Statistics

Mike made this post on peacecorps2 today. Its about new statistic material they are providing in pamphlets/booklets they're giving to new potential vols. Very interesting!

Peace Corps has recently begun handing out new catalogs for potential
applicants in which in the middle of the booklet they give some
statistics of where volunteers go and in what field:

BY REGION
Africa (39%)
Latin America (22%)
Eastern Europe and Central Asia (20%)
Asia (7%)
The Caribbean (4%)
North Africa and The Middle East (4%)
Pacific Islands (4%)

BY SECTOR
Education (30%)
Business and Information & Communication Technology (19%)
Youth and Community Development (17%)
Health (17%)
Environment (9%)
Agriculture (8%)

What is also nice is that they also present, using colored-coded
human-stick-figures, what fraction of volunteers in a region are in
each sector. (example: 20% of volunteers in The Caribbean are Health
volunteers)

With all that given, you can actually solve for the "reverse"
probabilities. This helps answer questions like:


Q: "I want to be a Health Volunteer, where am I likely to be placed?"
A: 50% of Health volunteers are posted in Africa.

Q: "What about an Education Volunteer?"
A: 70% of Education Volunteers are posted in either Africa or Eastern
Europe and Central Asia

Q: "Are there a lot of Environment positions open in Asia?"
A: Only 3% of Environment volunteers are posted in Asia.


Agriculture Volunteers
-------------------------
54% are in Africa
26% are in Latin America
13% are in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
3% are in Pacific Islands
3% are in Asia
0% are in North Africa and The Middle East
0% are in The Caribbean



Health Volunteers
-------------------------
50% are in Africa
29% are in Latin America
6% are in North Africa and The Middle East
6% are in Pacific Islands
5% are in The Caribbean
4% are in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
1% are in Asia



Education Volunteers
-------------------------
35% are in Africa
34% are in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
16% are in Asia
7% are in Latin America
4% are in North Africa and The Middle East
3% are in Pacific Islands
1% are in The Caribbean



Business and Information & Communication Technology Volunteers
-------------------------
34% are in Africa
29% are in Latin America
22% are in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
4% are in North Africa and The Middle East
4% are in Pacific Islands
4% are in The Caribbean
3% are in Asia



Youth and Community Development Volunteers
-------------------------
38% are in Africa
24% are in Latin America
17% are in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
11% are in The Caribbean
5% are in Asia
3% are in North Africa and the Middle East
1% are in the Pacific Islands



Environment Volunteers
-------------------------
36% are in Latin America
29% are in Africa
12% are in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
7% are in Pacific Islands
6% are in North Africa and The Middle East
4% are in The Caribbean
3% are in Asia

The "reverse" probabilities, which were calculated above, is the percents for each region given the SECTOR. Most applicants have a better sense of what they want to be doing than what region they will be going too; hence the "reverse" probabilities above.

Africa
-------------------------
27% are Education volunteers
22% are Health volunteers
17% are Youth and Community Development Volunteers
17% are Business and Information & Communication Technology Volunteers
11% are Agriculture Volunteers
7% are Environment Volunteers

Latin America
-------------------------
25% are Business and Information & Communication Technology Volunteers
22% are Health Volunteers
19% are Youth and Community Development Volunteers
15% are Environment Volunteers
10% are Education Volunteers
9% are Agriculture Volunteers

Eastern Europe and Central Asia
-------------------------
51% are Education Volunteers
21% are Business and Information & Communication Technology Volunteers
15% are Youth and Community Development Volunteers
6% are Environment Volunteers
5% are Agriculture Volunteers
3% are Health Volunteers

Asia
-------------------------
69% are Education Volunteers
13% are Youth and Community Development Volunteers
9% are Business and Information & Communication Technology Volunteers
4% are Environment Volunteers
3% are Agriculture Volunteers
3% are Health Volunteers

The Caribbean
-------------------------
45% are Youth and Community Development Volunteers
20% are Business and Information & Communication Technology Volunteers
20% are Health Volunteers
10% are Environment Volunteers
5% are Education Volunteers
0% are Agriculture Volunteers

North Africa and The Middle East
-------------------------
29% are Education Volunteers
24% are Health Volunteers
19% are Business and Information & Communication Technology Volunteers
14% are Youth and Community Development Volunteers
14% are Environment Volunteers
0% are Agriculture Volunteers

Pacific Islands
-------------------------
26% are Education Volunteers
26% are Health Volunteers
21% are Business and Information & Communication Technology Volunteers
16% are Environment Volunteers
6% are Youth and Community Development Volunteers
6% are Agriculture Volunteers

For me, I want to do (and should be qualified for) Education which is the largest work sector at 30%, and want to go to EE/CA, Africa, or NA/ME. 70% of all Education volunteers are placed in EE/CA or Africa. Only 4% of Education volunteers are in NA/ME, but since only 4% of all volunteers are placed there, I'd say that's probably actually more than 4% makes you initially think.

Nice eh???