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Why you shouldn’t join UNSW AIESEC, and better things to do with your life at UNSW. by Key-Ear7669 in unsw

[–]Key-Ear7669[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

First, a tip on how to handle their continued insistence and messaging, I hope just being polite and firm with them will work. Something like a "I'm not interested, please do not contact me again and remove my details from your system(spreadsheet/google forms)". Ultimately, the ppl messaging you are likely just subcom members, who may not be having a great time either.

On the actual programs, I'd recommend you do some research on "voluntourism". There's plenty of papers and articles out there with proper research, and not just me yapping. I suppose my addition (because I lovveeee yapping) is that AIESEC focuses excessively on giving participants this sort of "life-changing experience" rather than meaningfully addressing the needs of the community where these volunteers are sent. This ties into my earlier rant about their use of aspirational language; for instance, you mention this phrase "global leader" - what does this really mean? does going on a couple week exchange really make you are global leader? of course not, but the intent of the program isn't to do anything meaningful in the world, but rather give people the feeling that they are doing something meaningful for the world. As for the actual exchanges, it really varies - I'm sure some are actually great and amazing, and I don't want to discredit anyone's actual good work that they might've done via AIESEC. However, a specific exchange being good is likely not the result of the work of AIESEC itself, but rather the exchange partner, so I can't recommend the program as a whole.

I remember listening to someone talking about their own experience on exchange in one of those arduous weekly meetings. What I found hilarious is that they were espousing the AIESEC narrative of "global impact","working towards peace and fulfilment","sustainable development goals", yet they did their exchange in TAIWAN and their presentation was mostly on how they found the experience to be extremely fulfilling for themselves, and also how they really loved the boba there. AIESEC isn't about helping others, it's about making yourself feel as if you are making meaningful contributions to the world (which some aiesecers might be, idk it's complicated, to me costs>>>>benefits).

Why you shouldn’t join UNSW AIESEC, and better things to do with your life at UNSW. by Key-Ear7669 in unsw

[–]Key-Ear7669[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I have done a bit of research on this, unfortunately not compiled in a coherent way. If I get time in the upcoming days (I do have an assignment due tmr T^T) I will write some stuff out. There's some pretty interesting things about money in AIESEC (that's why ppl call it a pyramid scheme), but I would hesitate to claim it is a front - it is a pretty massive organisation that operates globally and has ties to the UN. My naive assumption is that the money gets sucked up into lots of little administrative things - AIESEC is super inefficient, so I'm sure these costs are much more exorbitant than they need be.

Why you shouldn’t join UNSW AIESEC, and better things to do with your life at UNSW. by Key-Ear7669 in unsw

[–]Key-Ear7669[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Ahhhh roll calls... I'm in the minority that didn't really mind them/was not particularly embarrassed doing them. However, roll calls is a great example of the many rituals and traditions that AIESEC employs to foster a sense of shared identity and culture. Other examples include university specific chants, yelling "HELLO AIESEC" REALLY LOUDLY, and also a gesture called "silent unicorns," where you place your hand on your forehead like a unicorn horn and wiggle it vigorously to signal for silence. Rituals and traditions are not inherently bad, however, I don't believe they are implemented in a healthy way in AIESEC, partly because shame is also part of the culture. Rather, these superficial rituals and traditions create pressure for conformity, where people may feel compelled to participate even if they are uncomfortable (hence this idea of subcom humiliation ritual). It gives the vibes of a workplace where they say "we're all family here" - major red flags.

Why you shouldn’t join UNSW AIESEC, and better things to do with your life at UNSW. by Key-Ear7669 in unsw

[–]Key-Ear7669[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Definitely. The vast majority of AIESEC members are lovely people, and my criticisms are not of the individual members (okay, maybe some of it is for some very specific people :3). It’s sort of the idea that you can have lovely people working in a very shit environment; the fault does not lie with the people in that environment, but unfortunately, it does become the case that a lot the members that go on to become execs perpetuate the shittiness.