(Page 1 of 20) - Constructing the Gendered Volunteer: Women Working for Women's Issues authored by Sands, Alison.

Alison Sands, ASA 2004
“Constructing the Gendered Volunteer: Women working for Women’s Issues”

Alison Sands
Department of Sociology
University of California, Santa Barbara

“Constructing the Gendered Volunteer: Women working for Women’s Issues”

Abstract:

Based on a qualitative content analysis of twenty national and international

newspaper editorials and articles, we lay out the scope of problems and frustrations as
experienced and reported by volunteers working in non-profit organizations that
primarily serve the needs of women and their children. Starting with our own personal
experiences as frustrated volunteers, we categorize common complaints from our sample
and then discuss the implications of these complaints for volunteer workers, generally.
We argue that the persistent frustrations emergent from our data analysis reflect larger
structural problems arising from cuts in government spending on social services, less
funding for non-profit organizations, and over-reliance on individual community support
of local non-profit organizations. Other research demonstrates that non-profits must
establish legitimate organizational structures to maintain competitiveness for both
government and philanthropic funding. Legitimate structures translate into bureaucratic
systems, long studied for such problems as overall inefficiency and decoupling from
stated missions and actual practices. These systemic problems increasingly shift the
burden of social service work from governments and employers to non-profit
organizations. Further, as non-profits receive less funding and yet are taking increasing
numbers of projects, their overall organizational structure shifts such that volunteers feel
the brunt of more work. This increasing workload often includes paperwork and other
mundane chores that paid staff no longer have the time to complete. Hence, volunteers’
frustrations stem from problems beyond the immediate purview of individual non-profits,
often resulting in volunteers’ feelings of hopelessness, inadequacy, and disappointment.
From this research, we can learn how to identify volunteers’ needs for expression of
altruism and mediate those needs while continuing to effectively manage non-profits.

As a volunteer at a homeless women’s shelter while studying abroad in London,

England, I received the unique opportunity to observe the daily interactions and
occurrences within the shelter, and evaluate them according to my own volunteer work I
was assigned to do. Originally hoping to be placed in a volunteer position involving
direct contact and counseling for the women residents, my intents were let down as I was
told the primary volunteer need was in reception work. However, I accepted the work
believing any task I performed would aid the shelter, and I was glad to help in any way
possible. As time progressed however, I was continually frustrated with the work I was
performing, which included answering telephone calls, door monitoring, and some paper
work. To my surprise, the majority of my time was spent turning away homeless women
who needed assistance, rather than helping them. This was due to shelter policies, which
emphasized that potential residents for the shelter must be represented through an
agency and obtain an interview before being accepted. I began to realize the stress and
frustration associated with my duties, and my time at the shelter became less and less