Nontraditional Students Research Articles

Ready, set, work? Career preparations of final-year non-traditional university students

ABSTRACT In higher education, non-traditional students experience a range of challenges, from aspiration and access into university to academic progress and success in their degree. Most students either enter employment or further study after their degree. This paper focuses on the latter stages of the effort to widen student access and participation in higher education, with an exploratory study of the career preparation and readiness of 22 final-year undergraduates from non-traditional backgrounds in the UK. We explore how students prepare themselves and are prepared by their degree for life after university, with the focus on career preparations and employment. In particular, we discuss the challenges for these students to engage in opportunities such as work experiences and extracurricular activities, which have implications for their chances of success and social mobility. We conclude with recommendations for practice, especially for academic and professional staff.

Reflective Practice: Adult Student Engagement in Character Education

This paper outlines how I assessed and revised a proprietary character education program of study administered to non-traditional students attending an accelerated academic program at a Hispanic-Serving Institution. John Dewey’s reflection practice doctrine provided the theoretical foundation and lens for conducting the analysis. Given the unique characteristics associated with non-traditional students, three main challenges are outlined: (1) students matriculate at varying levels of academic readiness and moral development, (2) there is low student engagement rate in character education, and (3) there is limited time for ethical instruction in a full academic curriculum and busy student lives. The reflection process included quantitative data from the Defining Issues Test-2 and qualitative data from observations, student and staff responses, and interviews. The presentation concludes with key takeaways and recommendations for future research.

Sleep Patterns of Graduate Healthcare Students: Mental Health, Academic, and Practice Implications

This longitudinal, correlational study examined allied healthcare students’ sleep patterns, stress, and anxiety. Seventy-one students completed The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Visual Analog Mood scale (VAS), and Subjective Unit of Distress scale (SUDS). The Global PSQI index was 7.4. Distress was the principal predictor of sleep quality, F (69) = 12.71, p = .001. Personal stressors had the greatest impact on sleep quality (χ2 = 41.72, p = .001). Nontraditional students reported higher distress and daytime dysfunction. Sleep hygiene training is recommended to improve students’ agency and QOL. Study design limits generalization.

Demystifying Oxbridge: a qualitative video analysis of information sharing strategies by student vloggers for prospective applicants

Oxford and Cambridge receive much criticism over the social selectivity of their intake, to which both institutions have responded by admitting more applicants from non-traditional backgrounds. While university-led outreach strategies appear to have made a difference in diversifying their student body, little is known about the role of student-led interventions. This study fills the gap by drawing upon social capital theory to explore how and why student vloggers (StudyTubers) at Oxbridge are sharing their insider knowledge to inform and inspire prospective applicants. Content from nine of the most viewed videos created by three of the most popular Oxbridge StudyTubers were selected for qualitative analysis. Findings revealed that StudyTubers share their content for the purpose of normalising the Oxbridge student experience and encouraging applications from those who might otherwise have self-excluded themselves. Implications for widening access to Oxbridge are identified, and the value of non-traditional outreach for non-traditional students is discussed.

Roma University Students in Spain: Who Are They?

Roma people in Spain face situations of high deprivation, including high unemployment and early school leaving rates. The strategies to address this situation point to education as the means to overcome poverty and social exclusion. Although efforts have been made within compulsory education, scarce attention has been given to their performance once in higher education. Although young Roma people are reaching higher education more often than their parents, once at university they face specific barriers that hinder their opportunities. Using a mixed-methods approach, UNIROMA analyses those difficulties and formulates orientations to overcome them, thereby contributing to increasing the university graduation rates of Roma students. This paper presents the results of the quantitative fieldwork, consisting of an online questionnaire administered from May to July of 2020 to Roma students enrolled in Spanish universities. In the results, three main profiles were identified: traditional students, young students with other commitments (job and/or family responsibilities) and mature students. The results, concordant with research on other minority groups and higher education, provide evidence of the barriers that Roma students face in university due to the intersectionality of multiple factors of discrimination, namely, belonging to an ethnic minority and being more frequently first-generation, low SES and non-traditional students.

Teaching religion online to nontraditional adult learners

Teaching religion online to nontraditional adult learners

Effects of Perceived Discrimination on the School Satisfaction of Brazilian High School Graduates

This paper analyzes the consequences of peer victimization for the satisfaction with schooling (“happiness”) of college-bound high school graduates in Brazil. Several types of victimization are explored including discrimination due to race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, and disability. We compare the satisfaction with their schooling of students planning to head to college straight from high school and older students applying for college later in life (“nontraditional students”). We conclude that students who perceived that they had been discriminated against were more dissatisfied with their school experience than those who did not, ceteris paribus, and we relate level of dissatisfaction to type of discrimination. The older student evidence reveals that this dissatisfaction wanes with time and age, however. Our conclusions are based upon ordered logistic analyses of data for 2.4 million current high school seniors and 78.7 thousand older students drawn from the Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio questionnaire (ENEM).

The Influence of Students’ Self-Determination and Personal Achievement Goals in Learning and Engagement: A Mediation Model for Traditional and Nontraditional Students

Self-determination theory (SDT) and achievement goal theory (AGT) assume that students’ level of self-determination and the goals they pursue in class are important factors in engagement and learning. The aims of this study were to: (1) investigate the links between the students’ types of motivation and personal achievement goals; (2) explore how these two sets of variables relate to learning, engagement, and exploring mediation effects; and (3) understand the specificities of nontraditional students vs. traditional students, regarding the way these variables relate to each other. The study used a sample of 361 Portuguese adult students, 138 traditional (younger than 25 years old), and 223 nontraditional (active adults returning to education, 25 or older). The instruments used were: Self-regulation Questionnaire—Learning, Personal Achievement Goal Orientations Scale, Adult Learning Strategies Evaluation Scale and Behavioral Engagement Questionnaire. Path analysis for the total sample revealed that mastery goals mediated the relationship between autonomous motivation and all educational outcomes, and performance-avoidance goals mediated the relationship between introjected regulation, external regulation, and behavioral and emotional engagement. Multiple-group path analysis revealed a much stronger pattern of relationships for nontraditional students, especially between the SDT and AGT variables. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.

Inclusivity & Modification Attitudes in Collegiate Intramural Sport: A Pilot Study

The purpose of this study was to evaluate college students’ inclusivity and openness for modifications made for those with physical disabilities in intramural sport. Participants were 268 students from two midwestern universities. Attitudes toward inclusivity and modification were assessed using the Collegian Attitudes toward Inclusive Recreation (CAICR) Scale. Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression. Results show that positive attitudes toward inclusivity increased as students got older, and male students were less likely to be inclusive compared to female students. Students majoring in education and human services fields had more positive attitudes toward inclusion than those in arts and sciences fields did. Being a non-traditional student was the only and strongest predictor of less positive attitudes toward modification. Findings demonstrate that students in the two midwestern colleges may have welcoming attitudes toward individuals with physical disabilities in intramural sports; however, they may be less willing to make modifications, particularly among non-traditional students.

Unlikely Additions

Early childcare professionals represent a cross-section of two underrepresented groups in higher education: childcare educators, and adult female learners. According to the United States Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the childcare workforce in 2020 was predominantly female and lacking post high-school education (https://www.bls.gov/ooh/personal-care-and-service/childcare-workers.htm ). Early childcare professionals often receive minimal training and compensation (Harwood & Tukonic, 2016). Participants in a university credentialing program for non-traditional students participated in a focus group as part of a program evaluation. The data was collected and analyzed. Themes were identified, including anticipated themes such as concerns about cost of college credits, and successfully completing coursework while simultaneously managing personal and work challenges. However, themes of professionalism, and the significance of belonging to a community of learners were not anticipated. The focus group provided rich discussion, and the analysis offers thoughts on advocacy for and with the early childhood education and care workforce.

Re/configuring possible selves and broadening future horizons: the experiences of working-class British Asian women navigating higher education

Improving non-traditional students' access to higher education has been an aim of United Kingdom (UK) governments since 1997. However, less is known about what enables non-traditional British Asian female students to consider different career options on completion of their studies, and if/how their degree course has enabled them to reconfigure their possible future professional selves. In this paper, we draw on interviews to examine the experiences of working-class British Asian women undertaking an undergraduate degree in Greater London. We highlight the support provided by the participants' families to enable their aspirations for higher education. We also examine the importance of work placements in enabling a reimagination of their future possible professional selves. Our data leads us to argue that reconfiguring did occur, and work placements and the confidence gained through placements enabled our participants to construct professional future selves that would otherwise be unthinkable.

X’s and Y’s in the Midst of the Pandemic: Generational Identity, Mental Well-being and Life Satisfaction Among Filipino Adult Learners

<p style="text-align: justify;">The 2019 novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has increased the mental health challenges and decreased the quality of life among students and the general adult population. However, adult learners and non-traditional students who are currently at their quarter and midlife during the pandemic, remain underrepresented in well-being research. Moreover, the unique sociocultural and historical contexts specific to generational cohorts may have an impact on the way they experience and cope with the challenges brought about by the pandemic. This study sought to determine the relationships among generational identity, mental well-being and life satisfaction among Millennial and Generation X Filipino adult learners. A total of 543 adult learners participated in this online cross-sectional study. Findings suggest that young millennials reported lower levels of mental well-being and life satisfaction compared to old millennials and Gen Xers. Moreover, mental well-being was found to be a predictor of life satisfaction among Filipino adult learners, regardless of their generational identity. Schools must implement initiatives to monitor and address mental health issues among adult learners, contextualized to quarter and midlife contexts.</p>

"Better for everybody": Student-parent experiences of higher education

The second half of the twentieth century witnessed a successful campaign to increase accessibility of higher education in many industrialised countries. Therefore, the system that was once reserved primarily for the traditional white, middle to upper-class, young adult male, with a well-educated and politically connected father, is now more accessible to a diverse non-traditional student population that includes women, racial and ethnic minorities, and older adult students (Pearce 2017). Research indicates that, for many non-traditional students, financial, social, and emotional complexities that accompany maintaining the roles of parent and student simultaneously can impair their abilities to obtain a degree and, therefore, impair their socio-economic standing (Hoffer & Welch, 2006). These complexities may also affect family. This study explores the experiences of six mature Higher Education (HE) students with dependent children. Using semi-structed interviews the study asks students three research questions: (a) what led the participant to decide on HE while in a caring role, (b) what internal or external criticism or praise has the participant experienced by taking on a dual role of both parent and HE student, and (c) how does the participant deal with the internal, external criticism, praises – the unique challenges of being a mature student and parent? A descriptive interpretive approach connects ideas from different participants to understand their stories (Smythe, 2012). Findings indicated participants’ motivation to undertake HE were: seeing study as a prized possession; their mature age being an advantage; and sufficient support for childcare. Praise from family and staff encouraged them, whereas societal expectations for mothers staying home with very young children was a criticism. Once they decided to study, they gained support from personal and institutional sources to succeed. They also offered advice on how to better support mature student parents. The findings will help develop support for mature-aged students in higher education.

Gaining wisdom from enduring inequities.

When it comes to discussing gender and racial inequities, I cringe and pray that my 10-year-old daughter doesn’t go through the biases and microaggressions I endured since I moved to the United States for college. I was born in New Jersey to a doctor and nurse who emigrated to the United States in the mid-1960s for work, and then moved back to their birth country (the Philippines) in 1971 to start their own medical clinic when I was barely a year old. As a second child and only daughter of four children growing up in a patriarchal society, I can say I wasn’t very assertive by nature. Although I grew up with a fervent disposition as a hardworking, ambitious A-student, I found myself in unexpected circumstances that led me to joyfully accept motherhood to my one and only son at the young age of 19. With the help of a generous financial aid package, I persevered to finish my BA in Biology, with a minor in Chemistry, on the pre-medicine track at Mount Holyoke College, an all-women's college in Western Massachusetts as a nontraditional student in their Frances Perkins Program. As a college graduate yearning to spend missed time with her 4-year-old son, I answered a newspaper ad looking for a Research Assistant and landed my first job in the biopharmaceutical industry in hopes of gaining research experience and a decent salary enough to sustain a family of two. Little did I know that I would love the culture of scientific research and the thrill of the chase in drug discovery for neurological and inflammatory diseases. I would stay in the industry for 15 years, honing my research skills between three Connecticut biotech and pharmaceutical companies. This career path enabled me to be the best parent I could be and to support my son through grade school and all the way through college.

An evaluation of the factors that influence academic success as defined by engaged students

ABSTRACT Grades are frequently used by academics as a measure of academic success. The literature has largely neglected to ascertain how students define this important concept. This study aimed to give voice to how university students define academic success and what they perceive as the contributing factors. This qualitative study used three focus groups with 16 undergraduate psychology students attending a London university. Experiential inductive thematic analysis (TA) was used to analyse the data. Students defined academic success as a combination of outcomes including grades and more holistic outcomes of personal development and achievements. Three themes emerged to summarise students’ perception of the factors that influence academic success. The first theme, student agency, included two subthemes: setting goals and self-regulation. The second theme was aptitude, with two subthemes: self-evaluation and motivation. The final theme was the type of support which included the subthemes institutional support and external support. This study adds the student voice to the definition of academic success and the factors that facilitate it. The challenge for higher education institutions is to incorporate these student-defined attributes into the curriculum to facilitate student success, particularly targeting malleable elements such as study and social skills, financial and other tailored provisions, especially for non-traditional students. Researchers also need to develop instruments to measure holistic academic success outcomes to assess if students are reaching these objectives.

The Persistence of African American Female Students in Community Colleges

ABSTRACT Community colleges have been an educational source for individuals to increase capital and social mobility. But the reality of these opportunities is not the same for all. First generation, low income, non-traditional minority students make up a large percentage of students enrolling in community colleges yet retention rates, primarily for African Americans remains relatively low. The purpose of this study was to determine what factors impact the persistence of African American female students attending community colleges. The study researchers tested study hypotheses using a 3-step hierarchical regression analysis. Demographic variables (race and age) were entered into the model first to control the confounding effect of these variables. Second, the researchers entered academic support, financial health, financial strain, and experiencing racism to examine change in variance explained by the model with main effects and the relative direct effect of each variable on college persistence. In the third step, study researchers entered two-way interactions between academic support and financial health, academic support and financial strain, and academic support and experiencing racism to examine indirect effects. African American female students who make the commitment to invest in furthering their education should have every opportunity available to them to persist and ultimately graduate. Reviewing and reforming current policies and practices may increase engagement, positively impact retention, and result in greater positive societal impacts.

A Welcoming Environment: Nontraditional Students’ Experiences at a Small, Healthcare-Focused University

Nontraditional students represent a large percentage of the population in higher education, yet some institutions may be better suited than others to serve their needs. This research took place at a small, healthcare-focused university that attracts many nontraditional students, so I sought to gather information about the quality of their experiences. I conducted online interviews with a sample of nontraditional students (seven female, one male) to see if they felt welcomed, if their needs were being served, and how they coped with challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Transcriptions of the recorded interviews were reviewed, and an inductive approach was taken in analyzing them. Statements were coded into six themes: the welcoming environment of the university, comparisons to other schools, relations between traditional and nontraditional students, helpful services offered by the university, suggestions for ways to help nontraditional students at the university, and social support received by the students. Analysis revealed that the students were highly satisfied with their university experience and the quality of the academic support they received. Future research could assess the effectiveness of services for both traditional and nontraditional students in terms of student satisfaction, student success, or retention rate.

Pathway to Transfer: Validating the Lived Experiences of Nontraditional Students in an Early Childhood Program

ABSTRACT This qualitative study explored how the life experiences of nontraditional Latina students influenced their decision to transfer from a community college to a state university as early childhood majors. Guided by Validation Theory, the researchers share the participants’ stories in the areas of early schooling, language, and familial influences in order to analyze how this has affected their pursuit of higher education. The findings present multiple factors that are significant in improving the transfer process. The study provides recommendations such as developing relationships, hosting validating events, and increasing collaboration between the community college and state university as instrumental in creating a supportive transfer system.

AGE AND THE PERCEPTION OF BARRIERS FOR ADULT BUSINESS STUDENTS

ABSTRACT As more and more institutions of higher learning begin to attract non-traditional students they feel gratified in the results of their endeavors. What is commonly lost in understanding however, is that not all adult learners have an equal access to furthering their education. It is essential that decision makers in the education establishment understand the reasons for inaccessibility. Often, the lack of access results both from the higher education’s inflexibility towards the needs of adult students and failure to understand circumstances in which non-traditional students find themselves. This paper sheds light on the personal and institutional reasons for perceived barriers to participation on the part of adult students. Keywords Participation, Adult Learning, Reentry, Nontraditional Students, Adult Education, Adult Learner Barriers.

Growth Mindset Intervention Improves Performance of Highly Nontraditional Introductory Psychology Students at a Community College

Background Research suggests growth mindset interventions can support student achievement, particularly among students at risk of academic struggle, but it remains underspecified which at-risk populations will benefit from such interventions. Objectives This study aimed to experimentally evaluate whether highly (vs. moderately or minimally) nontraditional community college students would benefit from a growth mindset intervention and whether their performance differed at baseline and after the intervention. Method A sample of 155 students in introductory psychology at a 2-year community college was randomly assigned to complete a growth mindset or control intervention, and all participants completed an extensive background survey. Results Results showed improved exam performance among highly nontraditional students in the mindset (vs. control) condition but no benefit among other students. Highly nontraditional students showed similar pre-intervention performance to peers, but their exam scores declined more over the semester than did control peers. Conclusion Growth mindset interventions may offer a low-cost strategy for supporting nontraditional community college students at risk of a downward performance trajectory. Teaching Implications Instructors can use easily administered mindset interventions to support at-risk students’ academic performance. They may also wish to evaluate the performance-related messages they convey to students and work to create a growth-oriented classroom environment.