The power of networking: Bridging the gap between HE students and enterpreneurs in Oman

Abstract

This paper exhibits the effective impact of students' networking capabilities on their performance through social media e-tools [1] which has been studied in a quasi-experimental design among 12 students out of 23 of International management module (BUSS 1006) over spring 2017. The results were statistically analyzed with the help of SPSS. Experimental group achievement has been noticed in terms of performance measured by consolidated mean established at 11 percentage points higher as compared to the control group, and a much better standard deviation (2.81 versus 9.83). The concept of students' networking through social media is widely used in HE [2] at different levels to better raise awareness on the closer ties between academia and industry. It enhances students' motivation, thanks to the extra skills they are expected to gain and perform, ultimately leading to entrepreneurship and/or internship and employability. This is also consistent with the strategic plan of Middle East College (MEC) in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, which aims at achieving 80% employability within one year of graduation as well as attain alumni satisfaction score of 4 out of 5 in terms of employability. Students' networking is therefore a powerful concept to reach these objectives.