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There’s an old joke told among professionals that if they are ever asked a question that they don’t know the answer to, the answer they should give is “That depends,” which is enough of an answer for a client to allow the professional time to look up the answer to the question. Fortunately, in the case of the question: “How is an online master’s in business degree perceived in the job market,” the answer, “That depends” may be the best one, at least until more study results are released.
Internet Growth = Online Education Growth
To answer the question above one must realize that the concept of an online education is a very new phenomenon. Obviously, as the Internet has “grown up” so have the capabilities, as well as the perception, of an online education.
What is popularly known as the Internet was actually started in the 1950s with the introduction of electronic computers. It wasn’t until the 1980s, however, that more of the processes involved in the Internet were standardized and put into more popular use. The Internet revolution didn’t start until the 1990s, after which its use as an educational delivery tool started to catch on. Once it did, however, colleges and universities were quick to jump on the “virtual bandwagon” for their benefit, as well as for the benefit of their students.
Internet Maturity = Acceptance?
There can be no question that the popularity of the Internet has led to an explosion in its use in education. Today, it would be hard to avoid finding an educational institution that does not offer some form of instruction via the Internet. As a result, and due to a wide variety of reasons that are as individual to students as they are themselves, the number of online programs available has exploded.
The good news in all of this has been that not only has the use of the Internet as an educational tool exploded in recent years, but there has been adequate time to form some opinions over the quality of programs delivered via this outlet. Generally, the opinions have been favorable, but they have also been varied depending on who is being surveyed.
According to one study, employers were asked to judge two hypothetical job applicants, one with a degree earned exclusively online and one who received their education in a traditional manner. An overwhelming 96 percent of the respondents picked the applicant with the traditional education over the online-educated applicant.
Regardless of the educational levels being examined, these results should not be accepted blindly since there were some qualifications. First, the rate of acceptance of online educations skyrocketed when the employers were presented with hypothetical job applicants who had supplemented their online training with traditional classroom coursework as well as work experience. The number held whether the degree earned online was a bachelor’s through doctorate.
It is also important to understand that the acceptance of the online degrees depends largely on the particular institution issuing the degrees. An online degree earned from Harvard University would, for example, be viewed more favorably than one from a small college in a remote suburban town, but this would probably be the case among virtually any coursework completed anywhere.
All of this said, “That depends” seems to be a good answer to the question stated. Acceptance of the answer, however, depends to a great extent on the use by the degree’s recipient.
Further Reading: EMPLOYERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ONLINE EDUCATION
