Youth Contribution and Volunteerism in Singapore: Understanding the Motivations of Young Adult Singaporeans

Background: Singapore – where school-based volunteerism is compulsory for all primary and secondary school students, for 10 years – has a strong tradition of school and community-based volunteerism, but little is known about how volunteerism is generally understood by young adults, or the voluntary and civic activities they are engaged in. Against the background of an ageing population too, the Singapore government is also working to double the country’s overall volunteerism rate, and young people have been the focus. In the broader literature there are unresolved tensions surrounding the compulsory or voluntary nature of community service, as well as the characteristics of, motivations for, and outcomes of service-learning.

Methods: Guided by constructivist grounded theory, personal, in-depth interviews were conducted with 50 young adult Singaporeans between the ages of 25 and 34 years in December 2018. Initial sampling was purposive to sample for heterogeneity. Based on theoretical sampling, subsequent interviews – depending on what emerged from the initial interviews – were conducted with young adults who have described perspectives or experiences which need to be clarified, to fill out emerging categories, or to confirm conclusions. Recruitment concluded when the data was saturated and fully-informed about the phenomena.

Data analysis was concurrent with data collection through a constant comparison approach, and the systematic rules of constructivist grounded theory guided the analytic procedures. To enhance rigour, the researcher closely collaborated with an associate professor of social welfare – with research interests in youth civic engagement – on data analysis. The transcripts were  independently analysed using a software programme (ATLAS.ti) as a two-person team, and coding was collaborated to check for agreement and to maintain transparency in the analysis. The team started with initial coding, moved to focus coding, before doing theoretical coding.

The study is funded by the National Youth Council of Singapore.

Results: Two related findings emerged. The first finding focuses on the motivations of three groups of students in the schools – those who are intrinsically motivated, those who are pragmatically motivated to improve their scholarship and college prospects, and those with no interest in community service – and how having “good experiences”, framed otherwise as “turning points” or “pivots”, determines whether they continue to volunteer in the community. The second finding, from a school-ecosystem perspective, revolves around the characteristics of a “good experience”, “turning point”, or “pivot”, with special emphasis on the role of the teachers to break with the norm of standardised or templatised activities as well as to bridge their schools and students with the non-profits for quality engagements. 

Implications: Because the lack of previous research about the perceptions of contribution or community in Singapore consequently limits insights on motivations and processes, classifying school students based on their levels of motivation allows schools and teachers to tailor their compulsory school-based programmes. In addition, exposition on the characteristics of a good community service experience in the school – when it is compulsory – offers opportunities to improve these programmes and to hence increase the likelihood of future civic engagement.