Engaging men aged 18-24 in Learning Development through social media

Abstract

Our usage data demonstrates that men aged 18-24 have lower rates of engagement with Learning Development. Furthermore, statistics show that men are more likely to drop out of university than their female counterparts (Hillman and Robinson, 2016). A possible reason for this could be the social stigma around seeking help that generally effects men. In contrast, evidence suggests men aged 18-24 engage with social media readily; the most popular sites being Instagram, with around 14 million users in 2023, and TikTok, which has around 9.1 million users. Data from January 2023 suggests that the number of men engaging with social media is significantly increasing (Kemp, 2023). Learning Development Student Mentors at the University of Northampton have been exploring how social media use can be harnessed to increase engagement with our services. Holding a unique position to be change agents as they are active both as students and staff members, they enable Learning Development to create links with ‘hard to reach’ students such as men aged 18-24. This talk will discuss the interview findings in relation to men’s use of, and engagement with, social media and the types of content with which men engage, and considers how Learning Development might use these insights to improve engagement with our services. This session would be of interest to Learning Developers who wish to discuss and explore engaging men aged 18-24 using social media.