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Matching expectations for successful university student volunteering

Megan Paull (Centre for Responsible Citizenship and Sustainability, School of Business and Governance, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Australia)
Maryam Omari (School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Australia)
Judith MacCallum (School of Education, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Australia)
Susan Young (School of Population Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia)
Gabrielle Walker (School of Management and Governance, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Australia)
Kirsten Holmes (School of Marketing, Curtin University, Perth, Australia)
Debbie Haski-Leventhal (Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia)
Rowena Scott (College of Science, Engineering and Health, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia)

Education + Training

ISSN: 0040-0912

Article publication date: 13 February 2017

1684

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the importance of expectation formation and matching for university student volunteers and their hosts.

Design/methodology/approach

This research involved a multi-stage data collection process including interviews with student volunteers, and university and host representatives from six Australian universities. The project team undertook an iterative process of coding and interpretation to identify themes and develop understanding of the phenomenon.

Findings

University student volunteering has the potential to fail to meet the expectations of at least one of the parties to the relationship when the expectations of the parties are not clearly articulated. Universities operating volunteer programmes have an important role in facilitating expectation formation and matching, minimising the chances of mismatched expectations.

Research limitations/implications

The study confirms the operation of a psychological contract for university student volunteers and organisations who host them which is consistent with other research in volunteering demonstrating the importance of matching expectations.

Practical implications

The paper identifies the importance of expectation formation and matching for hosts and students, and highlights the role of universities in facilitating matchmaking.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the growing body of research on the role of the psychological contract in volunteering, in particular in university student volunteering and host organisations.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Support for this project has been provided by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. The views in this project do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. The project team would like to thank the participants for their contribution to this research. The team would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers who contributed to the development of this article.

Citation

Paull, M., Omari, M., MacCallum, J., Young, S., Walker, G., Holmes, K., Haski-Leventhal, D. and Scott, R. (2017), "Matching expectations for successful university student volunteering", Education + Training, Vol. 59 No. 2, pp. 122-134. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-03-2016-0052

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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