Позитивные изменения, Том 3 №1, 2023. Positive changes. Volume 3, Issue 1 (2023)

The American philosopher Thomas Schwandt wrote an article in 2017, in which he outlined the need to discuss the ethos of evaluation[20]. That is, the lifestyle of a social group that associates itself with evaluation. According to him, right now, most of the professional community is just talking about competencies and training. Specifically, he writes:

“…Most glaring is the lack of active discussion about what professionalism in evaluation means and what the profession itself seeks to bring to the society.”… “The critical question for the global evaluation community is how that community understands its role in relation to its clients and the society at large.”

What do members of the Russian program and policy evaluation community think about this, and how would they answer the question posed by Thomas Schwandt?

“To me, the profession of an evaluator means objectivity and a competent approach to management decision-making. Because evaluation is based on the principle of triangulation. Before you make any decisions, you have to consider your issue from different perspectives. There is triangulation by attribute, by method, by data source. You cannot make a decision based on any single fact,” Alena Bogomolova reasons.

Irina Efremova-Garth believes that evaluation gives the public a sense of confidence in the quality of management and the appropriate level of effectiveness of the programs implemented by the state, a company, or a nonprofit organization.

“If we talk about the nonprofit sector, the focus is often on how many projects have been supported, how many beneficiaries are covered, and how many grants have been awarded. These are important indicators, but they don’t give us any information about what changes are taking place because of that nonprofit’s work. At best, these numbers only describe the grant manager’s performance. But they do not explain how our lives or the lives of certain groups change for the better,” the expert says.

When you have the evidence base and can show what actions have been taken to address a social problem and what their effect was, this is a highly valuable step, because it helps build confidence in the society.

Irina Sinelina of the International Labor Organization believes that the public benefit provided by evaluation is the accountability in the use of money.

“The ILO, as an international organization, uses taxpayers’ money that comes from different countries. Evaluation is an opportunity to understand how well the funds were spent, and how they can be spent better in the future, how the projects can be improved, and how change can be effected. We collect data, we learn, we study the degree of usefulness of our activities. This knowledge guides our future decisions”, Irina Sinelina explains.

Natalia Kosheleva agrees that evaluation helps use resources more effectively to improve people’s lives. She recalls that evaluation of social projects and programs originated in the United States and was first used in projects aimed at fighting poverty and overcoming social inequality.

“Globally, evaluation is about improving the lives of the most vulnerable people. When I began to specialize in evaluation, I realized it was really an analysis that allowed me to improve the quality of the program. It is a tool for informing your actions, learning from experience, and improving from empirical data. After all, this is not just any evaluation: this is about evaluating social projects, ensuring a more efficient use of resources and a higher effectiveness of social projects,” she says.

WILL THE EVALUATION BE DEMANDED IN THE FUTURE

The profession of evaluator will certainly be in demand in the future all over the world, the experts agree. “It’s already the gold standard in the public and private sector,” Irina Sinelina says.

“Evaluation has everything it takes to become a profession, and it will certainly become one. But this will be the result of an evolutionary process, through accumulation of knowledge, understanding of the reasons why it is needed, the growing demand for evaluation professionals, establishment of a community that can raise those professionals, and the emergence of educational products,” Marina Mikhailova forecasts.

The future is often associated with artificial intelligence. “Who is a project and program evaluator?”, we asked ChatGPT. This is what the AI told us: “A project and program evaluator is a professional expert engaged in assessing the value of projects and programs. He or she can work in various sectors of the economy, as well as in the legal market. To be successful, the professional needs to be educated and experienced in financial analytics, be able to work with various forms of assets, to develop valuation models, analyze information, and produce recommendations on improving property values.”