A Conceptual Analysis of Usage

Electronic portfolios constitute a prominent educational innovation which aims at the systematic self-controlled development of qualifications based on a meaningful collection of electronic items. As a commonly supposed interesting side effect, literature supposes e-portfolios also as particular suitable tools for recruiting employees, while systematic studies are missing. The current paper therefore critically examines this view using a parsimonious model of technology acceptance and uncovers diverse usage conditions. As the main result, recruiting e-portfolios have to be understood as a distinctly ambivalent concept, adoptable only in a restricted and contingent way, while there are several organizational and particularly technical measures that could improve future e-portfolio usage in recruiting.