Students' Perceptions of E-Mail Interaction During Student-Professor Advising Sessions: The Pursuit of Interpersonal Goals

This study investigated students' preference for e‐mail over face‐to‐face (FtF) communication for interpersonal goal achievement (i.e., instrumental, relational, self‐presentational) with faculty advisors. An exploratory analysis of undergraduate students revealed that they did not prefer computer‐mediated communication (i.e., e‐mail) over FtF communication with advisors when addressing all 3 interpersonal goal types. Significant gender differences were also found, with women reporting more use of e‐mail, and men preferring to address self‐presentational goals in FtF settings. It also was found that compared to Caucasians, African Americans did not prefer CMC to FtF interaction in achieving instrumental and self‐presentational goals. Results of this study suggest that despite the ubiquity of e‐mail communication, undergraduates did not prefer e‐mail over FtF contact with faculty advisors.