Explore impact of family support to older disengaged students

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Acknowledgement

I would first like to express my gratitude for my research supervisor, colleagues, peers and family whose immense and constant support has been a source of continuous guidance and inspiration.

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Table of Contents

Chapter # 1: Introduction5

Background of the Study5

Statement of the Problem7

Purpose of Study7

Research Question7

Theory and Conceptual Framework8

Chapter # 2: Literature Review9

Returning Adult Student Population9

Returning Adult Women Students10

Support11

Family SES13

Family Involvement14

Reasons to Return15

Chapter # 3: Case study17

Chapter # 4: Methodology18

Research Design18

Research Approach18

Site Selection/Participants19

Time Line19

Nature of Interviews20

Data Analysis22

Ethical Considerations22

Sample Interview23

Interview Participants23

Anticipate Results24

References25

Chapter # 1: Introduction

Background of the Study

Returning adult students represent a sizable clientele in higher education, a fact that has positioned the group in the forefront for a number of years. According to Robertson (2001), “Moving from higher education's periphery to its centre by force of sheer numbers, adult students currently command considerable attention among the field's researchers and practitioners" (Robertson, 2001, p. 490).

While a proliferation of material addresses the returning adult student in general, and a significant amount addresses the returning female student, little documentation exists to examine the experience of the returning adult male student. Because of the paucity of literature on adult women returning to school to pursue undergraduate degrees, this study examines this particular student group's experiences.

Adults comprise an ever-growing group of lifelong learners, thus increasing the opportunity for potential growth of college degree programs. The Condition of Education reports, "Forty percent of adults participated in adult education activities in 2005, up from 32 percent in 2001" (Smith et al., 2006, p. 66). The National Centre for Education Statistics confirms this number and reports states, "About 76 million adults (40 percent) participated in one or more adult education activities during the 12 months prior to the study" (Smith et al., 2006, p.1).

This overall adult population of learners is a large and complex one. Adults' lives, once with predictable developmental stages, now contain passages that may reoccur and recycle periodically. Schlossberg, Lynch, and Chickering (2009) observed: “We cannot assume that adult lives follow an orderly, linear process. The process, in actuality, is circular: Careers are interrupted and started, and individuals make loops as their lives unfold". Lifetime jobs are now the exception, and female careers and childbearing have developed along new timelines (Aslanian & Brickell, 2000, pp 25). Within the complexity of adults' lives, educational opportunities continue to be options.

For the purposes of this study, adult students are defined as those individuals aged 25 years and over. Twenty five years of age frequently has been cited as the age demarcation in studies of the adult student population. Enrolment figures often use the 25-year age as a reference point as well. Using enrolment data from Fall 2003, the ...