The Organizational Dynamics that Shape the Acceptance of Online Education by Department Chairs at Four-year Universities

• In Event: 523 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 17. Educational Programs, Educational Reforms, and Student Research: Session II

Abstract

Despite the massive growth of online education, current sociology of education literature lacks an analysis of technological change in higher education. Past studies of perceptions of instructional technology have primarily focused on individual factors, so this study uses the institutional logics perspective to examine organizational factors that contribute to decision-making and perceptions of online education. I conducted interviews with 61 department chairs and administrators who oversee online degree programs in academic departments at public and private four-year, nonprofit institutions. I find that previous studies of the market logic in higher education miss how it is incorporated into decision-making at the micro-level by faculty engaged with online degree programs, influencing a view of students as consumers and that the public good can be served through market practices. Additionally, previous higher education research focuses too heavily on elite research universities, which obscures the different pathways that market logics shape perceptions of online education. Though both elite and non-elite department chairs with online programs subscribed to a market logic, those at research intensive universities had more autonomy and received departmental financial rewards, allowing them to segment online learning work and reinvest online enrollment revenue into prestige-building activities. Chairs at regional colleges and universities were less likely to have a choice about the development of online programs or receive direct financial incentives; their acceptance instead relying on the affirmation of their self-concept of serving student needs. Overall, this research contributes to our understanding of how organizational factors shape the market logics behind online education.

Author

• Lauren A. Nicoll, Northeastern University