Browsing by Author "Pedro, Ilda"
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- Alumni’s perceptions about commitment towards their university: drivers and consequencesPublication . Pedro, Ilda; Mendes, Júlio da Costa; Pereira, Catarina; Sequeira, BernardeteThis paper intends to capture alumni's assessments and perceptions about decisive dimensions of their commitment towards their alma mater. Their academic experience and current situation are highlighted. Moreover, their perception about the role of Higher Education Institution (HEI) in this commitment-relationship is likewise valuable to get their involvement. The study took place at a Portuguese university. Three focus groups, with 21 participants, were conducted to get consistent information permitting further developments. Data were analysed through NVivo software.The study gives insights revealing dimensions such as the relationships with teachers, extracurricular activities and initiation as decisive in their academic experience. Recommending and sharing their experience, underline evidence of what they are willing to give back. Moreover, their consciousness of bearing a mission to contribute to HEI's development was expressed through strong positive feelings, such as the sense of belonging, and pride at being part of the university, defined in their statements. But they all demand an effective ability of the university to communicate with them. Overall conclusions offer a scenario of alumni's commitment, giving HEI's management valuable clues to improvement, but its responsibility in this commitment-relationship was also stressed. Moreover, results also provide contributions to literature enabling other HEIs to replicate the study or simply use the results for their own development. Since the study occurred in a relatively weak alumni culture context, revealing the importance in promoting debate as a means to engage alumni in HEI's efforts for success, it presents insights for further developments in similar higher education environments.
- Determinants for the commitment relationship maintenance between the alumni and the alma materPublication . Pedro, Ilda; Pereira, LN; Carrasqueira, HelderThis study aims to find determinants for the commitment relationship between alumni and alma mater. Based on the literature, satisfaction and image are proposed as drivers of commitment. A survey applied to 2544 alumni in a Portuguese university provides data analyzed through a structural equation modeling technique. The results present 'image of education', 'image of communication' and 'satisfaction with social and academic environment' as determinants of the commitment relationship, which provide important clues for the marketers' decision-making process when developing activities geared towards alumni. This process should emphasize aspects relating to their willingness to give back, academic and relationship quality, and institutional values. Within the Higher Education market, this study underscores the need to maintain and reinforce the relationship with alumni, and contributes to the scarce Portuguese literature on alumni matters.
- Identifying patterns of alumni commitment in key strategic relationship programmesPublication . Pedro, Ilda; Mendes, Júlio da Costa; Pereira, LNHigher education institutions (HEIs) need to understand their alumni when drawing strategic relationship programmes. This paper aims to identify clusters of alumni based on their commitment relationship and to analyse factors influencing their intention to collaborate with the HEI. The study took place at a Portuguese university, considering a dataset of 1075 of alumni asserting intention to collaborate. First, a cluster analysis was conducted to identify patterns of commitment relationship. Secondly, a logistic regression was run to identify determinants of intention to collaborate. Both techniques revealed the decisive role of HEI commitment in the process. Relationship advantages and positive feelings towards the HEI were also pointed out as important. Alumni asserted recommendations, further training, sharing experiences and giving help as ways to collaborate with HEI. Regression results suggest that sociodemographic variables such as gender, marital status and volunteering are significantly associated with a probability to collaborate. Results also show that affiliation in sororities/fraternities and participation in extracurricular activities are significantly associated with that collaborative intention. The findings provide clues to support strategic relationship programmes based on consistent marketing campaigns, while bringing value to the literature in the European context, where alumni culture requires real insights to evolve.