Reflecting on Experiences of Learning among Adult Learners with Multiple Responsibilities: A Case of Evening Programmes at a University in Tanzania

Abstract

The focus of this paper is to report the findings of a qualitative study whose purpose was to analyse the experiences of adult learners pursuing evening postgraduate degree programmes at the university level in Tanzania. Using ethnographic research combined with multiple case research design, together with in-depth interviews and documentary review, data were generated from 20 postgraduate students from one school within a university in Tanzania. The resulting qualitative data were subjected to thematic analysis. The study found that university adult learners in these evening programmes combined learning with their full-time employment, family, and social responsibilities as well as extra income-generating activities. Inevitably, these multiple responsibilities, as the study established, adversely affected their academic performance and duration for programme completion. In fact, completion on a part-time basis depended on dispositional factors such as individual learner’s efforts and strategies adopted to cope with the situation, with many others either delaying completion or dropping out altogether. This scenario invites rethinking the modus operandi of programmes to facilitate postgraduate students’ completion rates amid widening participation in higher education.