Social Inequality in Board Volunteering in Norway: Exploring the Role of Social Class and Individual Resources

Abstract The democratic character of Norwegian voluntary organizations is facing tension from rising social inequality and increased demands for specialized expertise. This article explores this tension by examining how social class and individual resources influence board volunteering. We argue that an occupation-based class analysis better captures socioeconomic differences in board volunteering than a resource-theory model by considering both the volume and composition of resources. Using a survey from Norway, we use occupational data to operationalize a scheme that allows us to distinguish class positions according to employment relations and skill requirements. We also control for economic, social, and cultural resources. We find that those in higher-level class positions linked to managerial and socio-cultural occupations, but not technical occupations, are more likely to volunteer on boards. Furthermore, class differences are only partly explained by individual resources, demonstrating that class analysis can complement existing approaches in volunteer research.