Volunteering among social work students: satisfaction, motives and benefits. When the emotional transcends the academic

Abstract

Volunteering is one way for social work students to access social intervention spaces. It has been shown to have positive impacts on both academic training and professional development. However, the data on volunteering participation indicate that Spain has a lower percentage of university student involvement than other countries, with increasing difficulties in attracting this group to volunteering. This article presents an empirical study of volunteering motives and benefits and their relationship with final levels of satisfaction among students. A survey was conducted among social work students (N = 1.034) from two Spanish universities, which produced a sub-sample (N = 212) that allowed for the analysis of correlations between volunteering satisfaction, motives and benefits. The results show that although motives are based on social conscience and commitment, the highest levels of satisfaction among students are linked to benefits in terms of emotional wellbeing rather than academic or professional development. These findings can help volunteer organizations to adjust or take into account these expectations when designing the profiles of positions and considering how to manage the participation of student social workers who are volunteering at their entities.