The impact of student volunteering on the level of unemployment in Uganda: case study Makerere University undergraduates

Abstract

Ugandan youths, that is people aged 12 to 35, account for 78% of the country’s population, this is approximately 27 million people. As many as 64% to 70% of those of working age are unemployed. This poses serious development challenges, particularly to the ongoing efforts to poverty reduction. The main objective of the current study is to examine the impact of student volunteering on the level of unemployment in Uganda. The specific objectives of the study are to examine the relationship between volunteering and employment, to find out the relationship between volunteering and career outcomes and to determine the possibility of students getting retained at the places of volunteering. Primary data was collected from the individuals concerning the effect of volunteering on unemployment and these were graduates from Makerere University. Data was obtained from 306 respondents using a questionnaire that was self-administered. The main findings based on a binary logistic regression approach, reveal that the respondents’ participation in volunteering activities during their education has a significant effect on their employment status with those who participated in volunteering activities having a 73% chance of getting employed (Odds ratio = 2.706) compared to the 27% for those who did not participate at all. A higher number of people that went for further studies after their undergraduate degree were employed (80.8% of the 26 respondents with education level in the “Other” category). Similarly, the male youth are found more likely to be employed than their female counterparts. From the study findings, out of the 306 respondents, 246 people had ever participated in volunteering activities, and the highest number of employed respondent came from this category of those who had ever participated in volunteering. The study recommends participation in student volunteering programmes to reduce the unemployment rates in Uganda. Keywords: Unemployment, education level, volunteering, volunteerism, employability, job prospects, social capital, employment opportunities, work experience, labour market