The article aims to determine criteria that mature part-time students studying for education (teaching and non-teaching) degrees use to evaluate the quality of their higher education studies. Twenty-eight narrative interviews describing mature students’ educational paths are analyzed (initial coding, analysis of evaluative statements, and contextualizing statements in narratives). The four pillars of quality perceived by mature students are identified. The first pillar, the attitude toward students, is indicated by interaction style and by Studia paedagogica vol. 26, n. 1, 2021 www.studiapaedagogica.cz https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2021-1-5
本文旨在确定学习教育(教学和非教学)学位的成熟非全日制学生用来评估其高等教育学习质量的标准。分析了28个描述成熟学生教育路径的叙述性访谈(初始编码、评价性陈述分析和叙事中的情境化陈述)。确定了成熟学生所感知的四个质量支柱。第一个支柱,对学生的态度,由互动风格和Studia paedagogica vol. 26, n. 1, 2021 www.studiapaedagogica.cz https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2021-1-5表明
{"title":"Jak poznáme kvalitní kombinované studium? Pilíře kvality v hodnocení zralými studenty","authors":"Karla Brücknerová","doi":"10.5817/SP2021-1-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2021-1-5","url":null,"abstract":"The article aims to determine criteria that mature part-time students studying for education (teaching and non-teaching) degrees use to evaluate the quality of their higher education studies. Twenty-eight narrative interviews describing mature students’ educational paths are analyzed (initial coding, analysis of evaluative statements, and contextualizing statements in narratives). The four pillars of quality perceived by mature students are identified. The first pillar, the attitude toward students, is indicated by interaction style and by Studia paedagogica vol. 26, n. 1, 2021 www.studiapaedagogica.cz https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2021-1-5","PeriodicalId":37607,"journal":{"name":"Studia Paedagogica","volume":"26 1","pages":"125"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48842522","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The high dropout rate among working students in higher education in Portugal, including both those who are older and at a mature stage in their professional careers and those who are young and recent workers, is one of the main concerns of educational policy. Identifying the drivers of the academic pathway for these students is essential to promote successful education and increase labour productivity and business competitiveness. Using an extensive longitudinal database of personal, course, and employment variables of 1,561 working students from a Portuguese higher education institution, we perform a duration analysis to determine and compare the factors that drive the dropout and graduation risks of mature and young working students in higher education. The results show that, in general, young working students are more positively influenced by financial aid, their motivation for the course, and the desire to find a new qualified professional career, while mature working students depend more on social and academic integration. The accumulation of knowledge/skills in the 'out of class' experience seems to contribute positively to academic performance.
{"title":"Mature vs Young Working Students: Similarities, Differences, and Drivers of Graduation and Dropout","authors":"Pedro Carreira, A. Lopes","doi":"10.5817/SP2020-4-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2020-4-4","url":null,"abstract":"The high dropout rate among working students in higher education in Portugal, including both those who are older and at a mature stage in their professional careers and those who are young and recent workers, is one of the main concerns of educational policy. Identifying the drivers of the academic pathway for these students is essential to promote successful education and increase labour productivity and business competitiveness. Using an extensive longitudinal database of personal, course, and employment variables of 1,561 working students from a Portuguese higher education institution, we perform a duration analysis to determine and compare the factors that drive the dropout and graduation risks of mature and young working students in higher education. The results show that, in general, young working students are more positively influenced by financial aid, their motivation for the course, and the desire to find a new qualified professional career, while mature working students depend more on social and academic integration. The accumulation of knowledge/skills in the 'out of class' experience seems to contribute positively to academic performance.","PeriodicalId":37607,"journal":{"name":"Studia Paedagogica","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46252952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Leanete Thomas Dotta, Carlinda Leite, Amélia Lopes
The needs of the market and of knowledge society, combined with democratic ideals, have justified policies that encourage the adult population to continue their studies. Portugal has been following this political movement, which in turn drives non-traditional students to higher education. In order to uncover the reasons that lead these students to enter higher education and the challenges it poses to them, research was conducted using biographical narratives. These narratives revealed the existence and effects of intrinsic motivations related to the satisfaction of learning and to the pleasures of taking part in stimulating activities and of achieving or overcoming something. They also showed the importance of having strategies to combat dispositional, situational, and institutional barriers in order to prevent non-traditional students from dropping out.
{"title":"Entering Higher Education After 30: What Can Be Learned from Biographical Narratives of Non-Traditional Students","authors":"Leanete Thomas Dotta, Carlinda Leite, Amélia Lopes","doi":"10.5817/SP2020-4-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2020-4-6","url":null,"abstract":"The needs of the market and of knowledge society, combined with democratic ideals, have justified policies that encourage the adult population to continue their studies. Portugal has been following this political movement, which in turn drives non-traditional students to higher education. In order to uncover the reasons that lead these students to enter higher education and the challenges it poses to them, research was conducted using biographical narratives. These narratives revealed the existence and effects of intrinsic motivations related to the satisfaction of learning and to the pleasures of taking part in stimulating activities and of achieving or overcoming something. They also showed the importance of having strategies to combat dispositional, situational, and institutional barriers in order to prevent non-traditional students from dropping out.","PeriodicalId":37607,"journal":{"name":"Studia Paedagogica","volume":"25 1","pages":"115-134"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43575889","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In recent decades, the number of students accessing higher education has grown, leading to a greater diversity of student profiles and modalities of studying. This means a new scenario among higher education institutions in which online universities are becoming increasingly relevant. The aim of this article is to explore how students' university trajectories differ according to age, gender, and university type at three Catalan universities (N = 20,745). For this purpose, we carried out a sequence analysis to identify university trajectories and then compared them according to the study modality (face-to-face/online) and the student profile (traditional/non-traditional). The results show differences in university progression trajectories among non-traditional students according to the university type. In particular, there was a higher incidence of dropout at face-to-face universities among non-traditional students. In the case of online universities, in contrast, dropout was not a phenomenon exclusive to non-traditional students, with similar dropout rates among all students regardless of profile.
{"title":"Non-Traditional Students, University Trajectories, and Higher Education Institutions: A Comparative Analysis of Face-to-Face and Online Universities","authors":"Albert Sánchez-Gelabert","doi":"10.5817/SP2020-4-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2020-4-3","url":null,"abstract":"In recent decades, the number of students accessing higher education has grown, leading to a greater diversity of student profiles and modalities of studying. This means a new scenario among higher education institutions in which online universities are becoming increasingly relevant. The aim of this article is to explore how students' university trajectories differ according to age, gender, and university type at three Catalan universities (N = 20,745). For this purpose, we carried out a sequence analysis to identify university trajectories and then compared them according to the study modality (face-to-face/online) and the student profile (traditional/non-traditional). The results show differences in university progression trajectories among non-traditional students according to the university type. In particular, there was a higher incidence of dropout at face-to-face universities among non-traditional students. In the case of online universities, in contrast, dropout was not a phenomenon exclusive to non-traditional students, with similar dropout rates among all students regardless of profile.","PeriodicalId":37607,"journal":{"name":"Studia Paedagogica","volume":"25 1","pages":"51-72"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48100975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pathways to German higher education have diversified considerably during recent decades and approximately one quarter of all first year students enter higher education with a qualification for the skilled labour market. This contribution seeks to identify different types of pathways to higher education and examine the differences among these groups regarding five dimensions of self-reported academic readiness. For our analyses, we used data on Starting Cohort 5 of the National Educational Panel Study. Our results suggest that for most of the indicators of academic readiness, students who entered via non-traditional pathways reported lower levels of academic readiness than traditional students did. In particular, students without a formal higher-education entrance certificate reported lower levels of academic readiness than any other group did. These patterns remained largely stable after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics and institutional destination.
{"title":"Ready to Study? Academic Readiness of Traditional and Non-Traditional Students in Germany","authors":"Nicole Tieben","doi":"10.5817/SP2020-4-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2020-4-1","url":null,"abstract":"Pathways to German higher education have diversified considerably during recent decades and approximately one quarter of all first year students enter higher education with a qualification for the skilled labour market. This contribution seeks to identify different types of pathways to higher education and examine the differences among these groups regarding five dimensions of self-reported academic readiness. For our analyses, we used data on Starting Cohort 5 of the National Educational Panel Study. Our results suggest that for most of the indicators of academic readiness, students who entered via non-traditional pathways reported lower levels of academic readiness than traditional students did. In particular, students without a formal higher-education entrance certificate reported lower levels of academic readiness than any other group did. These patterns remained largely stable after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics and institutional destination.","PeriodicalId":37607,"journal":{"name":"Studia Paedagogica","volume":"25 1","pages":"11-34"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46944472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article addresses a perceived gap in higher education literature: there is very little writing that successfully combines the issues of individual learners who dropped out and then returned to higher education – the adult returners. To address this problem, the article draws upon data from the qualitative part of a larger research project that deals with non-traditional students in the Czech Republic. This article analyzes data from eight subjects with drop-out experience chosen from the initial corpus of thirty non-traditional students. The results indicate that adult learners have to deal with three central identities and with potential identity struggles as they interact: student identity, work identity, and familial identity. The final result of the interaction between these identities can be either the integration or the disintegration of identities, whereby one of the possible consequences of identity disintegration is to drop out from higher education.
{"title":"Identity Struggles of Adult Returners","authors":"Katarína Rozvadská","doi":"10.5817/SP2020-4-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2020-4-9","url":null,"abstract":"This article addresses a perceived gap in higher education literature: there is very little writing that successfully combines the issues of individual learners who dropped out and then returned to higher education – the adult returners. To address this problem, the article draws upon data from the qualitative part of a larger research project that deals with non-traditional students in the Czech Republic. This article analyzes data from eight subjects with drop-out experience chosen from the initial corpus of thirty non-traditional students. The results indicate that adult learners have to deal with three central identities and with potential identity struggles as they interact: student identity, work identity, and familial identity. The final result of the interaction between these identities can be either the integration or the disintegration of identities, whereby one of the possible consequences of identity disintegration is to drop out from higher education.","PeriodicalId":37607,"journal":{"name":"Studia Paedagogica","volume":"25 1","pages":"183"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43320069","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article gives an overview about current research on non-traditional students and alumni in Germany. Its aim is to highlight similarities and differences with their traditional counterparts. The paper concentrates on the motivation to study, study performance, and labor market success (status and income) of those who do not hold a traditional higher education entrance certificate but entered university via occupational qualification. We show a widespread divergence in findings from no statistical difference at all to clear differences between non-traditional and traditional students and alumni. This holds true with regard to student motivation, study performance, and labor market success after graduation. We conclude that biggest challenge is the non-completion rates of non-traditional students, which poses a development task for institutions of higher education.
{"title":"Same Same but Different? Non-Traditional Students and Alumni in Germany","authors":"Tobias Brändle, Jessica Ordemann","doi":"10.5817/SP2020-4-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2020-4-2","url":null,"abstract":"This article gives an overview about current research on non-traditional students and alumni in Germany. Its aim is to highlight similarities and differences with their traditional counterparts. The paper concentrates on the motivation to study, study performance, and labor market success (status and income) of those who do not hold a traditional higher education entrance certificate but entered university via occupational qualification. We show a widespread divergence in findings from no statistical difference at all to clear differences between non-traditional and traditional students and alumni. This holds true with regard to student motivation, study performance, and labor market success after graduation. We conclude that biggest challenge is the non-completion rates of non-traditional students, which poses a development task for institutions of higher education.","PeriodicalId":37607,"journal":{"name":"Studia Paedagogica","volume":"25 1","pages":"35-50"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46874812","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Karla Brücknerová, Katarína Rozvadská, Dana Knotová, Libor Juhaňák, M. Rabušicová, P. Novotný
This article aims to identify, measure, and deeply understand the educational trajectories of non-traditional students (students over the age of 26 who are enrolled following a break in their formal educational trajectory) studying for education degrees in the Czech Republic. To fulfill the aims, we adapted previously identified types of educational trajectories that are traveled by non-traditional students to the circumstances of the Czech higher education system. We measured the distribution of three types (deferrers, returners, and recurrent learners) in a sample of 713 non-traditional students. We found that the types were nearly evenly distributed, with a slight prevalence of deferrers. For a deeper understanding of these types, we analyzed 30 narrative interviews. Qualitative data revealed each group's specific features, including their attitudes toward higher education studies, their academic enculturation, and their academic skills. We suggest that the returner type should be split into two categories for more specific quantitative analysis. On the basis of our research, we offer tailored recommendations for supporting particular groups of non-traditional students.
{"title":"Educational Trajectories of Non-Traditional Students: Stories Behind Numbers","authors":"Karla Brücknerová, Katarína Rozvadská, Dana Knotová, Libor Juhaňák, M. Rabušicová, P. Novotný","doi":"10.5817/SP2020-4-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2020-4-5","url":null,"abstract":"This article aims to identify, measure, and deeply understand the educational trajectories of non-traditional students (students over the age of 26 who are enrolled following a break in their formal educational trajectory) studying for education degrees in the Czech Republic. To fulfill the aims, we adapted previously identified types of educational trajectories that are traveled by non-traditional students to the circumstances of the Czech higher education system. We measured the distribution of three types (deferrers, returners, and recurrent learners) in a sample of 713 non-traditional students. We found that the types were nearly evenly distributed, with a slight prevalence of deferrers. For a deeper understanding of these types, we analyzed 30 narrative interviews. Qualitative data revealed each group's specific features, including their attitudes toward higher education studies, their academic enculturation, and their academic skills. We suggest that the returner type should be split into two categories for more specific quantitative analysis. On the basis of our research, we offer tailored recommendations for supporting particular groups of non-traditional students.","PeriodicalId":37607,"journal":{"name":"Studia Paedagogica","volume":"25 1","pages":"93-114"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48548163","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Locus of control, as a psychological characteristic, influences the experience and behaviour of individuals in all life situations, including the moment when an adult enters university and becomes a non-traditional student. Research on the locus of control of students at a faculty preparing experts for educational professions (teachers of all levels, social and special pedagogues, and andragogues) was initiated due to the increasing failure rate of non-traditional students within university efforts to achieve quality in all teaching activities and the need to verify the assumption that most applicants with an internal locus of control (ILC) choose an educational profession requiring management of other people's learning. The Zemanova Dolejs Locus of Control Scale revealed a dominant ILC or external (ELC) localisation of the locus of control in all 411 tertiary students, 152 of whom were non-traditional students. Considering their distribution into ILC and ELC, statistically significant relationships were identified in locus of control according to the form of study. For non-traditional students, no statistically significant relationships were found for age or type or years of study for either ILC or ELC.
{"title":"Locus of Control Analysed with Regards to Non-Traditional Tertiary Students of Education","authors":"J. Malach, Dana Vicherková, Tomás Barot","doi":"10.5817/SP2020-4-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2020-4-7","url":null,"abstract":"Locus of control, as a psychological characteristic, influences the experience and behaviour of individuals in all life situations, including the moment when an adult enters university and becomes a non-traditional student. Research on the locus of control of students at a faculty preparing experts for educational professions (teachers of all levels, social and special pedagogues, and andragogues) was initiated due to the increasing failure rate of non-traditional students within university efforts to achieve quality in all teaching activities and the need to verify the assumption that most applicants with an internal locus of control (ILC) choose an educational profession requiring management of other people's learning. The Zemanova Dolejs Locus of Control Scale revealed a dominant ILC or external (ELC) localisation of the locus of control in all 411 tertiary students, 152 of whom were non-traditional students. Considering their distribution into ILC and ELC, statistically significant relationships were identified in locus of control according to the form of study. For non-traditional students, no statistically significant relationships were found for age or type or years of study for either ILC or ELC.","PeriodicalId":37607,"journal":{"name":"Studia Paedagogica","volume":"25 1","pages":"135-159"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43558819","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The notion of employability has been dominating the higher education policies and strategies of the European Union and other western countries for two decades. From an employability perspective, individuals are responsible for acquiring the skills to find and move between jobs, market themselves, and effectively express their social, personal, and cultural capital. This article focuses on non-traditional students’ perspectives of their transition from higher education to working life, especially on the pathways they have taken and the struggles they have experienced in becoming employable. A biographical learning perspective is used to analyse biographical interviews with five female students who were 25 years of age or older, with a non-Swedish background, studying full time. In the students’ stories, four transition pathways from higher education to working life were identified: a linear, a parallel, a further education, and a changing career pathway. The five non-traditional students struggled with becoming employable and seemed to be anxious about not being good enough at Swedish; being an outsider as a student; being overqualified; and facing discrimination in the labour market. These employability struggles mainly arise due to the assumption that all graduates are young, Swedish, without children or disabilities, and competing only with their employability within an equal labour market. Thus, the notion of employability still gives little attention to non-traditional students and has negative consequences for them.
{"title":"Struggles in Becoming Employable: Non-Traditional Student Narratives of the Transition from Higher Education to Working Life in Sweden","authors":"A. Bron, Camilla Thunborg","doi":"10.5817/SP2020-4-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5817/SP2020-4-8","url":null,"abstract":"The notion of employability has been dominating the higher education policies and strategies of the European Union and other western countries for two decades. From an employability perspective, individuals are responsible for acquiring the skills to find and move between jobs, market themselves, and effectively express their social, personal, and cultural capital. This article focuses on non-traditional students’ perspectives of their transition from higher education to working life, especially on the pathways they have taken and the struggles they have experienced in becoming employable. A biographical learning perspective is used to analyse biographical interviews with five female students who were 25 years of age or older, with a non-Swedish background, studying full time. In the students’ stories, four transition pathways from higher education to working life were identified: a linear, a parallel, a further education, and a changing career pathway. The five non-traditional students struggled with becoming employable and seemed to be anxious about not being good enough at Swedish; being an outsider as a student; being overqualified; and facing discrimination in the labour market. These employability struggles mainly arise due to the assumption that all graduates are young, Swedish, without children or disabilities, and competing only with their employability within an equal labour market. Thus, the notion of employability still gives little attention to non-traditional students and has negative consequences for them.","PeriodicalId":37607,"journal":{"name":"Studia Paedagogica","volume":"25 1","pages":"161"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46358804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}