Some financial concerns Lack of confidence – ‘can I cope?’ Attitudes of family/social group Late starter Cathartic experience as stimulus Current opportunity – ‘time for me’ Self belief – ‘If they can do it so can I’ Altruism Lack of self-belief Financial ‘Catch 22’ Timetable difficulties Childcare problems Juggling family, work, study Single parent Need a good job to support family Want to be a role model for family Enjoy learning Need to work so time for study limited Family pressures – never at home Careerist Better long-term career prospects Self-respect Interest in studies Employer support and sometimes requirement Lack of confidence Costs difficult to manage Need to work as well as study Timetable issues Doubts about job market when finished Escapees New career with better prospects Better pay Need a change in direction – stuck in a rut Lack of confidence Personal growers Interest in the subject Opportunity presents itself now Prove that I can do it (Osborne et al, 2004: 296) It is important to consider the negative factors that potential students perceive as they are likely to impact on how they perceive the actual experience of further education. For example if the potential student has foreseen a large number of negative factors associated with their further education, but experience relatively few in reality, then it is likely that they would classify their experience of further education as positive. However, if they underestimate the negative factors and overestimate the positive, they are more likely to have what they perceive to be a negative experience. This ideological stance is expressed eloquently by Knowles 1978 (cited in James, 1995) who believes that “adult learners do not bring their experience with them to higher education; they are their experience”. It was important to always be aware of the role that the student’s previous experiences and expectations have on their reported experience which is the focus of this study. Phillips (1986) ascertained that “all mature students anticipated encountering more problems adapting to higher education of an academic nature prior to their studies than were
it was about achieving the highest level possible. They wanted to achieve what they believed to be their own personal best and they wanted the recognition for their hard work. “Not just passing, but getting a 1st.” [C56, FT, Q4] “There was a group of mature students at [name of IT] and we just gelled together for security but ended up detesting each other at the end of the degree, the reason was jockeying for position i.e. high achiever.” [C41, FT, Q4] “Mature students are a lot more competitive with each other.”[C50, FT, Q4] “Perhaps not being given enough opportunity to show individual ability when doing assessments…” [C83, FT, Q4] This pressure that mature learners are placing on themselves goes some way to explaining why they achieve higher levels of academic achievement than their younger peers (Shanahan, 2000). Betty expressed concerns about her ability to succeed due to her belief that she is not particularly strong academically, and Emma described feeling very distressed in her first semester. “My spellings wouldn’t be great now I’d be very bad at writing things… I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep up or do assignments… I wouldn’t be the best and never have been… I wondered was I able for it when I was going back.” (Betty, PT) “… the two of us sat down crying so often up to Christmas… going… what are they talking about… how do we do it….”(Emma, PT) These feelings of doubt are indicative of one of the most common internal barriers to higher education for mature learners, the fear of failure. The following section further explores the internal barriers that mature learners face in terms of what they reported as being of concern to them and how their previous experience or lack thereof impacted on their mature learner experience. 4.3 Personal experiences and concerns
The data from tables 7 and 8 captured some of the concerns that were faced by the mature learners who responded to the survey; those that relate to personal experiences and concerns are outlined here along with the experiences and concerns of the interviewees. Question two asked students to rate their experience on a scale from very negative to very positive in relation to three areas; their interaction with other students, lecturing staff and mature learner support services. Tables 11 and 12 below outline the responses from the full and part time cohorts. Table 11: Full time respondents question 2 How would you rate your experience as a mature learner at your institute for the following categories? Answer Options Very negative Somewhat negative Neutral Somewhat positive Very positive Does not to me Rating Average Response Count Interaction with other students 5 32 50 158 426 1 4.44 672 Interaction with lecturing staff 6 15 46 137 463 1 4.56 668 Interaction with mature learner support services 30 54 242 75 114 146 3.95 661 Total answered question 674 12: Part time respondents question 2 How would you rate your experience as a mature learner at your institute for the following categories? Answer Options Very negative Somewhat negative Neutral Somewhat positive Very positive Does not apply to me Rating Average Response Count Interaction with other students 1 9 13 20 44 2 4.16 89 Interaction with 0 7 8 21 53 0 4.35 89