When it comes to making sure Girl Guides is the place where every girl feels she belongs, it’s important to go straight to the experts – girls themselves. For a second year, the Girls’ Voice Survey (GVS) was sent out to girl members at the end of the Guiding year. This is one of the ways we try to capture the experiences of Girl Guides of Canada (GGC) members on their journey through Guiding. A total of 5,593 girl members across Canada (including 4,354 parents of Spark, Brownie and Guide members) responded to the survey.
We received feedback on a range of topics, as well as girls’ very first experiences in Guiding, like this one from a Spark Parent in Alberta: “We absolutely loved our first experience with Girl Guides, and I wouldn’t change a thing!” We also heard comments about GGC’s ‘secret sauce’ of providing safe spaces, from a Pathfinder in Quebec, who said “…this is a safe space where I can engage with others and speak my mind.”
Why a Girls’ Voice Survey?
Maybe the better question to ask is why not a girls’ voice survey? To help support girls to be #EverythingSheWantsToBe, GGC’s girl-driven approach puts the experiences and opinions of girls front and centre. The insights provided by girl members and their parents on member satisfaction (like how girls feel about Guiding) and from the program platform (like user experience and if program outcomes are met) are invaluable. This information helps GGC adapt, change, and move forward in making Guiding as relatable, relevant, innovative and fun as possible for girls.
What girls are saying about Girl Guides
Girls told us a lot about their Guiding experience. Both parents and girls (93%) told us they largely have positive attitudes towards all aspects of their Guiding experience. Girl Guides is a place where:
- 89% of girls feel they can be themselves
- 87% of girls feel they are proud to be in Guiding
- 84% of girls learn a lot
- 80% of girls feel they are learning leadership skills
When we read comments by a Pathfinder from B.C. that say, “I feel at home when I’m at Guides, a place where I can be myself and have a bunch of great friends,” we know we’re providing girls with experiences that are valuable.
We also heard from girls and parents on areas where we can do better. Constructive feedback helps us improve the Guiding experience of girl members and their parents. A Ranger from Ontario said they would like “more province-wide activity days. I think that getting to know other Rangers would help me and others to understand our place in Guiding.” Reading about ideas that foster active citizenship within the Guiding community is helpful when it comes to planning activities and programming.
A parent of a Spark from Alberta would like to see GGC “offer mentors to new Guiders to ensure they can ask someone who knows how to do stuff.” Guiders spend a lot of time with girl members and it is important they’re equipped with the support and knowledge needed to lead successfully.
For more details on the Girls’ Voice survey, please check out highlights of the results on girlguides.ca.
Girls’ Voice Survey crest
Did you complete the survey but didn’t receive your limited-edition My Voice crest? If so, please email argasta@girlguides.ca for assistance.
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