NextGen: Don't Discredit My Online Degree

When I graduated with an MLIS from an online program, it never occurred to me that I would have a hard time finding a job. Unfortunately, I am finding that many employers view my online degree as worth less than a traditional degree.

According to a survey conducted by Vault.com, out of 239 human resource professionals, "37 percent of those surveyed believe that an online graduate school degree is as credible as a traditional degree, while 54 percent said that it was not as credible but acceptable. But these are the interesting numbers: roughly 40 percent of employers said they believed my degree is credible. That means 60 percent of employers view my degree as second class, which makes finding a job that much harder for me than someone with a traditional degree.

This bias is quite perplexing. I was under the impression that employers wanted mature self-starters with independence and motivation—the very skills needed to be successful in an online program. So why is there a bias against the validity of online programs? Vault.com also asked employers to describe what they see as the drawbacks of online programs. The top three reasons: "students don't socially interact with peers," "too new to gauge effectiveness," and "loss of real-time pedagogical exchange."

These are common misconceptions. As far as social interaction goes, I found my online program to be better than my traditional undergraduate program. In fact, many professors in online programs require participation and foster group projects. Because of the virtual nature of the program, my classmates and I were able to contact each other at all hours of the day and night, not bound by location. We communicated via chat, discussion boards, and email. Often, our communication was even graded—and even if it wasn't graded, it was still necessary for our success. OK, so we didn't go to the movies together. We did, however, often speak socially, beyond the assignment, offering encouragement and constructive criticism.

If the idea of online degrees is too new to "gauge effectiveness," then why are so many traditional institutions increasingly offering online classes both to traditional students as well as distance students? Apparently, online courses are valuable to the traditional student, yet the traditional student avoids the stigma of the online degree even though students in the online program take the same exact courses.

As for the pedagogical exchange from my online program, it was just as effective and real as any exchange in a traditional classroom. In fact, there were added benefits to online exchanges. Not only could we contact our instructor any time, the chat program we used logged all of our discussions. That gave us the benefit of being able to miss a discussion and still read later what was discussed. What traditional student is able to go back and find out exactly what an instructor said, word for word? We also participated in discussion boards that facilitated instructor feedback and questions in a one-on-one manner, and these discussion boards were usually mandatory. How many traditional instructors demand that you come to their office once a week and ask a question or propose an idea?

Those of us who choose to take online courses, or earn an online degree, do so because we often have jobs, families, and lives that cannot just stop for school. We may be nontraditional, but that does not make us less valuable. In fact, it may even make us more valuable. We multitask and organize. Our time management skills are impressive, and our commitment to our education is unmatched. Until employers know more about what it takes to succeed in an online program, however, the stigma will remain.

At one point, I was instructed just not to mention that my degree was an online degree. That's a terrible idea. Potential employers would realize my degree was earned online as soon as they read my résumé. After all, I maintained full-time employment in a different state while receiving my degree. Employers tend to notice that type of discrepancy, and many might think I was being deceitful by not explicitly stating mine is an online credential.

Here's a better idea. If questions about your online degree come up in an interview, be honest and state all of the reasons why your online degree is more valuable than a traditional one. Not only will this improve your immediate chances for getting the job, it is the only way we can change employers' lingering misperceptions of online education.