Abstract

This article concerns non-traditional students’ involvement in Australian higher education. It aims to deepen understanding of enabling and constraining factors for this group’s retention, through an in-depth case study of a non-traditional student’s university experience. The study is underpinned by principles of phenomenology, hermeneutics and idiography with data analysis involving an inductive coding process and a thematic analysis. Findings draw attention to the need to provide support for non-traditional university students in developing a sense of connectedness and resourcefulness. The study makes an original contribution to knowledge by challenging the assumption that western theories of psychology, which privilege an individualist perspective, adequately explain and predict behaviours of non-traditional students who are members of collective social systems. It emphasises the need for researchers and practitioners to adopt an interpretative stance that accommodates a collectivist perspective. Without this approach, student behaviours may be misinterpreted and their circumstances may be unfairly undervalued.

Highlights

  • Student attrition remains an ongoing concern for the higher education sector in Australia (Wilson et al, 2016)

  • While most universities have prioritised student success strategies, retention rates have improved only marginally, and in some case, have worsened in individual institutions (Beer & Lawson, 2016). Various explanations for this situation include the suggestion that the Australian government’s widening participation agenda has encouraged a shift from elite access to universal access resulting in increased numbers of students who are commonly referred to as nontraditional (Chesters & Watson, 2016)

  • Non-traditional students have been “traditionally under-represented” in higher education (Funston, 2012, p.5). This cohort includes those from less advantaged socioeconomic circumstances and first-infamily to attend university, mature-age students, part-time students (Devlin, 2010), and those who entered via a tertiary enabling program (Lisciandro & Gibbs, 2016)

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Summary

Abstract*

This article concerns non-traditional students’ involvement in Australian higher education. It aims to deepen understanding of enabling and constraining factors for this group’s retention, through an in-depth case study of a non-traditional student’s university experience. The study makes an original contribution to knowledge by challenging the assumption that western theories of psychology, which privilege an individualist perspective, adequately explain and predict behaviours of non-traditional students who are members of collective social systems. It emphasises the need for researchers and practitioners to adopt an interpretative stance that accommodates a collectivist perspective. Interpreting the first-year experience of a non-traditional student: A case study

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