / Humanities Institute
San Diego Mesa College
7250 Mesa College Drive, A-109
San Diego, CA 92111
619-388-2873
dasnyder@sdccd.net


-----Original Message-----
From: Shari Galiardi [mailto:galiardisl@appstate.edu] 
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 6:44 AM
To: SERVICE LEARNING NETWORK
Cc: Yolanda LaShell Bethea; Stephanie White
Subject: Seeking Research On Why Men Do Service


Greetings!  I am working with some graduate students at Appalachian 
State University who are conducting research on why it seems that men 
are less involved than women in service-related work. We have some 
educated guesses/theories, but would like to know what research has been 
done about male involvement in service.  Does anyone know of any good 
articles/books about this topic? We hope to use what we learn to attract 
more young men to our service programs, service-learning classes, and 
public service work.  As usual, thanks for your help!  -Shari

Shari Galiardi
Appalachian State University
Service-Learning Coordinator
www.act.appstate.edu