Influence of Gender on Disaster Volunteers: an Exploratory Study of Mennonite Disaster Service

Abstract

There is a substantial amount of literature concerning volunteerism, particularly the relationship between volunteerism and women. Researchers theorize that volunteerism, gender, and faith are positively correlated. Much remains to be discovered about the roles of women within faith-based volunteer organizations like Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS). This study examines the evolution of changing gender roles within MDS using archival data and an extensively deployed survey (n=852). Data from the 2010 MDS survey is used in OLS regression and binary logistics regression models to examine the association between volunteerism and gender. Overall, survey data and archival evidence support the notion that women's roles in MDS have evolved considerably over time, albeit unevenly. It appears that when controlling for socio-demographic variables, level of orthodoxy, and importance of faith, the effect of being female does significantly influence the number of times volunteered. Furthermore, being female does significantly influence holding a leadership position on a MDS project site. Historically, women were not able to volunteer as much as men because of domestic duties and today women still volunteer significantly fewer times than do men. Furthermore, while women historically have permeated some leadership roles such as committee members; today, they are still significantly less likely than are men to hold a leadership position on MDS project sites.