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Motivations and enculturation of older students returning to a traditional university
Author(s) -
Parks Rodney,
Evans Brett,
Getch Yvette
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
new horizons in adult education and human resource development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1939-4225
DOI - 10.1002/nha3.20031
Subject(s) - enculturation , psychology , lifelong learning , higher education , pedagogy , preference , qualitative research , baby boomers , meaning (existential) , axial coding , population , sociology , medical education , grounded theory , social science , medicine , demography , demographic economics , political science , law , economics , psychotherapist , microeconomics , theoretical sampling
Abstract As baby boomers approach the age of retirement, they are increasingly returning to higher education to pursue degrees for encore careers. Academic planners must pay careful attention to the specific concerns of this population to help ease their transition to a university setting after decades of absence. This qualitative study investigated the meaning of the experiences of seven students participating in a 62‐and‐over reduced tuition program at a large, traditional Southeastern university. Two sets of semi‐structured interviews were analyzed using open coding to identify major themes of participants’ experiences. Lifelong learning and a preference for a college‐town atmosphere were the principal motivations for participants’ return to school. Challenges relating to integration into campus life, isolation from traditional students, and outsider status were explored. This study provides insight into the various ways older learners define their identity as students on a traditional campus.