Empowering emerging evaluators in evaluation project phases: Perspectives and recommendations

African Evaluation Journal

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Empowering emerging evaluators in evaluation project phases: Perspectives and recommendations
 
Creator Matlala, Lesedi S.
 
Subject Evaluation; Education; Public Administration emerging evaluators; evaluation projects; empowerment; practical recommendations; engagement.
Description Background: Engaging emerging evaluators (EEs) in evaluation projects offers substantial benefits for both evaluators and organisations; however, effective guidance on empowering them is often limited.Objectives: This article provides actionable recommendations for empowering EEs across all phases of evaluation projects, drawing primarily on insights from EEs and their mentors. Leveraging the Eval4Action campaign’s standards for meaningful youth engagement, this article aims to enrich EEs’ learning experiences, foster their professional growth, and enhance evaluation quality and impact.Method: A qualitative and participatory approach was used, incorporating the author’s mentorship experiences, discussions with EEs and mentors, and consultations with established programmes such as the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association’s (SAMEA) EE initiative and the EvalYouth Global Network. A comprehensive literature review on youth engagement and partnerships further informs this study.Results: Findings indicate that effective EE engagement relies on well-defined roles, open communication, and genuine appreciation of EEs’ contributions. Despite these needs, many EEs reported being limited to data collection roles, which restricts their opportunities for growth and limits their developmental impact within evaluations.Conclusion: Adopting these recommendations can foster a culture of empowerment and inclusion, enhancing both the quality and effectiveness of evaluation projects.Contribution: This study underscores the importance of engaging EEs in meaningful roles throughout projects, advancing inclusivity and effectiveness in evaluations. Empowering EEs leads to more comprehensive assessments, providing deeper insights for policy and programme evaluation.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2024-12-04
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Interviews
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/aej.v12i1.780
 
Source African Evaluation Journal; Vol 12, No 1 (2024); 14 pages 2306-5133 2310-4988
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://aejonline.org/index.php/aej/article/view/780/1556 https://aejonline.org/index.php/aej/article/view/780/1557 https://aejonline.org/index.php/aej/article/view/780/1558 https://aejonline.org/index.php/aej/article/view/780/1559
 
Coverage — — 18-50; Male and Female; African
Rights Copyright (c) 2024 Lesedi S. Matlala https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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