Collaborative competencies in professional social networking: Are students short changed by curriculum in business education?

Abstract

Social networks have earned their indisputable place as a collaborative learning tool in education. In this paper, we address the gap in literature on developing a set of competencies to allow graduates to make the most of collaborative technologies for business and professional activity as well as career management. Based on a survey of over 600 business school graduates from AMBA accredited UK universities, we are able to identify the level of awareness and degree of application of professional usage of social networks amongst students. Our results show that work experience and age of the business students play a significant role in their usage of social networks for professional purposes, knowledge and career management. The data shows that younger students are more social networking savvy when it comes to identifying business opportunities, while older graduates are less confident. This is important as traditionally graduate students are individuals in their mid careers and the skill gap between generation Y and the experienced graduates need to be bridged by adequate curriculum changes.