Differences in Men and Women Volunteers Within a Parkrun Environment

This study investigates potential differences in motivation and commitment between men and women volunteering in local parkrun communities. After receiving ethical approval from the academic institution and parkrun Research Board, 92 volunteers (male n=45; female n=47) completed an online survey comprising demographic information (age, employment status, gender), the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (Mowday et al. 1982; MacLean & Hamm 2007) and the volunteer motivation questionnaire (Strigas & Jackson 2003). Data were analysed for differences in men and women’s commitment and motivation responses using Mann-Whitney U tests. The results indicate significant differences in leisure, egoistic and pride for women in terms of motivation and commitment to volunteer. Furthermore, across all of the subscales measured, women reported generally higher levels of motivation and commitment to parkrun events than men. The significantly higher pride, egoistic and leisure motivations may reflect a greater desire for social approval amongst the women volunteers through perceptions of being valued within the parkrun environment. This aligns with the parkrun philosophy which creates a welcoming and indeed highly valued approach for all it’s volunteers which women seem to welcome significantly more than men.