A Comparative Analysis of Public Relations Curricula

Abstract

According to scholars, there has been a move toward a more professional or occupational focus in postsecondary education, a focus that Grubb and Lazerson suggest “undermines education’s moral, civic, and intellectual purposes.”¹ The purpose of this study was to evaluate the public relations curricula of U.S. universities and colleges and the requirements for entry into the profession. Results indicated that while there are differences, public relations curricula appear to be equally strong regardless of department or type of institution in which the program is located. Moreover, results indicated that the public relations curricula appear to meet the needs of the practice and that the perceived gap between offering of social media courses and the needs of practice may be temporary and illusionary.

Keywords

teaching public relations practitioners post college employment academia

Introduction

What does the public relations curriculum look like today? According to scholars, there has been a move toward a more professional or occupational focus in postsecondary education,² a focus that “undermines education’s moral, civic, and intellectual purposes.”³ However, given the market demands on postsecondary education to provide quality and value to the students and the parents footing the increasingly high costs of such education, it is not surprising that there has been a move toward increasing professional focus.⁴ Such a focus presumably better prepares students for employment than the historically intellectual model of postsecondary education in the arts and sciences, which Brint et al. refer to as pursuing knowledge “for its own sake.”⁵

As such, the purpose of this study was twofold. First, given the growing need for universities and colleges to produce tangible outcomes such as attainment of employment of their graduates, and a focus on professional rather than purely intellectual pursuits in postsecondary education, the researchers wished to explore the content of public relations (PR) curricula, exploring the question, “What does the PR curriculum look like today.” Second, the researchers wished to determine whether public relations programs were adequately preparing students for placement in an entry-level position or providing skills that could aid them in advancing to higher levels in a rapidly changing communication environment.

While acknowledging the importance of the debate on the purposes of higher education and acknowledging public relations programs in other areas of the globe,⁶ the researchers felt an examination of the U.S. universities and job listings was valid because the U.S. model is the most dominant. The importance of the research seems clear. Although prior research has recommended essential subject areas for the public relations curriculum,⁷ approaches to teaching essential core curricula,⁸ perceptions of the industry, and function from the perspective of public relations majors and non-majors,⁹ there has not been a recent study of public relations curricula through examination of individual university and college collateral (in this case, websites), and to our knowledge there has never been a comparative study of job descriptions and the public relations program.

Literature Review

The debate over the question of what constitutes the ideal public relations program of study at the postsecondary education level to provide students with the skills necessary for practice has waged for more than two decades. In the mid-1980s, Brody identified essential areas of study for the public relations curricula, as recommended by the Commission on Public Relations Education.¹⁰ At that time, he compared the commission’s recommendations from 1981 with prior recommendations from 1975. Among the changes in minimum curricula requirements between those two reports were the addition of a research component in 1981 and the move to elective status for both an advanced writing course and a graphic design course. Moreover, Brody noted that the commission on public relations education “proceeded with its work on the basis of a number of assumptions. Primary among them appeared to be an assumption of curricular consistency across accredited public relations programs.”¹¹

Studies have also explored the inclusion or exclusion of certain topics from curricula such as the importance of race¹² and international perspectives,¹³ and the extent to which advertising or integrated marketing communications should be included in the curriculum.¹⁴ Others have stressed the importance of business topics such as marketing, finance, accounting, and economics.¹⁵ As Claussen noted,

PR students (both undergraduate and graduate) need to know about business and economics more than ever, and it seems to me the only way to ensure that happens is to make business and economics courses into requirements, not merely “directed” or “collateral” electives, for PR students.¹⁶

Among issues of curricular consistency can be raised the question of the number of public relations courses that are offered by an institute of higher learning’s public relations program. In a 1989 study, Grunig noted that just over 55 percent of the 112 schools with student chapters of Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), that is, Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), that responded to a survey requesting information on the number of courses offered with public relations in the title provided five courses, and about 17 percent offered seven or more courses.¹⁷ Similarly, in 1999, a study organized by the National Communications Association recommended three models, all of which included nine or more core courses of which there were between three and five required courses.¹⁸

Unlike earlier studies that sought information on courses containing public relations in the title¹⁹ and recognizing that many public relations programs are offered as part of journalism and mass communication majors, this study included mass communication courses that are frequently required as part of the public relations major. As such the following question is posed:

RQ1: How many courses constitute the public relations curricula among the various institutions that offer a public relations sequence?

Within academia, public relations may be housed in many different schools and departments. At the end of the last century, Kruckeberg noted that public relations has been well served by association with schools of journalism and mass communication and with schools of speech and communication; however, he argued that “the integrity of public relations professional education must take precedence over academic unit perspectives and biases.”²⁰ As such, he contended that public relations should not be considered merely as a subset of other mass media education, for example, as a specialization within a journalism, mass communication, or communication degree, but should be recognized as a distinct professional area.

This study also explored to what extent public relations has broken free of the subset phenomenon described above. The following research questions are posited:

RQ2: Based on the type of institution in which the public relations program is housed, (i.e., college of liberal arts versus school of journalism and mass communication) are there differences in the extent of the public relations program as indicated by the number of courses offered, or in the types of public relations courses offered?

RQ3: To what extent is public relations autonomous within academia, as indicated by the number of public relations departments versus departments in which public relations is combined with another mass communication field, or where public relations courses, are offered within another department?

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, it was suggested that societal, technological, and professional changes would have an important effect on public relations.²¹ Among the factors necessary for instituting professional changes was suggested the need for an increase in graduate programs in public relations.²² Such an increase was necessary to offset the effect of having the concentration of larger public relations programs in non-research and non-doctoral granting institutions. As one scholar noted, such a concentration adversely affected the growth of the field because “little research is conducted to develop the body of knowledge in public relations and few new Ph.D.s are produced to conduct that research and to train practitioners in a research-based body of knowledge.”²³ Conversely, others have suggested that such demarcation of programs may be counterproductive, such that

Beyond the undergraduate curriculum, however, the emphasis on disciplinary demarcation may well be counterproductive, especially in producing the kind of intellectual capital required to underpin doctoral programs and substantial research and scholarship, particularly that likely to get recognition beyond narrow disciplinary boundaries.²⁴

Therefore, the present study questioned the following:

RQ4: Based on the highest mass communication degree offered at the institution, are there differences in the extent of the public relations program as indicated by the number of courses offered or in the types of public relations courses offered?

Reports have indicated that practitioners and educators agreed that the practical skills necessary for entry-level applicants for public relations positions should include word processing and typing, the ability to correspond via e-mail, understand use of the Internet, conduct research, and the ability to write news releases and newsletters.²⁵ Additional attributes upon which practitioners and educators agreed as desirable in entry-level candidates included having a good attitude, understanding protocol with media, and creativity and imagination.²⁶ Thus, the study questioned the following:

RQ5: What are the most frequent skills identified by employers in their job listings as important for entry or advancement within the profession?

RQ6: Based on the requirements of current job listings and the content of current public relations programs, are there gaps between the skills required of student entering the job market today and the skills developed through the public relations program in which they studied?

Method

Sampling

Research was conducted in a two-stage content analysis, both public relations course curriculums offered by academic institutions and the requirements of public relations jobs. The population of interest in this study was all institutions of higher education that offer a public relations program and all public relations jobs within the United States. For a sampling frame of academic institutions, the study used the list of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). Of the 305 academic units belonging to PRSSA, 234 colleges and universities had online curricula, which were analyzed from the university websites. For a sampling frame of job requirements, job postings on the websites of the public relations and communications job center of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) were utilized. After excluding jobs not related to public relations or those that provided no information or job description during the one-week analysis time frame, a total of 128 out of 158 full-time jobs were analyzed. Unit of analysis was curriculum pages or documents posted on academic institution websites and job description pages of PRSA job center websites.

Measures and Coding Procedure

Public relations courses could be offered as part of a major or minor course of study or as part of the requirements or electives for other majors and minors. In addition to core courses such as introduction to public relations, or principles of public relations, public relations campaigns, and public relations writing, the researchers identified general mass communication courses that frequently provide the prerequisites for the public relations major, as well as a wide variety of electives and communication skills areas such as interpersonal and nonverbal communication.

For the institutional analysis, researchers grouped thirty-two public relations and mass communication courses into nine categories: Basic Mass Communication Principles, such as introduction to mass communication or public relations; Communication Techniques, such as rhetoric, interpersonal, organizational, public speaking, nonverbal, and persuasion; Writing, such as PR writing, reporting, and general writing course; Advanced Public Relations, such as strategy, management, and case studies. Additional categories included Public Relations Practice, which contained campaigns, practicum, and internship; Ethics and Law; Method and Research; and Public Relations Techniques, which included visual communication and emerging media. Nine public relations elective courses were provided, as well as the option for “other.” Electives provided included media relations, issue/crisis communication, corporate communication, nonprofit studies (including fundraising), health communication, political communication, event planning, and intercultural or international communication.

Additional questions identified the highest level of degree offered by the institution, the type of school, college, or division in which the program was housed, and whether public relations had a distinct department separate from journalism, mass communication, or similar programs within whose departments it is often found.

For the job descriptions, researchers coded for the same courses and electives; however, because job descriptions are often brief, additional selections for “general” were added for seven of the categories where the skills were implied, but specific course subjects such as public relations management were not explicitly mentioned. In addition, the number of years of experience was noted, the title of the position, whether it was classed as entry level, and the type of industry in which it was located.

Intercoder Reliability

Two carefully trained graduate students conducted coding independently. Prior to main coding, the two coders conducted a pretest with 15 percent of a research sample to test the coding sheet for intercoder reliability. Disagreements and inconsistencies were clarified through discussion. Cohen’s Kappa, the most widely used reliability coefficient despite some drawbacks, was measured for the intercoder reliability.²⁷ The overall intercoder reliability reached .87, while the intercoder reliability for academic units was .91 and the intercoder reliability for jobs was .83. According to research, values of kappa between .80 and 1.0 are considered as perfect intercoder reliabilities.²⁸ Thus, the study attained highly reliable agreement.

The method used here has several limitations that should be considered when reviewing results and conclusions. First, the study is limited by the nature of coding websites. Because the Internet evolves continuously, some of the data analyzed could soon be out of date and no longer available. In addition, the study considered only job listings that were available online. As such, job listings available in other media were necessarily excluded and may have provided richness to the research. In addition, the sample of job listings surveyed came from the PRSA job center website but did not include job listings that may have been offered on other online sites. Future research could use a larger and more diverse sample for study.

The nature of quantitative study also limits the study by omitting, for example, the perspectives of newly hired practitioners in entry-level or advanced-level positions. Qualitative interviews with such people could add richness to understanding the nature of the actual roles they undertake, as compared with the position for which they were interviewed and were hired.

Results

Demographic Data—Universities

Academic institutions were coded into three categories for this study. As indicated in Table 1, of the total number analyzed (N = 234), 65 (27.8 percent) of the programs were located in journalism and mass communication, 134 (57.3 percent) were located within the liberal arts and humanities, and 35 (14.9 percent) were located in schools of business or other divisions such as social science. Seventeen percent offered the PhD, 32.1 percent offered the master’s degree program in either arts or science (MA or MS), and 51.3 percent offered only the bachelor’s degree in either arts or science (BA or BS). An overwhelming majority of the programs offered courses within a department title that did not contain the words public relations (85 percent), while approximately equal numbers of programs were offered in independent public relations departments (7.7 percent) or in a combined department, for example, advertising and public relations department (7.3 percent).

Table 1.

Academic Institutions Demographic Information.

Academic institutions (N = 234)	N (%)
Type of college
Communication and journalism	65 (27.8)
Liberal arts and humanities	134 (57.3)
Business and others	35 (14.9)
Highest level of program
PhD program	39 (16.7)
Master program	75 (32.1)
Bachelor program	120 (51.3)
Forms of PR department
Independent PR department	18 (7.7)
Joint department	17 (7.3)
No PR department	199 (85.0)

Demographic Data—Job Listings

One hundred twenty-eight job listings were analyzed of which the researchers classified fifty-three as entry level, having up to five years of experience, sixty as advanced practice requiring more than five years of experience, and fifteen that did not provide the minimum required years of experience. Of the jobs listed, the greatest number were located within the corporate sector (35.9 percent), followed by thirty-four public relations agencies (26.6 percent). The third largest number of job listings was found in the nonprofit sector, which had twenty-seven listings (21.1 percent). Remaining demographic information may be found in Table 2.

Table 2.

Demographic Information on Job Listings.

Jobs (N = 128)	N (%)
Minimum experience required
0–5 years (entry level)	53 (41.4)
More than 5 years (advanced level)	60 (46.9)
No information	15 (11.7)
Industry
PR agency	34 (26.6)
Corporate	46 (35.9)
Nonprofit	27 (21.1)
Government	1 (0.8)
Educational institutions	8 (6.2)
Health	11 (8.6)
Other	1 (0.8)

Research Questions

The first of the research questions asked what number of courses comprise the public relations curricula among the various colleges and universities that offer a public relations sequence. Of the academic institutions studied, the minimum number of courses offered was three and the maximum was twenty-four. Each of these categories had just one school with that few or that many selections. The overall mean number of courses was 11.7 (SD =3.86). Just 11.5 percent offered seven or fewer courses, while 67.6 percent offered between eight and fourteen courses. Table 3 provides additional information on the number of courses and the frequency with which that number of courses was offered at the institutions analyzed.

Table 3.

Frequency of the Total Number of Classes Offered within Individual PR Programs.

Number of courses offered (N = 32)	Programs offering this number of courses (N = 234)	%
3	1	0.4
4	4	1.7
5	5	2.1
6	3	1.3
7	14	6.0
8	25	10.7
9	22	9.4
10	18	7.7
11	28	12.0
12	24	10.3
13	21	9.0
14	20	8.5
15	4	1.7
16	15	6.4
17	12	5.1
18	6	2.6
19	6	2.6
20	1	0.4
21	2	0.9
22	2	0.9
24	1	0.4

RQ2 asked whether there were differences in the public relations courses offered, depending on the type of academic institution in which the program was housed. Descriptive analysis by number and percentage of the three types of institution (liberal arts, journalism and mass communication, business or other) indicated differences exist in several categorical areas as indicated in Table 4. Within the Communication Techniques category, liberal arts colleges were twice as likely to offer organizational communication courses (46.2 percent) than journalism schools (23.1 percent). Liberal arts colleges also offered more than twice the percentage of interpersonal communication courses (36.5 percent) than journalism schools (15.3 percent) and nearly three times the number of rhetoric courses with just 10.7 percent of journalism schools offering rhetoric compared with 30 percent of liberal arts colleges. In each of these areas, the business schools fell midway between the liberal arts and journalism schools, offering less of each type of course than the liberal arts schools and more than the journalism schools.

Table 4.

Comparative Analysis of Courses Offered by Type of College.

	Communication and journalism (N = 65)	Liberal arts and humanities (N = 134)	Business and others (N = 35)	Total (N = 234)
	N (%)^a	N (%)^a	N (%)^a	N (%)
Communication Basic
PR principles/introduction	61 (93.8)	122 (91.0)	35 (100)	218 (93.1)
Mass communication theory	49 (75.3)	110 (82.0)	25 (71.4)	184 (78.6)
Communication Techniques
Organizational communication	15 (23.1)	62 (46.2)	12 (34.2)	89 (38.0)
Persuasion	19 (29.2)	59 (44.0)	10 (28.5)	88 (37.6)
Public speaking	14 (21.5)	58 (43.2)	14 (40.0)	86 (36.8)
Interpersonal communication	10 (15.3)	49 (36.5)	8 (22.8)	67 (28.6)
Rhetoric	7 (10.7)	40 (30.0)	7 (20.0)	54 (23.1)
Nonverbal communication	3 (04.6)	19 (14.1)	1 (02.8)	23 (09.8)
Writing
PR writing	44 (67.7)	90 (67.1)	28 (80.0)	162 (69.2)
General writing	36 (55.3)	73 (54.4)	16 (45.7)	125 (53.4)
Reporting	35 (53.8)	55 (41.0)	11 (31.4)	101 (43.2)
Advanced PR
PR case studies	24 (36.9)	54 (40.2)	16 (45.7)	94 (40.2)
PR strategy	17 (26.1)	27 (20.1)	7 (20.0)	51 (21.8)
PR management	17 (26.1)	20 (15.0)	4 (11.4)	41 (17.5)
PR Practices
PR campaigns	42 (64.6)	70 (52.2)	19 (54.2)	131 (56.0)
Internship	34 (52.3)	72 (53.7)	18 (51.4)	124 (53.0)
PR practicum	8 (12.3)	36 (26.8)	8 (22.8)	52 (22.2)
Ethics and Law
Law	39 (60.0)	89 (66.4)	17 (48.5)	145 (61.9)
Media ethics	37 (56.9)	71 (53.0)	11 (31.4)	119 (50.9)
PR ethics	3 (04.6)	3 (02.2)	1 (02.8)	7 (03.0)
Research and Methods
Communication research	29 (44.6)	79 (59.0)	16 (45.7)	124 (53.0)
PR research	20 (30.7)	22 (16.4)	6 (17.1)	48 (20.5)
PR Techniques
Visual communication	40 (61.5)	73 (56.0)	20 (57.1)	133 (56.8)
New media	13 (20.0)	36 (26.8)	10 (28.5)	59 (25.2)
PR Elective
International/intercultural communication	18 (27.6)	49 (36.5)	8 (22.8)	75 (62.1)
Corporate communication	8 (12.3)	22 (16.4)	6 (17.1)	36 (15.4)
Political communication	14 (21.5)	13 (09.7)	3 (08.5)	30 (12.8)
Issue/crisis communication	10 (15.3)	18 (13.4)	2 (05.7)	30 (12.8)
Media relations	9 (13.8)	12 (09.0)	2 (05.7)	23 (09.8)
Event planning	10 (15.3)	5 (03.7)	5 (14.2)	20 (08.5)
Health communication	5 (07.6)	14 (10.4)	0 (00.0)	19 (08.1)
Nonprofit (fundraising)	8 (12.3)	5 (03.7)	3 (08.5)	16 (06.8)

Frequencies and percentages are given by column, for example, 61 (93.8%) of programs housed in colleges of communication or journalism offered the PR principles or introduction to PR course. The total column refers to the total across categories that offered each respective course.

Of the courses within the Communication Techniques category, the nonverbal communication course produced the largest differences between schools where the percentage of such courses offered by liberal arts colleges (14.1 percent) was five times that of the business schools (2.8 percent) and three times that offered by journalism schools (4.6 percent). Also within this category, the journalism schools were about half as likely to offer the public speaking course (21.5 percent) as the liberal arts colleges (43.2 percent) or the business schools (40 percent).

The percentage of programs that offered courses within the Communication Basic, Writing, and PR Techniques categories were similar across the three types of institutions of higher education; however, in the PR Practices category, as a percentage of programs within types of institutions, journalism schools were about half as likely to offer the PR practicum course (12.4 percent) as the liberal arts colleges (26.8 percent) or the business schools (22.8 percent). However, each of three institutional programs offered the internship about equally as a percentage of their programs with liberal arts (54 percent), journalism schools (52 percent), and business schools (51 percent). Conversely, in the Advanced PR category, the journalism schools were more likely to offer the PR management course (26.1 percent) than liberal arts (15 percent) or business schools (11.4 percent). Journalism schools also offered a greater percentage of PR research courses (30.7 percent) in the Research and Methods category than liberal arts (16.4 percent) and business schools (17.1 percent).

In the Ethics and Law category, the business schools were less likely to offer the media ethics course (31.4 percent) than their liberal arts (53 percent) and journalism school counterparts (56.9 percent). As Table 4 illustrates, several courses in the PR Electives category were worth noting. The political communication course was twice as likely to be offered in the journalism schools (21.5 percent) than liberal arts (9.7 percent) or business schools (8.5 percent) while business schools were two to three times less likely to offer issues management or crisis communication courses (5.7 percent) than journalism (15.3 percent) or liberal arts (13.4 percent). Moreover, liberal arts colleges were about four times less likely to offer event planning (3.7 percent) than journalism (15.3 percent) or business schools (14.2 percent).

The study also sought to understand whether, based on the type of academic institution in which the program was housed, there would be differences in the extent of the public relations program as indicated by the number of courses offered. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that there were significant differences between divisions, F(2, 231) = 3.43, p < .05, and a Bonferroni post hoc test of multiple comparisons highlighted the difference between the liberal arts colleges and the schools of business divisions (−3.55, −0.09). Significant differences were not found in the number of courses offered between the journalism schools and the other two divisions.

RQ3 considered the autonomy of public relations to the extent its programs were found in department of public relations or in other departments. The majority of public relations sequences (N = 199 or 85.0 percent) were found within other departments, most notably, departments of communication. Independent public relations departments accounted for just 7.7 percent of the schools analyzed, and combined departments, such as journalism and public relations, were found just 7.3 percent of the time.

Based on the highest mass communication degree offered at the academic institution, RQ4 asked whether there were differences in the extent of the public relations program as indicated by the number of courses offered or in the types of public relations courses offered. Just 16.6 percent (N = 39) of institutions provided the PhD. Of these, 54 percent (N = 21) were located in journalism schools, 41 percent (N = 16) in liberal arts colleges, and 5 percent (N = 2) in a non-journalism, liberal arts, or business type of institution.

A series of chi-square analyses revealed differences among the courses offered, depending on the highest level of degree offered. Two courses—public speaking, χ² (2, N = 233) = 8.13, p < .05, and public relations case studies, χ² (2, N = 233) = 9.43, p < .01—were offered more often at schools where the highest level of degree was the BA or BS and least likely to be offered at PhD-granting institutions. For example, just more than 23.1 percent of PhD-granting institutions provided public speaking as compared with those institutions whose highest degree level was the MA/MS (30.7 percent) or the BA/BS (45.4 percent). Similarly, just 17.9 percent of PhD-granting schools offered public relations case studies, while 44.0 percent of MA/MS programs and 44.5 percent of the BA/BS programs offered the course. Conversely, reporting courses were offered more often at PhD-granting institutions than other types of institutions, χ² (2, N = 233) = 13.56, p < .01. In fact, 66.7 percent of PhD-granting institutions offered reporting while just 46.7 percent of the MA/MS programs and 33.6 percent of the BA/BS programs offered the course.

RQ5 asked which skills were most frequently sought by potential employers for either entry or advancement within the profession. Among the most frequently desired skills for both entry-level and advanced positions were writing (82.3 percent), advance public relations such as strategy and planning (64.1 percent), new media (55.6 percent) and social media (37.2 percent), public speaking/verbal communication (46 percent), and media relations (38.1 percent).

A series of chi-square tests found that there were significant differences between entry-level and advanced positions. While entry-level jobs require more new media skills, χ² (1, N = 113) = 6.87, p < .01, advanced jobs require more ethics and law, χ² (1, N = 113) = 6.59, p < .05; research ability, χ² (1, N = 113) = 4.93, p < .05; and issue/crisis management experience, χ² (1, N = 113) = 8.04, p < .01. Table 5 provides complete descriptive data for job listings by entry and advanced position types.

Table 5.

Frequency and Percentage of Specific Skills or Attributes Sought in Entry-Level and Advanced-Level Jobs.

	Entry-level jobs (N = 53)	Advanced-level jobs (N = 60)	Total (N = 113)
	N (% entry level)	N (% advanced level)	N (% all jobs)
Communication Techniques^a
Public speaking/verbal communication	25 (47.2)	27 (45.0)	52 (46.0)
Interpersonal communication	6 (11.3)	11 (18.3)	17 (15.0)
Persuasion	2 (03.8)	1 (01.7)	3 (03.5)
Organizational communication	0 (00.0)	1 (01.7)	1 (00.9)
Rhetoric	0 (00.0)	0 (00.0)	0 (00.0)
Nonverbal communication	0 (00.0)	0 (00.0)	0 (00.0)
Writing	43 (81.1)	50 (83.3)	93 (82.3)
Advanced PR: Strategy and planning	30 (56.6)	42 (70.0)	72 (64.1)
Research and methods	2 (03.8)	10 (17.6)	12 (11.1)
PR tactics	5 (09.4)	3 (05.0)	8 (07.1)
PR practices	3 (05.7)	5 (08.3)	8 (07.1)
Ethics and law	0 (00.0)	7 (11.7)	7 (06.2)
PR Techniques^a
New media	36 (68.0)	26 (43.3)	62 (55.6)
Social media	24 (45.3)	18 (30.0)	42 (37.2)
Visual communication	9 (17.0)	5 (08.3)	14 (12.3)
PR Electives^a
Media relations	21 (40.2)	22 (37.6)	43 (38.1)
Event planning	8 (15.1)	6 (10.0)	14 (12.3)
Nonprofits (fundraising)	4 (07.5)	10 (17.6)	14 (12.3)
Issue management/crisis communication	0 (00.0)	9 (15.0)	9 (08.6)
International/intercultural communication	1 (01.2)	5 (08.3)	6 (05.3)
Corporate communication	3 (05.7)	2 (03.3)	5 (04.4)
Political communication	2 (03.8)	0 (00.0)	2 (01.7)
Health communication	0 (00.0)	2 (03.3)	2 (01.7)

Courses were organized to fit within broad categories such as Communication Techniques, PR Techniques, and PR Electives and to correspond to the categories used in Table 4.

Finally, RQ6 addressed whether there were any gaps between the requirements of current job listings and the content of current public relations curricula.

Results of this study indicate that the curricula generally meet the needs of the practice, with just one significant gap.

Of the areas most required by potential employers such as advanced public relations skills, issue and crisis communication knowledge, event planning skills, and understanding and experience with nonprofit organizations and/or fundraising, the university curricula appears to be meeting their mark. However, there was significant difference in the percentage of university programs that offer courses in new media and the frequency of expressed need for those skills among potential employers. Just 25 percent of public relations curricula included courses on new media or online media while 53.1 percent of job descriptions required knowledge and experience in this area. In particular, among those that require new media experience, 67.6 percent of jobs look for potential employees who have social media experience such as social network sites, blogs, and microblogging.

Discussion

The purpose of the study was to investigate whether public relations courses and programs within higher education in the United States are adequately preparing students for placement in an entry-level position or providing skills that could aid them in advancing to higher levels in a rapidly changing communication environment. The study also sought to determine whether the type of academic institution in which the PR program was housed—schools of journalism, liberal arts colleges, or business schools—affected the type of courses offered and the extent of courses offered.

Importance of Type of University

Overall, results of ANOVA found that business schools offered significantly less courses in their PR programs than the liberal arts colleges. Thus, students attending a PR program in a business school would find fewer courses to choose from than students at a liberal arts college. That said, the percentage of business school programs that offered courses within the Communication Basic, Writing, and PR Techniques categories was similar to the percentage of programs within schools of journalism or liberal arts that offered those same courses. Programs within all three types of institution also offered a similar number of key PR courses such as PR case studies, PR strategy, PR campaigns, visual communication, new media, and the opportunity for internship credits.

Students attending a liberal arts college would find a larger range of Communication Techniques courses offered overall than students attending either the journalism or business schools. Conversely, students at a school of journalism would be more likely to find courses on PR management, PR research, and political communication than students at the other two types of school. In addition, students interested in event planning would be more likely to find this course at a journalism or business school than within a liberal arts college and they would be less likely to find a course on issues management or crisis communication at a business school than in a journalism school or liberal arts college.

It was also noteworthy that reporting was offered more frequently in PhD-granting institutions than institutions that offered the MA/MS or BA/BS degree. This can, perhaps, be attributed to the fact that 54 percent of the institutions that offered the PhD were located in journalism schools as opposed to liberal arts or business schools. No PhD-granting institutions were found among the business schools, which is not surprising as a terminal degree from such institutions would most likely be the master of business administration (MBA).

The difference in percentages of program that offer the PR practicum was intriguing. There appears to be no link between the programs that offer practicum and those that offer internships. Approximately 50 percent of all institutional programs offered the internship option, but the practicum option was offered significantly less often by the journalism programs. Perhaps additional research can be extended to explore this result—for example, it may be that students in journalism programs participate in multiple internships during their studies while those in business or liberal arts are limited to just one internship. It would be an interesting area to explore.

When reviewing the courses offered, it is notable that the international/intercultural communication course was the most frequently offered elective in each of the three types of institution. In the early 2000s, scholars recommended the inclusion of international public relations in the curricula.²⁹ At that time, Taylor argued that the subject was important for both academia and practice in light of new technology and increased global communication, such that “[M]utual understanding between organizations and international publics will be needed [and] [t]he creation of mutual understanding and cooperative relationships is the expertise of public relations theory and practice.”³⁰ Results of this study indicate that many institutions have adopted this recommendation with seventy-five (62.1 percent) of those analyzed providing an elective in either international or intercultural public relations.

There were few significant differences between course content of PhD-granting institutions and other programs. Of the differences, the most notable were case studies, and public speaking courses—which were offered less frequently by PhD-granting institutions—and reporting—which was offered more frequently. There is no obvious reason for the frequency or lack thereof. In each of these cases, when one examines the percentage of programs within each institutional type that offer these three courses, the differences do not appear significant. For example, in the case of reporting, 54 percent of journalism programs, 41 percent of liberal arts programs, and 31 percent of business school programs included the course.

Thus, while each of the three types of institution provide core PR courses across all curricula categories as indicated in Table 4, specific types of courses are more or less likely to be available to students depending on the type of college or university program they attend. For example, those interested in Communication Techniques would potentially be better served by a liberal arts college program while those seeking a wide variety of electives might prefer a journalism school program.

Despite arguments as to the necessity of education in business topics,³¹ such courses continue to be lacking as requirements for an undergraduate degree in public relations. Perhaps they will appear in the future but as of now, if such courses are being taken by students in PR programs, they are being taken as electives outside the major.

Moreover, there are potential differences in programs that cannot be identified by the type of method used here. Those seeking a PR program should be careful to analyze these differences before selecting the best option. For example, the depth of writing courses, the standards of the courses, and the types of faculty (e.g., professor or adjunct, communications professor or non-communications professor) may provide great differences in the level and quality of skills achieved. The type and quality of the education and skills gained could be affected by the demands of the syllabi and the professional and educational experience of the instructor.

Number of PhD-Granting Institutions

Studies have argued that there are insufficient PhD-granting universities in which to develop the researchers who in turn develop research that is meaningful to both the development of a strong theoretical base and the applied research that improves and professionalizes the practice.³² It is difficult to tell whether the number of PhD-granting institutions has increased since such concerns were voiced. Although direct comparisons are not possible given differences in sample and size, in his 1989 study, Grunig noted just thirteen schools with such programs³³ while this study found thirty-nine. Additional research into this area could verify whether in fact there has been an increase and whether the number of programs within research institutions has also increased, as recommended by earlier scholars.³⁴

Entry-Level and Advanced-Level Job Requirements

The most frequently sought skills in both entry-level and advanced-level jobs were writing, public speaking/verbal communication, PR strategy and planning, new media, social media, and media relations. Advanced-level positions were more likely to require interpersonal skills, fundraising experience, knowledge of research methods, and familiarity with issues management or crisis communication while entry-level positions were more likely to require visual communication skills. Based on the analysis of courses offered, it would appear that each of the university divisions, regardless of the highest degree offered, provided what would appear to be an adequately robust curriculum to meet these needs. In addition, many of the skills sought for advanced-level positions—for example, public relations practice, ethics and law, research, and international or intercultural relations—were also provided by the undergraduate curricula examined.

Overall, the most required skill at both the entry level and the advanced level was writing. More than 80 percent of all job listings asked for applicants with writing skill. Among the three types of university PR programs examined in this study, close to 70 percent offered a PR writing class, 53.4 percent offered a general writing class, and 43.2 percent offered a reporting class. These numbers indicate that curricula within all three institutional settings are endeavoring to provide students with a strong foundation in writing and therefore a strong foundation from which to seek employment.

Conclusion

Overall, the study contributes to understanding the PR curricula in a variety of institutional programs and the appropriateness of courses within these programs. Results of the study support the existence of a good relationship between the needs of the practice and the skills provided through public relations curricula. With just one significant gap, that of social and new or emerging media, the public relations curricula appears to meet the needs of the practice.

Given the rapidly evolving world of communication media, it is not surprising that the needs of the practice have outstretched the skills provided through existing public relations curricula. Yet students appear to have been aware of this gap for some years.³⁵ As research has demonstrated, among the areas for which students indicated feeling least prepared were new technologies and the related areas of electronic communication, design and layout, and understanding technology.³⁶

The gap in the need for social media skills and the provision of social media courses may be temporary and illusionary. The gap may be temporary in that technology and emerging media are changing much more quickly than academic processes generally allow; for example, course catalog planning takes place often a year in advance of the semester in which the courses will be offered. Moreover, the gap may also be illusionary as professors and instructors incorporate social media into the course content. Review of academic conferences such as the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) reveal sessions devoted to social media and its incorporation into curriculum. As a result, students are getting the benefit of up-to-date social media integration into their courses, rather than set courses devoted to platforms or media that may not withstand the test of time.

Footnotes

Authors’ Note

Both authors contributed equally to this article.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

1.

W. Norton Grubb and Marvin Lazerson, “Vocationalism in Higher Education: The Triumph of the Education Gospel,” Journal of Higher Education 76, no. 1 (2005): 1–25, 2

Notes

Author Biographies

Giselle A. Auger, APR, received her PhD in Mass Communication from the University of Florida and holds an MA in International Relations and Strategic Studies from the University of Lancaster in England. Her research focuses on transparency, nonprofit communication, strategic use of social media, and academic dishonesty. She enjoys the intersection of practice and academia and making theory and research applicable to her students.

Moonhee Cho, PhD, is an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her current research focuses on public relations management of both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, public engagement, strategic use of social media, and public relations education. She is a former fundraising practitioner and consultant in South Korea. Cho earned her doctorate of philosophy and master of arts in mass communication from the University of Florida.