Hey dudes, Here's an essay I wrote about the female role in the voluntary (nonprofit) sector. Take a look! Intellectual Property Rights and stuff so don't steal, aight?
A Woman’s Role in the Voluntary Sector
Throughout the past few decades, the United States has witnessed a drastic increase in what is commonly known as the voluntary sector. The United States approaches societal problems differently from most other developed countries. In order to deal with market, government, and other such failures, the United States relies heavily on the voluntary sector. According to an article written by Board Source and published in The Nature of the Nonprofit Sector, the voluntary sector can be defined as “organizations in American society that are neither government nor business.” (Ott 10) While there have been many theories created on why the voluntary sector exists, there is no denying the importance behind its existence. In 2006, it was reported that the total of private giving reached $295 billion dollars meaning that over ten years this figure has more than doubled. (Ott 12) The growth of the voluntary sectors speaks monumentally about the need for the services and products provided by this third sector. The vitality of the United States economy has become dependent on the existence and the interconnectedness between the public, private, and voluntary sectors. Without the voluntary sector, life as it is known now would be very different. For example, an investigation from The Boston Club showed that 16.7% of employment in Massachusetts was filled by nonprofit organizations. (Kelley) An understanding of the sector’s role in the economy leads us to imagine a scenario in which it did not exist. It can be assumed that many citizens would become jobless and many demands of the public would go unmet. Just as the voluntary sector is important to the success of the United States Economy, women are equally important to the success of the voluntary sector.
From its economic and sociological significance to its approaches to solving societal problems, the United States voluntary sector is unique in many ways. However, one of the most unique aspects to this sector is the role of women. When confronting the idea of women in the nonprofit sector, many questions come to mind. It has been said that women are more apt to give than their male counterparts; is this necessarily true and how does knowing this affect the sector? How influential to this sector are women? Are women more or less prevalent in the voluntary sector compared to the public or private sectors?Would the sector change if more or less women were involved? This essay will serve as an examination of the voluntary sector and how it relates, or doesn’t relate, in terms of women. Moreover, this essay hopes to uncover answers to the previous questions.
First, it would be beneficial to discuss the likelihood of women being more philanthropically active. In 2010, The Women’s Philanthropy Institute released a study arguing that women are more likely to engage in philanthropic giving than their male counterparts. The study titled Women Give 2010 found that “gender matters in philanthropy” as women’s giving exceeded men’s in eight out of the eleven categories of philanthropy, such as education, healthcare research, and religious institutions. Furthermore, women are more than 50% more likely to support both international and community causes. (Kalugyer) Another edition of the study, Women Give 2012 furthers these findings by showing that women from the Boomer Generation and older remain more apt to “give and give more,” a finding that holds true at both the whole population sample and the top 25% of households with permanent incomes. (Mesch 2) Surprisingly, these facts hold true despite women earning less money, having less money in retirement, etc. Verifying the likelihood of women’s participation in philanthropy is especially important in determining their effect on the voluntary sector. Obviously, willing and capable donors affects the sector in a positive light. If women are more likely to donate money than their male counterparts, it can be assumed that this can be applied to the donation of other resources, such as time. In most instances, the success of a nonprofit organization is related to the amount of dedicated volunteers it has access to. Understanding that women are more likely to become philanthropically active can influence the ways in which nonprofit organizations behave. Nonprofit organizations can now cater their volunteer opportunities, marketing, or other activities in order to attract higher percentages of active and philanthropy focused women. As far as these findings go, it can be argued that women value philanthropy as a means of connection to each other and to their communities. Therefore, women remain extremely influential in the voluntary sector, at least in certain categories of philanthropy.
For decades, a large topic of debate in the private sector has been something referred to as the glass ceiling. The Feminist Majority Foundation recently published a discussion on women in the private sector and defined the glass ceiling as “not simply a barrier for an individual, based on the person's inability to handle a higher-level job. Rather, the glass ceiling applies to women as a group who are kept from advancing higher because they are women.” (The Glass Ceiling: How Women are Blocked From Getting to the Top) The topic has been widely debated throughout years; some believing strides have been made against the glass ceiling, and others debate that this progress is nonexistent. While the popularity in research and discussion is high for the private sector, this concept has rarely been applied to the voluntary sector. In July 2013, Ama Marston of The Guardian wrote an article discussing the phenomenon of governmental focus on increasing numbers of women in the highest rungs of the private sector, but debates that the voluntary sector ignores this push. According to Marston, 71% of the nonprofit sector in the United Kingdom is made up of women, but only 45% of directors. (Marston) Marston believes that the public holds a positive view of women’s involvement in the voluntary sector because of high-profile women such as Oxfam’s previous Chief Executive, Dame Barbara Stocking, but the reality is that high powered women in the nonprofit world is “the exception rather than the rule.” (Marston) Despite the voluntary sector’s rapid growth over the previous years, a glass ceiling remains for women. Can the same be said for the United States voluntary sector? Heather Joslyn of The Chronicle says yes. A survey on nonprofit leadership ran by The Chronicle shows that leadership of top nonprofits is not as diverse as the American population. (Joslyn) Further explanation of the results shows that “seventy-five (or 18.8%) of the leadership slots at the 400 charities [surveyed] are held by women” while only 15% of Fortune 500 leaders are women, despite the American population being comprised of 50.7% women. Overall, it can be argued that women are undervalued in the nonprofit sector in the western world. Many high-powered executives in and out of the voluntary sector have voiced their concerns for the lack of representation of women. The recent uproar in the glass ceiling discussion for the voluntary sector shows that the sector and its constituents seek changes.
With the recent call to increase the presence of high-powered women executives in the nonprofit sector, it must be asked whether or not this change of influence will affect the sector. Many argue that women have the ability to largely affect the voluntary sector and affect it in a positive manner. In her article titled “Are Not-For-Profits Getting Away Lightly on Female Leadership?” Heather Joslyn has watched women struggle to confront barriers in the nonprofit sector for 15 years and has noticed a deficiency of leadership, especially in “area’s where women’s skills and collaborative leadership styles excel.” (Joslyn) In their book titled “The She Spot: Why Women are the Market for Changing the World and How to Reach Them,” Lisa Chen and Lisa Witter argue that “women are arguably the most important audience (and a driving force) for those of us who do social change work.” (Witter 12) The authors believe that as women reentered the workforce in the 1940’s, their economic clout evolved. What matters is who has the money and who is giving; women. This growing influence and leveling of the field has been influenced mainly by education as more and more women are receiving college degrees. Witter and Chen expect that this level of financial influence will only continue to grow. Furthermore, Witter and Chen believe that women are more likely to care and therefore, more likely than men to act, in terms of giving; a belief that is supported by the research of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute, which was touched on in earlier paragraphs. Likewise, Kerry Hannon, a personal finance writer for Forbes, believe that women flock to the nonprofit sector due to its flexibility and opportunity. She believes that women are more likely to accept cuts in pay than their male counterparts, which leads to a higher level of opportunity in the voluntary sector than others. (Hannon) In conclusion, women can and will thrive in the voluntary sector.
Women might see more opportunity in the voluntary sector, but will these changes in their presence positively affect the sector? In short, yes. A lack of diversity can be the downfall of an organization. A lack of diversity leaves an organization with the inability to expand their market because it does not have the capability of connecting with more than one ‘types’ of people. Currently, the nonprofit sector is not diversified in gender. Expanding the role of women in the high profiled executive positions of the nonprofit sector will positively influence the sector as a whole. Moving women up in the ranks will give organizations the ability to further their connection and appeal to this half of the American population. Likewise, the majority of charity consumers tend to be women and minorities. Having these organizations led by people similar to those it hopes to help will aid the organizations in connecting with their markets. While generalization of such a large group can lead to many issues, it can be useful to examine the characteristics of women in order to understand how these generalizations can influence our lives. As debated before, women are more likely to give and more likely to accept lower wages. Knowing this shows us that women are nurturing, flexible, maternal, yet undoubtedly determined and hardworking. These are all characteristics that will positively affect the voluntary sector. The nurturing and maternal characteristics of women allow them to connect with the people their organizations are serving, primarily other women and children. In addition, as more and more women are pursuing higher education, these women are becoming capable and willing to excel in executive positions. The future of the voluntary sector lies in the hands of women. Without an increase in the presence of women in the top positions, the vitality of the voluntary sector is at risk. It is a call for which solutions must be provided and supported by both men and women alike.
Hannon, Kerry. "Top Five Reasons Why Women Flock to Nonprofit Jobs." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 19 Nov. 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.
Joslyn, Heather. "Diversity." The Chronicle of Philanthropy. N.p., 17 Sept. 2009. Web.03 Nov. 2013.
Kalugyer, Adriene D. "Women More Likely to Give to Most Types of Charities, New
Women's Philanthropy Institute Study Finds." Women More Likely to Give to Most Types of Charities, New Women's Philanthropy Institute Study Finds. Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, 7 Dec. 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.
Kelley, Ellen. "First Census of Women on Nonprofit Boards Gives New Insights."Boston.com. The Boston Globe, 10 May 2013. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.
Marston, Ama. "Are Not-for-profits Getting Away Lightly on Female Leadership?" The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 09 July 2013. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.
Mesch, Debra, PhD. Women Give 2012: New Research about Women and Giving. Publication. The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, Aug. 2012. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.
Ott, J. Steven., and Lisa A. Dicke. The Nature of the Nonprofit Sector. 2nd ed. Boulder, Colorado: Westview, 2012. Print.
"The Glass Ceiling: How Women are Blocked From Getting to the Top." Empowering Women in Business - The Glass Ceiling. Feminist Majority Foundation, 2013. Web. 01 Dec. 2013.
Witter, Lisa, and Lisa Chen. The She Spot: Why Women Are the Market for Changing the World--and How to Reach Them. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2008. Print.
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