2. Background
In 2005, 3.3 million undergraduate
students volunteered
24.4% of these students
volunteered 100-499 hours
Benefits of Service:
Increased feelings of civic
responsibility
Commitment to the community
Increased ability to understand
community issues
Knowledge/acceptance of
different cultures
3. Privilege
“A special right, benefit, or advantage given to a
person, not from work or merit, but by reason of race,
social position, religion or gender” (McIntosh, 1995).
4. Context for Project
85% of students
identify as White;
15% identify as
Students of Color
42% of students
qualify for need-
based financial aid
Tuition, Room &
Board, and Fees =
$53,397 for
students living on-
campus
5. “Framing an experience as charity creates a
hierarchy between privileged students and the
communities that supposedly need service”
(Endres & Gould, 2009)
6. My Process
Researched
Effects of
Privilege
on Service
Learning
Framework
for Privilege
and
Expressions
of Privilege
Learning
Outcomes
and
Reflective
Questions
Created
Learning
Plan rooted
in research
7. How is privilege expressed?
Denial of the existence of
privilege because privilege is
invisible (“the norm”)
Social trust in institutions
Part of the in-group
Reality defined by personal
achievements rather than
identities
Can challenge authority
safely
8. Effects of privilege on service
Service
Gaze
Invisibility
of
Structural
Inequality
Language
9. Effects of Privilege on Service
Gaze
Volunteers viewing participants at their service sites in a
way that perpetuates stereotypes or negatively impacts
community
Language
Participants actively or unconsciously using
microaggressions
Structural Inequality
Participants unable to connect the larger, structural
inequality behind the need for the organization they are
working for
10. Learning plan
Series 1 - Identifying Privileged Identities
Name of Activity Concept Focus
Privilege Checklists Individual Privilege
Identity Wheels Individual Identities
Privilege Building Effects of Privilege on Self and Others
11. Learning Plan
Series 2 - Interactions of Privilege and Oppression
Name of Activity Concept Focus
Microaggressions 101 Language, Microaggressions
Story Telling Gaze
Gaze 2.0 Gaze
Where do our beliefs come from? Gaze
Language and What We Believe Language
12. Learning plan
Series 3 - Structural Inequality and Us
Name of Activity Concept Focus
Voluntourism and the "White Savior
Industrial Complex" Global Privilege
Activism and Advocacy Expressions of Privilege, Systematic Change
Cause and Effect History, Impacts of Structural Inequality
Creating Allies instead of Saviors Educating about Privilege
13. Contributions to Practice
Privilege exists – how do you use it?
Move away from using service to help the “other”
(Endres & Gould, 2009; Madsen Camacho, 2004;
Espino & Lee, 2011)
Educate students about underlying structural
inequality
Curriculum can be adapted to meet the needs of many
different identities/communities
Go out and do good things for the community!
This is the real issue that I focused on in this research; Framing volunteerism as a “charity” creates a power dynamic that often reinforces inequity rather than changing any current systems that oppress people. Instead, volunteers need to recognize how their identities impact the work that they do and how the stories they share about their volunteering experiences impact how others view the communities they are working with and for at their volunteer sites.
These effects of privilege on service directly influenced the subsequent learning plan, which is divided into three sections of activities outlined in the rest of this presentation.
