Don't know, can't give but want to keep learning

A new study of business school alumni in Europe and Africa suggests that 1 in 3 don’t understand the benefits of being an alumnus and almost three-quarters find difficulty in giving back to their old school, but there is strong demand for continued learning, especially online.

The Alumni Matters study conducted by CarringtonCrisp and supported by Association of Business Schools and EFMD questions almost 2500 alumni and final year students in May and June 2012.  Andrew Crisp, one of the authors of the report commented “Alumni are often an undervalued and underutilized asset for a business school.  With finances under pressure in higher education they have become even more important, but they want to get something back in return for their support”.

Andrew continues “Increasingly alumni want to keep their skills up to date to ensure their marketability in the jobs market.  Online learning in bite size chunks allows them to study around their lifestyle and get the lifestyle they want in the future”.

The report also highlights the need for business schools to make best use of social networks when communicating with alumni.  Few alumni use the dedicated pages of business school websites while around 70% are frequent users of facebook or LinkedIn.

Alumni also offer to help their former schools in ways other than fundraising.  Speaking at events and mentoring current students are popular, but alumni are also keen to play an active role in recruiting new students.  Almost 90% of alumni would answer questions from prospective students.

Background information

The Alumni Matters study had a total response of 2570.  Of the total response, 1767 were alumni, 71% had completed a postgraduate degree and they were drawn from 90 different nationalities.

An Executive Summary of the full results is available to download free *here*