Students’ Willingness for Future Volunteering in Hong Kong

Abstract

Volunteering is playing an increasingly bigger role in social services and schools both in Western settings and in the Hong Kong Chinese context. The demand for volunteers in the sector of social services is continually increasing (Sherr 2008). Little is known about the willingness of secondary school students to participate in future volunteering in Hong Kong. This study attempts to explore the phenomenon of youth volunteering through the theory of planned behavior and Personal and Social Responsibility, and identifies prior experience in community service as a main predictor of the willingness of the students to participate in future volunteering. A total of 1046 students from seven secondary schools in Hong Kong completed a structured questionnaire. Social workers, teachers, and volunteer managers could benefit from this study as they could foster students’ willingness to volunteer after graduation by actively engaging them in community service programs early on in a specific time in their life.