Demographics and characteristics of career humanitarians
| Characteristics (N=44) | n (%) |
| Gender | |
| Male | 17 (39) |
| Female | 27 (61) |
| Age group (years) | |
| <30 | 1 (2) |
| 30–39 | 18 (41) |
| 40–49 | 19 (43) |
| >50 | 6 (14) |
| Average age | 41.8 |
| Region of origin | |
| Africa | 1 (2.25) |
| Asia/Oceania | 3 (6.75) |
| North America | 21 (48) |
| Europe | 19 (43) |
| Educational/professional background* | |
| Medical | 14 (32) |
| Public health | 11 (25) |
| Allied health (i.e., nursing and occupation therapy) | 6 (13) |
| Political science | 7 (16) |
| Law | 1 (2) |
| Social sciences (sociology and anthropology) | 4 (9) |
| Earth/biological sciences | 3 (7) |
| Finance | 3 (7) |
| Number of years in humanitarian field | |
| 3–5 | 5 (11) |
| 6–10 | 15 (34) |
| 11–15 | 10 (23) |
| >15 | 14 (32) |
| Number of missions (means primarily working in the field not field trips) | |
| 3–4 | 11 (25) |
| 5–6 | 9 (20) |
| 7–8 | 9 (20) |
| 9–10 | 6 (14) |
| >10 | 9 (20) |
| Range of duration of mission | 1 month–2 years |
| Average number of missions | 7 |
| 3–5 | 15 (34) |
| 6–9 | 19 (43) |
| 10+ | 10 (23) |
| Area of humanitarian experience* | |
| Africa | |
| Northern | 22 |
| Western | 18 |
| Eastern | 20 |
| Southern | 1 |
| Middle | 22 |
| Asia | 29 |
| Americas | 20 |
| Europe | 11 |
| Current position | |
| HQ | 17 (39) |
| Field | 10 (23) |
| Both† | 12 (27) |
| In between position | 5 (11) |
| Current humanitarian agency‡ | |
| International NGO | 37 (84) |
| UN agencies | 5 (11) |
| International governmental organisation | 2 (4.5) |
*These are not exclusive categories.
†Participants who indicated they did both HQ/coordination-level work and field work; this was described as mostly HQ work, with shorter missions into the field.
‡Participants who indicated working in UN or IGOs had previous experience with INGOs.
HQ, headquarter; IGO, international governmental organisation; INGO, international non-governmental organisation; UN, United Nations.