<p> A review of research regarding acceptance of online degrees by employers returns contradictory results. The current research focused on human resources recruiters’ perceptions and biases toward traditional versus online education. Human capital theory, signaling theory, and stakeholder theory formed the conceptual support for understanding the potential impact of bias toward online education. The researcher used semi-structured phone interviews with 18 recruiters as the data collection method. A purposive sample ensured that the participants were selected appropriately. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and manually analyzed for themes related to the acceptance of online education. Eighty-three percent of respondents believed online and traditional educations are equal among accredited institutions. This finding marks a change from previous studies that have found mixed attitudes among employers about online education. The perceived lack of social interaction inherent in online education and reputation of specific institutions were concerns. The results suggest that attitudes toward online education are changing to a more favorable view. The majority (83%) of participants indicated online education was equal to traditional education when reviewing resumes. The researcher recommends that online students participate in outside the classroom social activities to compensate for perceived lack of social interaction. Institutions offering online programs should obtain or maintain accreditation and strengthen their reputation for their graduates to be acceptable to business recruiters.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10248132 |
| Date | 16 February 2017 |
| Creators | Watson, Chuck |
| Publisher | Baker College (Michigan) |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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