Civic engagement and development service
Professionals rank “seeking the common good” highly as a motivating factor for undertaking service. This is in line with the idea of solidarity, as referred to in the Development Workers Act.
Most returnees also claim to have been involved in social action or voluntary work before their last posting.
This result indicates that people who undertake development service belong to a group of people who have a higher-than-average degree of civic engagement.
Over 70% of professionals had already been involved in social action or voluntary work before undertaking service.
Results
Next: Where do professionals choose to live after they have completed their service?
How to make a success of returning home – both for yourself and for your family
Career paths after development service
Development service as a qualification – What skills do professionals bring from their service?
How development service affects your future career
Civic engagement – Before and after development service
How do professionals come to undertake development service?
In-depth interviews about the study
As part of the AGdD study 2022 "Before and after development service: A quantitative study among returnees (2011-2020) in-depth interviews were conducted with some study participants. They talked about their experiences, motivations for a development service and its influence until today - e.g. in the form of social engagement after their return.