University Research Proposal: Is a College Degree Still Valuable?

This research proposal investigates the evolving value of a college degree, particularly in the context of the technology industry. The paper begins with an executive summary and a detailed table of contents, outlining the structure of the research. The introduction establishes the study's focus on the trend of tech companies hiring individuals without degrees, setting the stage for an examination of the degree's importance. The background section explores changing recruitment practices and the declining valuation of college degrees, while also acknowledging the benefits of industry experience for undergraduates. The research aims and objectives are clearly defined, focusing on understanding the degree's worth and its application in the technological field. Research questions are posed to guide the investigation, followed by a problem statement and the rationale for the study. The hypothesis section presents both null and alternative hypotheses. The significance and justification sections highlight the relevance of the study, emphasizing the advantages and disadvantages of a college degree and the need for updated practices, especially in emerging fields like ethical hacking. The document includes a comprehensive reference list. The proposal outlines the methodology for a study that aims to understand the valuation of a college degree and its impact on hiring practices in the technology sector. The proposal will analyze the trends of hiring practices and the importance of a college degree.

Running head: IS COLLEGE DEGREE VALUABLE
Is college degree valuable
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note:

1IS COLLEGE DEGREE VALUABLE
Executive Summary
The foremost determination of the paper is to focus on the importance of a college degree as few
of the business organizations are opting for employees without a degree. The paper will be
having numerous segments and each of the segments will contribute to the effectiveness of the
paper. The background of the paper will be evaluating the current trends followed by few of the
business organizations regarding recruitment of human resources. The aims and objectives will
be stated in the paper. The opinion of different researchers will be stated in the literature unit of
the paper along with that the paper will also focus on the data collection procedures, data
analysis procedures and sampling techniques. The ethical considerations and limitations of the
study will be also mentioned in the paper as well. The paper will be concluding with the chapter
summary of the research methodology.

2IS COLLEGE DEGREE VALUABLE
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................3
Background of the study..............................................................................................................4
Purpose of the study.....................................................................................................................5
Research aims and objectives......................................................................................................5
Research Questions......................................................................................................................5
Problem Statement.......................................................................................................................6
Rationale of the study..................................................................................................................6
Research Hypothesis....................................................................................................................6
Significance and Justification......................................................................................................7
Reference.........................................................................................................................................9

3IS COLLEGE DEGREE VALUABLE
Chapter 1: Introduction
The foremost determination of this paper is to focus on the importance of a college
degree as few of big technological business organization are hiring candidates who does not have
a college degree. There are different types of business organizations which recruit employees
based upon experience and other essential qualities required by the organization (Merino, 2016).
This research paper will be discussing the importance of the college degree from the point of
view of the experienced professional who recruits new employees in the business organization as
well as from peer-reviewed journals.
The remuneration of the candidates with a college degree is much less than an
experienced employee which is one of the reason behind the selection of the candidates without a
college degree (Menon et al., 2017). The hiring or the selection of the new candidates may
depend upon the needs and requirements of the technological organizations as well as they want
to bring a balance in the team in terms of youth and experience. At the same time it can be said
that the new trending technologies and the innovations such as the artificial intelligence can be
better understood by the young and dynamic candidates who are still pursuing their degree
(Kezar, Chambers & Burkhardt, 2015). The learning skills of academic students are much more
than the experienced professionals who are also capitalized by big technological organizations
(Jensen & Jetten, 2016). The recruitment of the employees may also involve extra added
investments from the board of the organization as special training sessions are needed only for
the experienced employees as the candidates without a college degree are generally aware of all
the latest technological advancements such as the application of the artificial intelligence in
reshaping business strategies (Howard et al., 2018). However, there are few issues associated
with the selection of candidates without a college degree as well such as maintaining the

4IS COLLEGE DEGREE VALUABLE
professional conduct in a global organization. There are few uncertainties associated with the
candidates with a college degree as well in terms of maintaining professionalism. The preceding
unit of the paper will be discussing the background of the study.
Background of the study
The needs and requirements of the business organizations are always changing which the
reason behind the need of experienced professional to deal with certain complication. The
conventional way of recruiting an employee is changing every day. Nowadays employees are
being selected on the basis of their years of experience in the same industry over their
educational qualifications and college degrees. The valuation of college degrees are slowly
decreasing each day (Hilton & Bonner, 2017). Jobs in the technological organizations are very
much important for most of the undergraduates also as they can get the industry exposure they
are looking for. The industry experiences of undergraduate students are very much beneficial for
our society as well as it will be very much important to deal with issues such as unemployment.
According to the current studies it was found that there are more jobs available for the school
graduates as compared with the high school graduates (Hersh & Merrow, 2015). At the same
time, it can also be said that the average income of the school graduates are getting increased
every year and more school graduates are showing their interests in the technological
organizations (Heitor & Horta, 2016). The selection of the candidates without a college degree is
also very much beneficial for the technological business organizations from the business
perspective as well, as the annual increment or the formal appraisal process for the candidates
with a college degree will be much less as compared with the experienced professionals. This
following unit of this research paper will be discussing the aims and objectives of the research.

5IS COLLEGE DEGREE VALUABLE
Purpose of the study
The purpose of the study is to find out the reasons behind the hiring of candidates in a big
technological business organization without having a college degree. This would help in finding
the viability of a college degree and the implementation of the courses learned in our academic
courses. The data collection procedure of this paper would be very much beneficial to find out
the probable solution of this scenario. The next unit of the paper will be highlighting the research
aims and objectives of the paper.
Research aims and objectives
This paper aims to understand the exact valuation of a college degree for getting hired in
any big technological organization. The exact relationship between the valuation of a college
degree and its application in the technological industry can be understood in a professional
manner in this paper. The objectives of this paper are presented below.
 To present the current trends followed in the business organization while recruiting an
employee.
 To understand the importance of experience over qualifications.
 To understand the reasons why business organizations are hiring employees without a
college.
The ensuing unit of the paper will be discussing the research questions of the paper.
Research Questions
The research questions of this paper are described below.
 Is the college degree valuable?

6IS COLLEGE DEGREE VALUABLE
 Why are the business organizations hiring employees who are without a college degree?
 What are the advantages and disadvantages of a college degree in professional life?
The resulting unit of the paper will be presenting the problem statement of the paper.
Problem Statement
The exact issue that the research is trying to address is the valuation of the college degree
and make the organizations understand the valuation of a college degree. The succeeding section
of the paper will be highlighting the rationale of the study.
Rationale of the study
The significance or the rationale of this paper aims at justifying the importance of the valuation
of a college. This paper will be very much important for the future hiring process for big
technological firms. The paper will be very much important to deal with current scenario of the
hiring process which are carried out by most of the technological organizations all around the
world.
The entire paper will be highlighting the prominence of a college degree for most of the
business organizations as they hire candidates based on experience rather than a degree (Fiaz et
al., 2016). The findings of the paper will be useful for the readers of this paper as well as for the
bigger technological business organizations who hire candidates based on experience rather than
having a college degree (Caplan, 2018). The following unit of this paper is to present the
research hypothesis of the paper.
Research Hypothesis
This unit of the paper will be presenting the dependent and the independent variable of
this paper. The relationship between the type types of variables will be also presented in this

7IS COLLEGE DEGREE VALUABLE
section of the paper (Brubacher, 2017). There are two different types of hypothesis such as the
null hypothesis which is denoted by H0 and the simple hypothesis which is denoted by H1. The
following table can be very much important to understand the hypothesis of this paper.
Hypothesis Relation with the topic of this paper
H0 (Null hypothesis) College degree have no effect in the hiring
procedure in few technological organizations.
H1 (Simple hypothesis) College degree has an effect on the hiring
process in business organizations.
Table 1: Description of the two types of hypothesis
(Created by the author)
Significance and Justification
According to the current trends, it can be said the valuation of college degrees are slowly
decreasing each day as the needs and requirements of the recruitment process are always
changing. The above questions will be very much important for this research paper to understand
the reason behind the decreasing reputation or the importance of the college degree in business
(Borgen & Mastekaasa, 2018). The advantages and disadvantages of the college degree will be
also beneficial to understand why the current trends are always changing regarding the selection
of the employees.
The wide range of degrees which are readily available in most of the educational organization is
capitalized by most of the technological organizations all over the world, however, there are few
departments which needs to be very much updated such as the ethical hacking procedures. The
candidates without a college degree are more used in the social engineering activities of the

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business organizations as they know all the insights of the vulnerabilities and the approach which
are needed to be taken to deal with any kinds of adverse conditions (Berchin et al., 2018). These
are the reasons behind the selection of dynamic candidates from high schools.
However, considering the selection of the candidates with a college degree it can be said
that there are few issues associated with this practice such as the efficiency and the productivity
of the candidates. The candidates with a college degree are thought to be strict professional as
compared with the candidates without a college degree.

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Reference
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money. Princeton University Press.
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