Human Resource Executives' Perceptions of Academic Research

Human Resource (HR) executives were surveyed with regard to their perceptions of academic HR research information. In general, the results suggest that HR practitioners' attitudes related to relevance, skepticism, and accessibility are not as negative as was commonly assumed. Still, some specific areas of practitioner concern were identified in the study. The executives' attitudes were also found to be significantly related to specific demographic and organizational variables. Interestingly, HR executives with Ph.D.s had significantly more negative attitudes toward academic research than those without Ph.D.s. Male HR executives also viewed academic research as more irrelevant than their female counterparts. Attitudes also differed significantly as a function of organizational size and type of industry.