115: Are the New Graduates Ready for the Contemporary “Evaluation-focused” Job Market? Exploring the Aspirants’ Preparedness vis-a-vis Employers’ Expectations in Some Selected Nations in the Global South

The neoliberal economy of the 21st century has mediated the incorporation of private as well as non-governmental agencies into agriculture and rural development sectors and beyond in South Asia and East Africa. Due to the involvement of various donor agencies, the evaluation focus has shifted from measuring program effectiveness using budget expenditures and participant attendance to outcome and impact-oriented paradigm. This shift has spurred on a demand for professionals competent in ‘evaluation’ for measuring outcomes and impacts. Despite having some ‘evaluation’ courses introduced in the graduate program curricula, the graduates and emerging professionals are not adequately prepared for the current job market, primarily due to limited practical, hands-on training. Enhancing international collaboration, staff development, and evaluation curriculum updates are needed to address this situation. Our Think Tank will facilitate discussions to further explore this situation and develop solutions based on the discussions to produce competent evaluators in the Global South.

Rupak Goswami, PhD – Associate Professor, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute (RKMVERI), India; Md. Monirul Islam, PhD – CSIRO Fellow, CSIRO, Australia; Moses Wanyakha, PhD – United States Department of Agriculture