The world of volunteering abroad is rapidly changing. Even a few years ago, young travellers had different expectations than they do now, and in the post Covid-19 world this won’t stop changing. Young people in higher education remain the most likely group in the UK to volunteer abroad, but as the world starts to heal, they will need affordable, responsible and safe experiences that will make a positive impact on both the students and the world that they inhabit. We conducted research and interviews of UK students aged 18-25 to find out how these experiences might look to them, and what they are looking for in their next experience abroad.
We found that personal growth & employability stood out as important factors that influence the decision to go abroad either to volunteer or for a work placement/internship: 67% of participants stated both “CV enhancement/increased employability”, and “learning new skills” as important reasons for completing an experience abroad.
The cost of the programme and its impact on the environment as well as surrounding communities were other critical factors, which influenced the choices British youth make when picking a programme and programme provider.
We put together an analysis of our findings and included some tips and tactics young Brits looking to volunteer abroad in 2021 can utilise in order to overcome common impediments associated with travelling in a post-coronavirus world.
Personal growth
An oft-overlooked aspect of an internship or volunteer placement abroad is the personal learning and growth that comes along with the adventure. 69% of the students we asked stated “personal growth” as something they wanted to get out of an internship or volunteering experience abroad: this means a range of things, but common themes amongst our interviewees’ answers were to do with learning and adapting to a new environment. One student we interviewed summed this theme up when asked how they would measure the success of a trip abroad: “…(by) what I learnt from the trip, and if I feel like I grew from the experience”. Another emphasised the learning aspect of personal growth by stating the “…ability to carry out tasks you couldn’t before…” as a measure of a successful trip abroad. 74% of young people cited “learning new skills” as something they wanted to get out of an experience abroad. This shows how important it is to volunteers that they learn new things on their projects – and volunteer placement companies will need to work hard to reflect this. Similarly, university study abroad departments and global education campus advisors should design experiential learning programmes with learning outcomes in mind for volunteers, complimenting the main objective of a placement: making a positive difference on the volunteer as well as the local community.
A key aspect influencing personal growth is the experience of leaving one’s comfort zone. Meaning, as a student said in our survey, “…my own capability to survive in a foreign environment…”. Students value the fact that an experience abroad may be a complete culture shock. Some volunteers may even be looking for this in a volunteer experience as a different student said they would consider a trip successful: “If I had been pushed out (of) my comfort zone and attributed positive effects to this”. Self-confidence and independence are some of the known positive effects of travelling abroad, especially alone. For a trip to be well-regarded and popular, organisations have to strike the right balance between giving students an unforgettable experience in a new environment, and providing them with the support and resources necessary to deal with any negative emotions that can arise from culture shock. Travelling abroad boosts confidence and makes volunteers feel like they can accomplish anything, and sustainable programmes should facilitate this.
Time abroad opens so many doors for volunteers that lead to exciting new opportunities. Students who volunteer abroad use the experience to access future opportunities: they go on to find employment or travel more as a direct result. A UK Universities study found that students who study abroad during their undergraduate degree programmes for periods ranging from 2-weeks or more, obtain better grades, are hired for jobs quicker and are subsequently paid more than their peers who do not take up internships, volunteer or study abroad. Organisations should encourage an environment that facilitates this personal growth, by creating a supportive atmosphere that promotes access to opportunities within the project or country. This ensures maximum success for both the country of volunteering, the projects, volunteer organisations and the volunteers themselves.
On a personal note:
During a gap year in Malawi, I discovered an interest in learning and teaching languages. This then had a snowball effect as it allowed me to find a job in Colombia, after which I set to study languages as my degree, and through study abroad, I went to Spain to live and study for a year. Without my volunteering experience in Malawi, I know that none of the amazing opportunities would have presented themselves, and anyone who has had an experience abroad will have a similar story! Immersing myself in an environment that is not my own was an exhilarating feeling that did wonders for my confidence and independence. Learning to be a human again in a place where people do things differently showed me aspects of myself I had never noticed. Having worked in the student & youth travel & education abroad industry, I recognise that a lot of youth experience nervousness about travelling solo but helping them overcome it is paramount to a successful experience & every volunteer and intern abroad provider has an obligation to do so.
Employability
Young graduates are about to enter a world of work that has never existed before. Marked by a recession and recovery from the pandemic, the means of accessing new talent will undoubtedly be different. Employability is a huge factor in choosing to volunteer abroad, as it gives candidates an advantage over their counterparts. 82 percent of employers from a 2016 Deloitte study said they were more likely to choose a candidate with volunteering experience on their CV, and 85 percent of them were willing to overlook other flaws when a candidate includes volunteer work on a CV.
Employers are looking for traits such as adaptability and maturity – volunteering is a testament to these traits. Completing a placement abroad has some latent benefits, which are unexpected; it will not only change the way employers see you as a candidate, but will change the way you assess potential employers. Going abroad gives you increased confidence in your capability and intelligence as you overcome the challenges of undertaking tasks in a completely new environment. Travellers discover new interests abroad, giving them a better idea of the kind of industry they want to be in – lots of people discover a passion during a placement abroad that they never would have uncovered if they’d stayed at home.
Career trajectories become clearer as young volunteers hone their passions. It will also teach volunteers to be critical of employers – in the best way possible. As young people become more exposed to the world of work (including volunteer work), preferences of the way they work emerge, and they become more selective in choosing an employer. As already discussed, their confidence may have already increased while abroad, meaning candidates feel more secure in their own skills and value to an employer, and therefore happier picking a job that is right for them. Overall, they will feel less “I’ll take any job that will hire me” and more “I’ll choose somewhere that suits me”.
Pro Tip: Choosing a reputable study or intern abroad experience is valuable for students who have their CVs in mind. When searching, students should look for placements that are accredited by local government or educational institutions, or that are recommended by their own universities.
Affordability
Considering life in a post-coronavirus world, one of the biggest priorities for young students wishing to gain experience abroad is affordability. We asked students how much they would be willing to pay to volunteer abroad for a month, and as you might expect, the most popular answer was low: 26% said they would pay no more than £250. Followed by 17% saying they would be happy to pay up to £750 for the experience. Both amounts stated by the students cover most programme fees around the world for volunteering abroad. For example, Tiritose Sustainable Travel in Zimbabwe charges $234 USD for a month’s wildlife conservation programme at a game park.
There are many ways a trip abroad can be considered affordable. Programmes that include accommodation and food can make a trip a lot cheaper than if a traveller were to pay separately for them. We asked what our participants typically spend on rent, bills, food, transport and miscellaneous purchases:
We found that rent, typically the biggest portion of a student’s budget, comes to an average of £320.17 per month in a shared house/apartment, and bills to £48.22. When programmes include some of these expenses in their charges, the affordability of a trip increases.
Pro Tip: Students may be able to – and indeed, have to – employ some outside-the-box thinking to raise funds for an experience abroad. A money-saving solution is subletting accommodation through a service like AirBnB while away from home, meaning that suddenly the usual cost of rent and utility bills can go towards an exciting experience abroad.
The cost of transport, although it may seem less significant at an average of £32.70 per month, can also be recovered and put towards a trip. If students own a car, it can be rented out: on a site like Turo or GetAround, drivers can make anywhere between £200 to £1000 in one month, while also saving money on the usual fuel costs. It’s safe to say that if a car isn’t used while abroad, the driveway probably won’t be either: this can also be rented out using Gumtree, JustPark or ParkingSpotter. This is becoming an increasingly popular option for those who want to earn a bit of extra cash and could generate up to £100 outside London. Altogether, students with cars could use both of these methods to earn money towards a volunteering project abroad – simply for renting out things that couldn’t be used abroad anyway! Students with bicycles should not be left behind and should take the opportunity to rent them out while away, using services such as SpinLister or ListNRide. This can earn a bike owner up to £200 a month, for something that normally collects dust while you are away.
These options cover the cost of accommodation and transport, but there are other factors that can make trips expensive. The biggest additional expense volunteers have to consider is usually flights. Travelling can also become less affordable if they can only travel during peak times, have to buy insurance and save money for in-country expenses.
A possible solution to these extra expenses can be found in scholarships or bursary funds. Volunteer & intern abroad providers like Tiritose Sustainable Travel have scholarships between £200-2000 to go towards the cost of flights. For students, often universities have funds to support students who want to gain international experience. They can take a little digging to discover, but often the best method is to find the university’s study abroad/international opportunities coordinator and shoot off an email to ask. Failing that, even asking a personal tutor is worth it as they may know who to put students in touch with. There are also scholarships that are open to all UK students such as Butex, Omprakash, The Ferguson Trust, or The Jack Petchey Foundation to name a few.
In any case, all students who wish to study/volunteer abroad can of course top up any necessary costs by fundraising, either through events, in-person, or by using social media and sites such as GoFundMe or JustGiving. By exploring all of these options the cost of an internship or volunteer placement abroad can seem a little less daunting and a little more manageable.
Sustainability and positive impact
As we did our research, the theme of positive impact stood out amongst the students’ answers. When asked “how would you measure the success or failure of a volunteer experience abroad?”, by far the most common response was “positive impact in the country of volunteering”, with 52% answering to this effect. Our respondents also frequently expressed a desire to avoid “white saviour complex”: One interviewee said, “I think failure would be if my placement abroad had been unsustainable and I had encouraged white saviour complex”.
In recent years, irresponsible volunteer placement companies have faced criticism. Childcare volunteering for example, has been criticised for allowing foreign visitors to promote the business of orphanages. In many orphanages around the world, children with living families are often given over to institutions just to keep it going because orphanage volunteer business is so commercially viable. According to advocacy group Rethink Orphanages, 80% of children growing up in orphanages across the world have one or more living parents. Companies that offer medical volunteering on the other hand can also do more harm than good, as inexperienced, unqualified young people are sometimes given much greater responsibility as part of a volunteering programme than they would be expected nor allowed to do in their home countries.
Students are now increasingly looking to companies and opportunities that emphasise sustainability and strong ethics in an effort to veer away from this darker side of volunteering.
Those who answered our survey gave similar definitions of positive impact – one response stated that a successful volunteer trip would be based on “consideration of the environmental impact of the project” and “consideration of the local people” as well as “creating positive and sustainable change to communities”. Sustainable change is a key word here: this means volunteers want to engage in projects that can be done without negative impact, but promoting positive impact that can be continued by local communities. Other respondents gave answers such as “the impact of helping other communities” and “helping as many people as possible”. This shows that volunteers value projects that directly benefit the environment and local communities of the host country. They want results from their experiences that are real, tangible and positive.
Organisations are paying attention to this change in demand, as more NGOs and foundations boast their excellent sustainability records or promise projects that provide lasting impact. Those looking to volunteer can keep an eye out for these companies when searching for placements: If you find somewhere you want to go to, ask companies for price breakdowns and evidence of their positive impact. There should be tangible results: for example, for a rhino conservation project, have numbers of rhino in the area been maintained or increased? In teaching/childcare projects, how are local teachers equipped to continue the initiatives of volunteers after they leave & what child protection policies are in place? Volunteers can also ask if a programme has been certified as sustainable by groups such as Travelife or Green Globe, and if the certification is accredited by the UN-supported Global Sustainable Tourism Council. Testimonials from past volunteers, collected by third-party sites can also be incredibly useful. Volunteer and intern abroad providers should be more than happy to show these to potential volunteers so that they can make an informed decision from there.
Conclusion:
The priorities of student volunteers are evolving at the pace of the ever-changing world, and if organisations don’t listen to young people they do so at their peril. For students themselves, going abroad can seem like an unattainable step towards accessing exciting new opportunities. This doesn’t have to be the case, and if approached with the right mindset, now more than ever travelling can be more achievable than it may seem. As the very nature of working abroad itself transforms what was once reserved for the wealthy has become accessible to more people than ever. With any luck, this won’t stop anytime soon, even in the face of a global pandemic.
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