Empirical Manifestations of Power among Adult Learners in Online Discussions

Abstract

This study examined the nature of power manifestations in a specific online learning setting. The two online classes selected for this study were Master’s level courses in a professional school at a large state university in the United States. A total of 1340 postings were made in the two classes over the span of the semester. To test the research question, frequency analysis and the Mann-Whitney U test were conducted, using gender and race as the independent variables. The results of the study suggest the possibility that the online discussion environment attenuates the power of gender-based privilege and perhaps undercuts race privilege, even though there was an element of inequality based on power between the racial groups in an indication of power manifestations.