You mean I can get paid to work here? The impact of happenstance, socialization, volunteering, and service-learning on nonprofit career awareness

Abstract

It is important to learn why workers choose to enter the nonprofit workforce over the public or private sectors. Doing so will allow nonprofit organizations to better target potential populations of candidates in their recruitment efforts, which will ensure that an adequate number of nonprofit professionals are being trained to fulfill future positions of nonprofit leadership. This dissertation will outline ways to understand the backgrounds of those who work in the nonprofit sector. The leadership deficit in nonprofit organizations is growing nearer. Over the next decade, a significant number of new nonprofit managers will be needed in the nonprofit sector to cover the retirement of the baby boomers, as well as the overall increase in number of nonprofits. Knowing key populations for recruitment will allow nonprofits to more effectively and efficiently address their impending staffing needs. This research will utilize cross-sectional research approach to address what particular experiences nonprofit employees had prior to their entry into the sector that may have led to their entry into the nonprofit workforce. Research participants are from the membership of a national nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting individuals new to careers in the nonprofit sector. Research questions include whether nonprofit careers tend to be the product of intentional choice, or a matter of “right place, right time”, and whether various levels of engagement in service learning, socialization to the sector, and volunteering activities contribute to eventual employment in the nonprofit sector by allowing that population to see the sector as one that provides a viable career in their field.