LinkedIn as a Tool for Higher Education Programme Evaluation

Abstract

The aim of this research was to conduct a preliminary evaluation of the outcomes of the European Masters in Lifelong Learning: Policy and Management (MALLL) on mobility, employability, and interculturality using Linkedln data in conjunction with document reviews and a small sample of staff interviews. MALLL is an internationally-oriented higher education programme within the Erasmus Mundus scheme launched in 2006. Subjects were MALLL graduates between 2008 to 2014 and data were gathered from Work Experience and Education sections of 75 individual LinkedIn profiles as well as organic responses on the group’s LinkedIn forum. The results show that the MALLL programme facilitated the graduates’ academic and professional mobility in varying degrees. The sample’s career profiles show that their roles are in line with MALLL’s intended outcomes related to employability. Meanwhile, positive outcomes were perceived by the graduates pertaining to their interculturality. LinkedIn proved to be a potent instrument in evaluating the outcomes of a higher education programme. With a careful consideration of its benefits and risks and by drawing a strategy to harness its potential, programme evaluators can find at their disposal a rich and practical way of assessment in conjunction with more traditional data collection methods

El objetivo de esta investigación fué realizar una evaluación preliminar de los resultados del European Masters in Lifelong Learning: Policy and Management (MALLL) utilizando datos procedentes de Linkedln, junto con revisiones de documentos y entrevistas a responsables del máster. Los participantes son graduados de las promociones 2008-2014 y los datos se obtuvieron de las secciones experiencia laboral y educación en 75 perfiles, junto con testimonios extraídos del foro del grupo en LinkedIn. Los resultados muestran que el programa MALLL facilitó la movilidad académica y profesional de los egresados. Los perfiles profesionales manifiestan que sus roles están alineados con los objetivos del máster en términos de empleabilidad. Asimismo, los graduados percibieron resultados positivos relacionados con la interculturalidad. LinkedIn ha mostrado ser un potente instrumento para evaluar los resultados de un programa de Educación Superior. Tras una rigurosa consideración de sus beneficios y riesgos y asegurando un protocolo que garantice sus potencialidades, los evaluadores de programas pueden disponer de una rica y valiosa información, en combinación con la obtenida por métodos más tradicionales de recogida de datos