1. A Choice for Doctoral Education?
Jim Flowers, Prof. & Director of Online Ed.
Holly Baltzer, Research Assistant
Ball State University
Supported in part by the Council on Technology Teacher Education Research Incentive Grant Program

2. Overview
Perceived demand for an online or hybrid doctoral program from a survey of prospective students
Hiring attitudes towards those with a doctoral degree earned online
Status of current doctoral programs
Models for online and hybrid doctoral education

3. Online Education Online Education in the US is growing
Enrollments are increasing (up 18% in 2004 with over 2.3 million students taking at least one online course in Fall 2004).
Becoming a part of many institutions long-term strategies (59% in 2005.)
However, it is not growing uniformly
Doctoral programs have the least program penetration (institutions offering the same program face-to-face and online.)
Technology education fits this trend
Be sure to define penetration and say from where. Be sure to say what we mean by Technical Education.

4. Technology Education Online
Technology education has begun to utilize online education in Bachelors and Masters programs.
Despite the critical need for researchers and university faculty in the field, Doctoral level distance programs have only recently begun to emerge (e.g., Old Dominion.)
There is still much concern over the employability of those with a doctoral degree earned at a distance.

5. Perceived Demand: Methods
Survey population:
ITEA
ATEA
ACTE (declined our request to survey its members)
Sample was divided into those who had (DOC) and those who had not previously earned (ND) a doctoral degree.

6. Methods cont.
Of those who had not earned a doctoral degree, only data from respondents who indicated they had a desire to pursue a doctoral degree (ND) were analyzed.
Overall return rate was 532 out of 3760
281 discarded because of little or moderate interest in doctoral studies: “How important is it to you to pursue a doctoral degree? 1=not important; 5=extremely important”
181 in ND group = those who answered “4” or “5”
70 in DOC group

7. Perceived Demand: Instrument
Online survey items included:
Demographics such as highest degree earned, number of years to retirement;
Motivations for doctoral studies;
Perceived obstacles to doctoral studies including suggestions to overcome obstacles;
Appeal of face-to-face vs. online delivery;
Likelihood of pursuing a doctoral degree based on the method of delivery (ND only); and
Open-ended comments

8. Results: DemographicsND
Majority were secondary school teachers, minorities of lecturers, professors and graduate assistants
74% had completed a master’s, 24% a bachelors
Median years to retirement between 21-25
DOC
Majority were professors or deans
Median number of years since the doctorate was earned was 15
Median years to retirement fell between the 5-10 and year ranges

9. Results: Motivation
When asked about primary motivation with answer choices: ‘pay raise,’ ‘status/position advancement at current job,’ ‘to be eligible for a new job,’ ‘personal fulfillment,’ and ‘other’
Both groups indicated that ‘personal fulfillment’ and ‘eligibility for a new job’ were statistically greater motivations than ‘pay raise’ and ‘status/position advancement at current job.’ (p ≤ .001)

10. Results: Obstacles
Found all three obstacles from Rogers (2002), time commitment, location of nearest university, and financial costs, to be ‘moderate’
When asked how a university might overcome their most insurmountable obstacle, ND overwhelming support for flexibility in time and space and DOC suggested ways of taking financial burden off
An illustration: Both groups were asked an item concerning the amount of time, not during the summer, they would have to devote to doctoral studies.
So, even though there was statistical difference there does seem to be a difference in attitude stuff.

11. Discrepancy that seems to indicate:
The need for more flexibility in time by programs
The need for a reality-check by prospective doctoral students

12. Results: Assistantships?
“Would you be / were you financially limited to doctoral programs that offer graduate assistantships with tuition waivers and/or stipends?”
34% of ND said “Yes”
52% of DOC said “Yes”
Not surprising since doc was earned about 15 years ago when online programs did not exist.

13. Results: Appeal
“Compared to a face-to-face doctoral program, how much more or less appealing is an online doctoral program? 1 = much less appealing; 5 = much more appealing”
ND indicated appeal was significantly greater than neutral (mean = 3.71, p < .001)
DOC indicated appeal was significantly less than neutral (mean = 2.24, p < .001)
Not surprising since doc was earned about 15 years ago when online programs did not exist.

14. Results: Likelihood to Pursue
ND group: “How likely would you be to pursue a … doctoral degree that required
“Relocation to a university campus for a minimum of two semesters?” [i.e., F2F]
“Several on-campus visits but no extended stay?” [i.e., hybrid]
“No campus visits?” [i.e., online]

15. A decrease in the required time on-campus increases the reported likelihood this sample will enroll in doctoral studies.

16. Results: Comments
ND group was in support of the idea of a distance doctoral program
Strong concerns over the quality of the program, and seemed more in support of a hybrid model over a full online model despite the previous graph
DOC group was in opposition to distance doctoral program
Extremely concerned over the quality of program, especially because of the lack of personal contact with an advisor

17. Perceived Demand: Conclusions
There seems to be an unmet demand for distance educational doctoral programs in the field:
Of 181 indicating a desire to pursue a doctoral degree, high likelihood of pursuing a doctoral degree was reported by:
20 for a face-to-face degree
81 for a hybrid degree
150 for an online degree

18. Perceived Demand: Conclusions
Many potential doctoral students have different views than those with doctorates (in the position to offer online and hybrid programs.)
Quality is of importance to both groups.
Time flexibility is a critical issue for potential students.
Those who are considering online doctoral education may differ from those only considering F2F doctoral study, and universities should explore this difference.

19. The Need for Graduates & Hiring Attitudes
Studies have shown that the need for higher education faculty in technical education is greater than the supply of doctoral educated candidates
Studies outside the field have shown that applicants with doctoral degrees earned face-to-face are preferred over applicants with doctoral degrees earned at a distance
So if a distance doctoral program in technical education were to be created, would the people with these degrees get jobs?

20. Need & Hiring Attitudes cont.
How many openings are there for doctoral graduates per institution?
Does the bias against those who earned their doctoral degree at a distance hold true in the field of technical education?
What are the justifications for this stigma given from those who make hiring decisions?

21. Hiring Attitudes: Methods
Population was chairs and coordinators for bachelors and masters level programs in technical education who are directly involved in their department’s hiring practices
28 out 94 possible candidates returned the survey
Online survey items included:
Current and predicted faculty vacancies;
Factors in hiring decisions; and
Respondents’ perceptions of the likelihood that their institution would hire an individual with an online doctoral degree

22. Need & Hiring Attitudes: Results
22 of 28 departments offered online courses.
Mean of 5.0 online courses, with 5.3 expected to come online within 3 years.

23. Need & Hiring Attitudes: Results
1.0 current tenure track vacancies (n=28)
2.0 tenure track vacancies expected over next 3 years
Respondents indicated that it would be ‘moderately difficult’ to attract qualified applicants to these positions

24. Results cont.
Asked respondents to rank criteria hiring decisions based on importance between 1- ‘very little’ and 5- ‘very much’
‘having a doctorate or ABD’ mean = 4.86
‘ability to teach particular course work’ m = 4.64
‘ability to communicate effectively’ m = 4.64
‘ability to work well with others’ m = 4.64

25. Results cont.
Respondents were asked, “Do you believe your institution would be less likely or more likely to hire an individual to a tenure track [non-tenure track] position because their doctorate was earned through an online program?”
The sample indicated their institutions were significantly less likely
Tenure track p = .001
Non-tenure track p = .006

26. Results cont.
Main justifications given by respondents for this bias against hiring those with an online doctoral degree:
They did not feel a doctoral degree had the same level of credibility or quality that a face-to-face program would have
Personal interaction in a doctoral program is critical part of doctoral education and that cannot be achieved online

27. Conclusions
There is demand reported by prospective students for distance doctoral programs.
There is a growing and unmet need for doctoral graduates.
However, concerns over quality must be addressed to the satisfaction of potential employers if those earning such a degree are to be competitive.
When we combine the results of the two studies…

28. Recommendations
Quality assurance of a distance doctoral program must be rigorous
Greater flexibility in time is likely to be attractive to potential students of a distance doctoral program
A hybrid model that incorporates personal face-to-face contact may be one way to help those earning the degree be employable

29. A Choice for Doctoral Education?
Jim Flowers
Holly Baltzer
Ball State University
Flowers, J., & Baltzer, H. (2006). Perceived demand for online and hybrid doctoral programs in technical education. J. of Industrial Teacher Education, 43(4),
Flowers, J., & Baltzer, H. (2006). Hiring technical education faculty: Vacancies, criteria, and attitudes toward online doctoral degrees. J. of Industrial Teacher Education, 43(3),