Volunteer Motivations, Satisfaction, and Future Intent: A Comparative Analysis Between Student-Athletes and Service-Learning Students

Abstract

Developing socially responsible and civically engaged citizens has been a priority of higher education in the United States since its conception. As an extension of higher education, intercollegiate athletics has been tasked with the same objective. One method to accomplish this objective is student-athletes’ engagement in community service. With the growing amount of attention placed on community service, it is becoming increasingly important to understand student-athletes’ volunteer experiences, in order to help administrators better coordinate impactful service opportunities for student-athletes. Using functionalist theory as a framework, the purpose of this study was to assess student-athletes’ motivations to volunteer, satisfaction with their experiences, and future intent to volunteer. Further, the current study also compared student-athletes’ volunteer experiences with those of university service-learning students. The results highlight the factors that student-athletes deem as most important for their decision to volunteer and provide insight into the extent to which student-athletes are satisfied with their current volunteer experiences and future intent to volunteer. Practical implications for university athletic administrators are discussed.