From the WSJ Opinion Archives
DE GUSTIBUS
Looking for a Few Good Men
Can big sisters persuade them to become big brothers?
They've tried everything: celebrity ad campaigns, recruiting at Yankees games, even busing kids to Goldman Sachs. But the people who run Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York still have 200 boys on their waiting list for mentors.
The need for "a few good men," as the latest BigsNYC ad campaign puts it, is not new. According to the Corp. for National and Community Service, women volunteer at consistently higher rates than men. Nationwide in 2006, only 42% of all adult volunteers were male--a statistic that cuts across age and ethnicity. (The only more likely predictor of whether someone will volunteer is level of education.)
While this gender gap may not matter to some volunteer organizations, Big Brothers Big Sisters is especially sensitive to gender balance. "Bigs" may only be paired with "littles" of the same sex. Moreover, since most of the children involved in BBBS come from single-parent homes--and 85% of single-parent homes are headed by a woman--providing male role models is particularly vital to its mission.
And so, in the latest campaign to talk men--or, perhaps more accurately, seduce them--into volunteering, BigsNYC has turned to its women. Rather than focusing on famous football stars who volunteer, the campaign has instead decided to "show the power that women have over the men in their lives," says recruitment director Michael Coughlin. BBBS Executive Director Allan Luks is blunter: He speaks of women "embarrassing" the men in their lives to volunteer.
The site of one such shaming was Moore Brothers Wine Company, where young New York professionals gathered earlier this month to sip wine, nibble on cheese and learn about BBBS from current volunteers. Nikki Black, a big sister, decided to organize the event, where, she says, "we could use our biggest asset, which are the big sisters." Ms. Black, who has served as a big sister since December, says she's seen a dramatic difference in the child she mentors. "She wouldn't even look me in the eye our first times together, but as time went on, we built trust."
When she shares her experience with male friends, the response is almost always positive. "They say: 'That's awesome. I would love to do something like that.' " But often, it doesn't go any further. By allowing men to sign up right at the event, Ms. Black hoped to streamline the process.
The invitation was certainly enticing. "I think they were trying to imply 'There will be girls there!' " said Gregory Widen, a filmmaker. But by far the most powerful draw for most attendees was the fact that friends (both male and female) had asked them to show up. David Attanasio came because his martial-arts buddy, who has mentored a child for four years, asked him to come. Having volunteered as a tutor during college, Mr. Attanasio was motivated by past experience and his friend's encouragement. "I've had a pretty nice life, and I kind of want to give back," he told me.
If all it takes is an invitation, why does the gender disparity in volunteerism persist? Robert Putnam, Harvard professor of public policy and author of "Bowling Alone," notes that the "most important reason why women are more likely to volunteer than men is because they're in contexts where they're more likely to be asked." Specifically, because women have more friends and are more likely to be involved in a church or other religious organization, they are simply asked more often.
Steven Rhoads, author of "Taking Sex Differences Seriously," agrees with Prof. Putnam that women are much more social. But he focuses more on what he views as innate differences between the sexes. Men, he argues, are "fundamentally more selfish." Unlike women, "they're simply less interested in people. And they're less empathetic." According to Mr. Rhoads, the trick to getting them to volunteer lies in appealing to men's egos, even their sense of duty and heroism. "Men need to be needed," he tells me. "Make it clear: We need you and this is really important."
But Arthur Brooks, author of "Who Really Cares," believes that men often make other contributions: "People give in a lot of different ways. And people tend to give in the currency that they have in greatest abundance. Women are more likely to stay home than men. And so women give with what they've got, which is time."
By the end of the wine-tasting, BigsNYC had formally registered more than 20 new big brothers. Was it appeals to their sense of heroism, the free booze or pressure from some women that did the trick? Who knows? The men there seemed to like all three.
Ms. Weiss is a Robert L. Bartley Fellow at the Journal this summer.
