Qualitative study of the acceptability of virtual educational qualifications among recruitment specialists’ affairs in the public sector

Acceptance of virtual educational qualifications by human resources recruitment specialists’ affairs in organizations is one of the important issues. This qualitative study focuses on the views and biases of recruitment experts towards virtual education (online) in comparison with traditional (face-to-face) education. The method of data collection was semi-structured telephone interviews with 18 human resource recruitment specialists in the public sector. The obtained information was coded by theme analysis method and then analyzed to find concepts related to the acceptance of virtual educational documents. The majority of respondents believed that online and traditional education in reputable universities are equally acceptable. Lack of social interactions in online education and the credibility of some particular teaching universities were among the concerns of recruitment specialists. The results showed that attitudes about e-learning are changing towards a more positive one. It is suggested that students in virtual educational classes participate in social activities outside the classroom to compensate for the lack of social interaction in virtual educational classes. Uuniversities with virtual education should also gain or maintain their credibility and seek to increase the credibility of their academic credentials for acceptance among recruitment specialists’ affairs.