The social impact of construction industry schools-based corporate volunteering

Despite the rapid growth of corporate volunteering in construction, there has been very little research in this area, particularly from a recipient’s perspective. To address this gap in knowledge, data were collected using surveys, reflective diaries, workbooks and a progress web, from 103 school pupils participating in one of the UK’s largest schools-based construction industry corporate volunteering programmes. The results show that corporate volunteering programmes which partner construction industry professionals with school students in a work-related activity-based learning environment can have a significant impact on student construction industry knowledge, perceptions, career choices, aspirations and employability skills. This is particularly the case for female students and for students whose learning styles do not align with traditional classroom-based pedagogies. It is recommended that more research is needed to classify and understand the different types of volunteering programmes that operate in the construction sector across multiple cohort groups, the factors that determine success and failure and the overall impact on the students and the wider community in the long term as well as the short term. There is also a need for more research into what it means for the companies involved and for the staff who volunteer.