ABSTRACT
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a perspective that alumni satisfaction has an impact their giving behavior towards the alma mater. This paper proposes that level of satisfaction of alumni can be enhanced by improving the under-graduate experience of alumni, which in turn can encourage the giving behavior of alumni.
Design/Methodology: A survey was conducted among alumni of 2 different technical institutions in and around Delhi NCR, India. The data was collected from 109 respondents through a self-constructed questionnaire based on a five-point Likert-type scale. The reliability of the questionnaire was computed to have a Cronbach’s of 0.84.
Findings: The key findings of the research show a significant positive relationship between alumni satisfaction and willingness for social giving behavior towards alma mater (r = 0.348; p ≤ 0.01). Working professionals were not found to be satisfied with the overall educational experience at their alma m ater. This low level of satisfaction can be accounted to the preparation they received for pursuing further studies at another college/institution and also to the preparation they received at their alma mater for their current employment.
Research Limitations: First, findings of this study cannot be generalized since it has been conducted within a sample of 109 only. The study can be done with bigger sample size and also including various other variables such as infrastructural facilities, faculty support, etc. Second, the sample were all IT working professionals, further research can include alumni from other disciplines also such as management, sciences, etc.
Originality: This paper studies the level of satisfaction of working professionals and its relationship with the social giving behavior of alumni. So far there have been many studies in West about the giving behavior of alumni which has focussed on the financial aspect only. Till date there has been no study to assess the feelings of alumni towards their alma mater in India. Indeed, this paper is an initiative in the direction of studying the relationship alumni share with their alma mater.
This paper analyses the relationship shared between working professional and their alma mater. Alumni are the primary representative of the institution in the outside world. These days’ public as well as private colleges and universities depend upon their alumni for financial and social support so, it becomes imperative to study and examine the level of satisfaction and giving behavior of working professionals with their alma mater which will help to formulate a framework for the institution to improve their relations with the alumni and enhance giving behavior of alumni. This study has been conducted in Delhi/NCR region among alumni of public as well as private institutions offering technical education.
