The relevance of migration background for volunteer engagement in organised sport

The article deals with the question of whether and in what respect the migration background is a relevant variable on voluntary engagement as well as the access to leadership positions in organised sport. The database used for the analysis is the ‘4th wave of the German Voluntary Survey 2014’. For the analysis, a sub-sample was generated, which performs voluntary work in sport (n = 4,419). In addition, the group of migrants within this sub-sample was divided into four more specific groups, using `immigration experiencè and `German citizenship´ as the distinguishing characteristics. Bivariate analyses show that people with a migration background have a lower rate of voluntary engagement and that they are also less likely to have a leadership function in voluntary sports clubs (VSCs). However, a more differentiated analysis reveals that the group of migrants is by no means homogeneous: Migrants who were born in Germany and have German citizenship show the highest level of voluntary engagement in sports among migrants in general. Multiple regression analyses indicate that the differences between the migrant groups with regard to volunteering in organised sport remain largely stable even if other individual resources are considered. Subsequently, migration-specific characteristics such as immigration experience and German citizenship contribute to the forecast of volunteering in sports.