The Internet and Graduate Student Recruiting in Family Science

Abstract

Abstract Despite an increased emphasis on graduate student recruiting in recent years, few studies have been conducted to guide recruiting efforts in family science. The Internet has emerged as an important recruiting tool, yet there is no literature directed toward maximizing the appeal and utility of department websites for prospective graduate students. The current pilot study addresses this need by (1) identifying the information potential graduate students want to find on a department website and (2) determining the extent to which current family science department websites meet those expectations. The findings indicate that, according to potential graduate students, the most important aspect of a website is its user-friendliness, and that the most important content areas on a department's website are descriptions of the programs of study offered and a list of the courses offered by the department. Based on these and other characteristics, 31 family science department websites were evaluated by parti...