Session Information
ERG SES D 10, Mobility and Education
Paper Session
Contribution
This presentation concentrates on one of the most important actors of adult higher education, namely adult students. The research of adult learners’ participation is higher education is rooted in the 1970s and 1980s educational research when the number of non-traditional groups (that is to say, formerly excluded or underrepresented social groups such as women, first generation intellectuals and the older section of the population) increased significantly. Of these non-traditional students, this research focuses on the role of adult students in the continuously changing higher education.
The research of adult students in higher education is called participation research(Aslanian 2001, Bourner et al 1991, Bourgeois et al 1999, Bowl 2003, Courtney 1992, Dominicé 2000, Edwards et al 1993, Mark et al 2004, Schuetze and Slowey 2000, Tight 1991). The question of participation research is why different social groups decide to take up educational programs and why others do not participate in formal education. The subject of this approach is often adult students in higher education. They wish to reveal and understand why adults enter into higher education, in other words, what motivates them to pursue a college degree. In our research the special focus of academic enquiry is on motivations and barriers to participation in higher education program. Understanding adult learners’ motivations and barriers to participation is equally important for the institutions and for the students. It is the universities and colleges best interest to serve adult students for many reasons: first of all, these adults might contribute to the success and prestige of the universities with their academic or sports excellence. Nowadays, world rankings of universities and colleges and their academic programs are undisputedly important. Secondly, it is important for students, because they are the “new majority” of higher education nowadays that is why it is utterly important to get to know their motives, barriers and needs in higher education. The hypothesis of the research is that most adult learners participate in higher education because of work-related reasons. In other words, they study because they want to strengthen their workplace positions and improve their job-market opportunities.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
1. Aslanian, B. Carol (2001): Adult Students Today. New York: The College Board, 2001. 2. Bourgeois, Etienne – Duke, Chris – Guyot, Luc-Jean – Merril, Barbara (1999): The Adult University. [s. l.] : The Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press, 1999. 3. Bourner, Tom – Reynolds A. With – Hamed, Mahmoud – Bernett, Ronald (1991): Part-time Students in their Experience of Higher Education. [s. l.] : The Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press, 1991. 4. Bowl, Marion (2003): Non-tradional Entrants to Higher Education. ’They talk about people like me.’ [s. l.] : Trentham Books Limited, 2003. 5. Courtney, Sean (1992): Why adults learn. Towards a theory of participation in adult education. London, New York: Routledge, 1992. 6. Dominicé, Pierre (2000): Learning from our lives. Using educational biography with adults. California: Jossey-Bass, 2000. 7. Edwards, Richard – Sieminski, Sandi – Zeldin, David (1993, szerk.): Adult Learners, Education and Training. London, New York: Routledge, 1993. 8. Mark, Robin – Pouget, Mireille – Thomas, Edward (2004, eds.): Adults in Higher Education. Learning from Experience in the New Europe. Bern: Peter Lang AG., 2004. 9. Schuetze, G. Hans – Slowey, Maria (2000, eds): Higher Education and Lifelong Learners. International perspective on change. RoutledgeFalmer. London és New York. 10. Tight, Malcolm (1991): Higher Education: A Part-time Perspective. The society for research into higher education and Open University Press. [s. l.]
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