New Horizons in Adult Education & Human Resource Development
25 (3), 62-75
Motivations and enculturation of older students returning to a traditional university
Rodney Parks1
Brett Evans1
Yvette Getch2
1Elon University, 2Western Kentucky University Corresponding Author: Rodney Parks, Elon University, Campus Box 2106, Elon, North Carolina, 27244, USA E-mail: [email protected]
Higher education is experiencing a demographic shift as increasing numbers of older Americans, particularly those of the 1946-1964 “baby boomer” generation, choose to return to the classroom in pursuit of additional degrees or to study topics of interest (Hellmich, 2009). Importantly, baby boomers are living longer than previous generations, and they are also more likely to be healthier, better educated, and more financially stable (Kim & Merriam, 2004). As the boomer cohort approaches the eligible age for Social Security benefits, they are changing the way Americans conceptualize retirement. Indeed, many boomers are reluctant to define themselves as “retired” or
Abstract As baby boomers approach the age of retirement, they are increasingly returning to higher education to pursue de-grees for encore careers. Academic planners must pay careful attention to the specific concerns of this population to help ease their transition to a university setting after decades of absence. This qualitative study investigated the meaning of the experiences of seven students participating in a 62-and-over reduced tuition program at a large, tradi-tional Southeastern university. Two sets of semi-structured interviews were analyzed using open coding to identify major themes of participants’ experiences. Lifelong learning and a preference for a college-town atmosphere were the principal motivations for participants’ return to school. Challenges relating to integration into campus life, isola-tion from traditional students, and outsider status were explored. This study provides insight into the various ways older learners define their identity as students on a traditional campus.
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“elderly” (Callimachi, 2007). Twenty-five percent say they will never retire, a quarter plan to retire between 66 and 70, and two-thirds of those envision working at least part-time after retirement from their primary careers (Fram, 2011). Throughout their lifetimes, baby boomers have undergone a continual process of learning and relearning for career changes, intellectual growth, and to compensate for the changing role of technology in society (Grabinski, 1998). Today, roughly two million boomers are enrolled in college classes, and this accounts for 56% of adult learners and 20% of all students in higher education (Palazesi & Bower, 2006). As is true for adults of all ages, previous educa-tional level is the single best predictor of participation in formal and informal educational activities (Merriam & Caffarella, 1999). Older learners frequently choose to attend community college, technical school, or senior learning centers to satisfy their desire to pursue lifelong learning, and these learners have been the focus of researchers to date (de Medeiros et al., 2007). Moreover, most of the research on older adults’ motivations behind participation in higher learning has been quantitative in design, utilizing large-scale surveys to develop lifelong learning scales, with little research exploring boomers’ motivations for enrolling in classes at large, traditional universities (Kirby et al., 2010). De-spite this scholarly emphasis, other older Americans prefer to attend classes in traditional university settings. As-sisting this trend, many of these traditional academic institutions offer incentives (free or reduced tuition) to stu-dents aged 62 and over to return to college (Brandon, 2009). Through two sets of semi-structured interviews aimed at capturing the lived experiences of seven boomer students enrolled in classes at a large Southeastern university, this study investigates both the motivations that inspire boomers to return to classrooms at traditional universities and the process through which they integrate into these settings after many decades of absence. As lifelong learning becomes increasingly common, academic planners in these institutions must be able to identify the unique challenges older learners face in order to better accommodate this population. Further, this paper argues that the challenges identified by participants in this research—isolation, issues accessing services and buildings, and inadequate policy planning—need to be addressed by administrators through recognition of barriers and implementation of corrective measures. Motivations for Returning to School Several models have been suggested to account for adult motivation for learning (Kim & Merriam, 2004). These models typically divide adult learners into three subgroups: the goal oriented, the activity oriented, and the learning oriented (Houle, 1961). Goal-oriented learners pursue education as an instrumental means of achieving external objectives, such as taking a course to get a better job. Previous research suggests that many baby boomers are goal-oriented learners, pursuing degrees so they can transition into “encore careers” (Wofford, 2008). Seventy-five per-cent of older students enroll in school to prepare for a new career and acquire new work-related skills. Moreover, 44% of those in encore careers say they are working because they need the income, while 42% are working for the benefits (Vien, 2010). Acquiring a college degree is an important step for goal-oriented boomers, allowing them to either transition into new fields or advance in their own field. Therefore, many boomers take classes with career goals in mind. Activity-oriented learners engage in learning for social reasons unrelated to the purpose or outcome of education, such as the desire to be around young people. Many older learners feel that the college atmosphere keeps them ac-tive and allows them to impart the wisdom they’ve gained over the years to the younger generation (Furst & Steele, 1986). Nevertheless, many boomers also feel significant stress as a result of trying to balance the time demands of school with their various other adult responsibilities, with 80% citing time constraints as the single largest obstacle to their academic success (Vien, 2010).
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Finally, learning-oriented students are those who maintain a commitment to lifelong learning and therefore see col-lege education as having value in and of itself. Learning-oriented students are expressive rather than instrumental, seeking knowledge for its own sake (O’Connor, 1987). They cite such motivations as “enrichment,” “enjoyment,” “self-satisfaction,” and “sense of accomplishment” as reasons for returning to school (Scala, 1996). Several studies suggest that the strongest motivations among senior learners are intellectual curiosity and a desire to learn (Bynum & Seaman, 1993; Russett, 1998). Interactions with Students and Faculty Few studies have examined the interpersonal relationships between adult learners and traditional students in the classroom setting. Some research suggests that mixed-age classrooms can result in conflict, especially when older learners became frustrated with younger learners who disrupt classes, arrive late, and seem to take their studies less seriously (Beder & Medina, 2002). Although 76% of boomers in one study reported positive classroom experienc-es with younger students, many also reported various types of age discrimination (Vien, 2010). Many boomers in this study felt that professors geared their entire classes toward 18-year-old freshmen, alienating older students. Two-fifths of respondents reported that the faculty did not understand their needs as older learners, and many boomers were disappointed with their college’s academic advisors, who were often unprepared to help older stu-dents. Nevertheless, little research has explored how interactions with students and faculty may shape older learn-ers’ commitment to academic goals. Understanding how these interactions influence self-concepts among older students will help universities better serve this population, supporting their academic success and enabling them to become more fully integrated into campus life. Research Methods and Procedures Following the phenomenological tradition, this study sought to understand and interpret the lived experiences of seven students participating in the senior (62+) reduced tuition program at a large Southeastern university. Phe-nomenological methodologies attempt to “see reality through another person’s eyes,” and as such, they provide the researcher with different perspectives through which to identify problems and solutions (Bernard, 2000, 20). In this way, qualitative studies following this tradition are of particular utility as initial investigations which can be further developed and explored in later research with quantitative methods (Stake, 2000).
Sample Participants in the study were recruited through purposive sampling using data from the University’s Office of the Registrar for the senior demographic (Bernard, 2000). The participants were all of white European descent. Five participants were men and two were women. Their ages ranged from 63 to 72 years old. Five of the participants were retired and not currently working; one was retired but worked part-time; and another was employed full-time with no plans to retire in the near future. Contrary to much of the literature focusing on Baby Boomers return to college to earn degrees for career advancement (Schaefer, 2009), only one participant in this study was taking clas-ses to complete a degree. The remaining six participants were auditing classes rather than pursuing a degree. All participants had at least a Bachelor’s degree; three held Master’s degrees and two had Ph.D.s. Because of this pre-vious experience in higher education, the participants in this study are classified not only as non-traditional stu-dents but also as returning students. Differences may exist between this research cohort and older, non-traditional learners in higher education with no previous experience in such situations.
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Table 1.Demographics of Research Participants.
Data Collection Participants were asked via email to complete two in-person interviews over the course of the Fall 2011 academic term. Each participant read and signed a consent form and was paid $10 per interview for their time. Participants were given pseudonyms in order to ensure confidentiality. The interviews took place in the researchers’ offices and ranged from 30 to 50 minutes in length. Both interviews were semi-structured and designed to gather rich, thick data that captured the essential structures of participants’ shared experiences. Questions were derived from a social constructivist approach, resting on the assumption that participants make meaning of the events they de-scribe from a subjectivist perspective (Creswell, 2009). The first interview asked broad, open-ended questions about their time attending a traditional university as an old-er, returning student. During this session, the researchers asked general questions such as “Tell me about your ex-periences in higher education.” After this initial round of interviews, transcriptions were coded (described below) and the identified themes were used to focus the second interviews. On average six weeks after the first interview, the researchers would particularize their questions for the second interview, such as “One major theme we identi-fied was that older students felt isolated in the classroom. Can you tell me your general thoughts related to this theme and about any personal experiences you may have had?” This follow-up interview allowed the participants to supply the necessary depth for this study. All fieldwork needed to be completed within one semester due to par-ticipants who may cease attendance after the given semester and then be inaccessible. Because of this time con-straint, no more than two interviews were feasible.
Data Analysis After the interviews were transcribed, the researchers conducted a member check by asking participants to review a copy of their audio file and transcribed interview and comment on their perceptions of its accuracy (Merriam, 2009). As noted above, the initial set of interviews was analyzed using open-coding to identify main themes of participants’ experiences (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). This process was undertaken by three researchers inde-pendently who constructed and named categories and sorted data into these categories. They subsequently met as a group in order to agree upon main themes in the data. Once the main themes of the first interview set were identi-fied, they were further investigated with a grounded theory approach that refined the questions used in a first set of interviews for use in the second so as to provide a fuller account of the ways in which participants organize their reality (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). These additional interviews were analyzed by the researchers using the same process as the original set of interviews. The original themes that were identified during the first set of interviews did not change as a result of the second interview. Rather, the researchers gained more depth through the second round of interviews.
Pseudonym Age Degree Seeking? Highest Level of Education
David 72 No Ph.D. Jennifer 68 No Bachelor’s Brian 69 No Master’s Danielle 63 No Ph.D. Larry 64 Yes Master’s Peter 66 No Master’s Cameron 63 No Bachelor’s
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Description of Themes The two major themes that emerged from the interviews concerned the students’ motivation for returning to school and their process of enculturation into campus life. Both themes represented salient features of all of the students’ experiences that were repeated throughout the interviews. Motivation Just as traditional students who attend higher education are motivated by a variety of reasons, so too were the par-ticipants’ in this study. Our informants described a number of motivations for their choice as non-traditional stu-dents to return to a traditional Southern university. These motivations were categorized into the following two sub-themes: lifelong learning, or the desire to not cease academic experiences following initial graduation from tradi-tional education; and college-campus atmosphere, or the wish to live in a diverse setting with significant cultural and educational programming. Lifelong learning All participants expressed support for the notion of lifelong learning and described it as a specific motivation for their return to the university. Danielle, for example, rejected goal-oriented learning, the notion that education is a primarily a means to an end or motivated by career requirements, by highlighting the importance of knowledge for its own sake:
I’m the ultimate lifelong leaner, I guess. I have so many interests and so many things I want to learn about. It’s like going into a big candy shop. That’s one of the reasons I retired early. I wanted to be able to do those things--to travel, read and go to classes. That’s how I want to use my time. That’s the motivation for me. I don’t need credentials. I don’t need to do grades or anything like that, but I want the knowledge.
Danielle pinpoints lifelong learning not only as her motivation for returning to school, but also as a significant rea-son for her early retirement. For the lifelong learner, retirement signifies a transition into a lifestyle in which career goals can be eschewed in favor of personal enrichment. Many, boomers are beginning to view retirement not as a time of relaxation and inactivity, but rather as an opportunity to live a more engaged, meaningful life in which they can pursue new adventures (Callimachi, 2007). Brian described this process as a “journey of exploration” that al-lows one to “stay in shape mentally.” He noted, “Retirement isn’t the end of something. To me, it is a beginning where you get to explore things you like. You want to keep challenging yourself and keep involved. Keep the grey matter in the pink.” The concern about keeping the mind active emerged repeatedly throughout the interviews. This underscores the point that lifelong learning is important not only for the sake of knowledge, but also for its perceived benefits to health and well-being. Peter articulated this point succinctly, observing, “I believe that if you don’t keep trying to learn, your brain kind of goes dead. I’ve always tried to improve my mind and, kind of humorously, I say I am here to avoid Alzheimer’s.” When prompted to explain why they felt the term “lifelong learner” applied to them, participants indicated that they had a predisposition to lifelong learning that was deeply embedded in their notion of self. As David explained, “It’s just kind of part of my personality. Why do any of us become what we are? I’ve been this way ever since I was a child. It’s not anything that I’ve actively pursued. It’s just my nature.” Similarly, Larry reflected:
I think you learn until you die if you are that type of person. I think it’s hereditary. My daughter’s like that and my sister’s like that. My wife is totally opposite. She’s content just to read the paper every once in a while. That type of thing.
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Neither Larry nor David believed they had to be taught how to become a lifelong learner. Instead, they understood it to be fundamental aspect of their character, with Larry speaking of lifelong learning a part of biological heredity and David conceptualizing it in terms of nature or essence. In both cases, lifelong learning is an integral part of their identity that is expressed by attending classes at the university. College-campus atmosphere In addition to lifelong learning, participants stated that they were motivated to return to higher education by the cultural and academic atmosphere of a traditional college-campus. Rather than attend one of the many other institu-tions available to them, such as a community college, participants in this study deliberately chose to enroll in a large university because they felt it offered them opportunities that non-traditional academic settings did not. These opportunities-- the diversity of the student body, extracurricular activities, and a large selection of course offerings-- were identified by the older learners in this study as integral reasons for their return to higher education. Jennifer describes the attraction of a campus populated by traditional-age learners:
There is something about a college campus: the whole atmosphere of a place of knowledge and learning and just the aesthetics of it is pleasing. I do enjoy being around young people because I’ve got some college-age and almost college-age grandkids and their point of view, their life choices--it can be really interesting talking to young people, and I feel like it sort of keeps you young by doing that.
For Jennifer it is not the academic curriculum alone, but also the atmosphere of the university itself that plays a role in her motivation to attend. The aesthetics of a college campus provide a comfortable learning environment that allows Jennifer to hold onto her youth. As with lifelong learning, surrounding oneself with people of different age groups keeps the mind active and facilitates a better learning environment. Brian articulates these benefits:
When you retire, part of keeping your mind active is being around different types of people. And if you’re around younger people—middle-aged people like a lot of the faculty [and] young people [like] the students—you keep active that way. You don’t become crotchety. You see old people who are crotchety because they only hang around other old people, and I didn’t want that.
Brian draws a sharp distinction between himself and the old people whom he views as “crotchety” due to their re-duced contact with people of other age groups. A common theme of the interviews is that the generational differ-ences between senior (62+) and traditional-age students enable participants to maintain their youthfulness while also imparting wisdom to their younger classmates. One of the significant advantages of attending a large universi-ty, from Brian’s point of view, is that encountering people different from himself forces him to remain more men-tally active. Brian was not motivated to return to the classroom by feelings of nostalgia for his own college days, but rather by a desire to make his life more meaningful and engaged during his retirement years.
To me, that’s not nostalgia. I’m not going back to capture some lost college feeling or whatever or a feeling of youth. I’m not looking for that at all. But, I do like being around different aged people. And passing on, when asked, some of the life lessons I’ve learned.
Brian’s decision to attend classes at a large university allows him to become more involved with and impart wis-dom to the younger generation. This, in turn, helps him feel that he is contributing to campus life in ways that go beyond academic achievement.
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In addition to providing interactions with a diverse student body, universities also offer a larger selection of courses than are available at community colleges or technical schools. Danielle describes the allure of this wide range of courses, “I pull up [the course catalog] and see all these classes, and they just all sound so interesting.” Likewise, Brian recalls, “I wanted the menu of things to do, and so if you look at the menu of courses offered at [the Univer-sity], it’s immense! So, that’s been huge.” While technical colleges may offer advantages for students on a career track, boomers attending classes purely for the sake of learning often prefer the broad selection of courses a large university offers. The massive course catalog allows for in-depth study of issues that participants are passionate about but never had the chance to explore previ-ously. Without the constraints of having to fulfill requirements for a degree, boomers are free to choose from a wide range of courses based solely on their interests. The diversity of extracurricular activities is a related motivation for boomers’ decision to attend classes at a large university. Most college towns and cities with large universities offer a wide array of events to enrich the lives of the student body. This selection of cultural activities allows senior students the opportunity for engagement outside the classroom, as David discusses:
I enjoy college town atmospheres. I’ve lived in college towns most of my life. It’s just an environ-ment I like. One of the things a university always offers is a wide variety of cultural events, semi-nars, and lectures in a variety of fields that you can pick and choose from. If I weren’t taking clas-ses here, I would be coming to the university for various lectures and seminars and stuff.
Enculturation Because the participants in this study were nontraditional students, they faced challenges and barriers traditional students did not. Here, we will focus on the unique experiences, negative and positive, of returning older students in university culture. The first subtheme discussed relates to participants perceived isolation from the rest of the student body. Younger students were reported to exhibit indifference towards older ones, which negatively affected participants’ successful return to campus life. Partially stemming from the first, the second subtheme involves par-ticipants’ feeling as if they were second-class students who must defer to traditional students, resulting in their adoption of potentially harmful strategies in order to enculturate. The third and final subtheme discussed below is positive faculty interactions, in which participants describe largely helpful treatment from professors, particularly those similar in age. Indifference/isolation Although none of the participants reported experiencing overt age discrimination or direct hostility from traditional students, all participants acknowledged feeling isolated from the traditional-aged student body. Each participant exhibited a keen awareness that they stood out as different from traditional students, requiring them to employ a variety of strategies to defend their place in the classroom. David observed that “Most of [the younger students] seem to be kind of mystified by who I am and why I’m taking a class that they’re taking. I don’t think they really know how to relate to me. I’m like a giraffe in a party of mice.” Brian also addressed this theme: “I wouldn’t put it negative. I would put it indifferent. Some students are indifferent to you… You’re an anomaly, and it’s probably difficult for them to relate.” This indifference led many participants to feel insecure about their place in the learning environment, leading to a heightened awareness of their outsider status. Brian described the way traditional students perceived him: “They tend to view you as a curiosity or a very unique minority, but not a threat.” Brian’s use of the word “minority” is
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telling; he not only feels isolated from other students on campus, but he is affected by this experience in such a way that he relates to the experience of minority groups. Several other participants also used the word “minority” to describe their feelings of isolation. Cameron prefaced his response to a question about classroom interactions by noting that he is “self-conscious naturally” and a “sensitive person.” He then explained that he notices “little subtle things” other students do, such as laugh when he asks questions about the homework at the beginning of a class. Cameron thinks they pick up on the fact that he puts more time into studying than they do.
I can see what it’s like to be a minority, I guess. It’s a different deal if you were the only one of some demographic group or ethnic group or something. But that’s minor. That’s just natural. It’s just a natural reaction. Nothing negative at all. I would’ve done the same thing probably.
Cameron shifts from expressing the emotional sting of the other students’ comments and the loneliness of being an outsider to quickly trivializing his own response by calling their actions “minor” and “natural.” Cameron tries to offset this differential treatment by claiming that he would have behaved the same way in his classmates’ position. By taking on his classmates’ perspective, Cameron subtly acknowledges his desire to identify as one of them. Alt-hough his minority status prevents him from gaining their full acceptance, Cameron attempts to mitigate the effects of his perceived minority status by internalizing the attitudes of the traditional students. David responds to his out-sider status in a different way. He observes, “I don’t view myself as a non-traditional student. I just view myself as someone who is having a good time taking classes.” David rejects defining himself as a non-traditional student, and therefore as an outsider, by identifying as just another student. Being perceived and treated as an outsider can lead to feelings of distress for older learners about the legitimacy of their place in the classroom. However, several of the participants described being initially regarded with skepticism by traditional students, only to be accepted over time. Brian recalls:
I’m not sure at the beginning whether they’re looking and saying, “This guy’s old enough to be my grandfather,” or “What is he doing here? He’s a spy for my parents.” I don’t think they actually think that, but on some level, emotion tells them that. After six weeks, it’s not an issue. Everybody starts to say hello.
Because senior students fall outside the expected age range of a typical college student at a traditional university, they are initially regarded with suspicion in the classroom. It is only after proving their authenticity as students who are committed to learning and contributing to the classroom that the older learners begin to feel welcome. However, even as other students begin to warm up to them, older learners may remain keenly aware of the differ-ences between themselves and the traditional students, as Danielle’s comment demonstrates:
The class interactions have been kind of surprising to me. I thought there would be more [positive interactions] going on, and there really hasn’t been much. I haven’t tried to make it happen either. The students are friendly. They’re kind of curious about who you are. They probably think I’m from the administration checking up on them. But no one approaches me and says, “Hi, how come you’re taking classes?” I thought there would be a little more openness on the part of the students.
Jennifer reports a similar experience:
You know, isolated may not be quite the right word, but it is like you’re sort of in this sea of peo-ple and what is different is that you don’t really make friends, because you don’t have the social outlets the students do. You know, maybe isolated is the word.
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When prompted to explain why she thinks she hasn’t made friends in her classes, Danielle said she believes her age remains a significant barrier: “They’re the age of my grandchildren, you know?” This age gap helps explain why many participants view the students’ indifference as natural. Traditional students most often interact with older adults as grandparents or other family members, but rarely as peers and classmates at a university. Second-class students Their perceived outsider status in the classroom led participants to feel that they must defer to younger students in classroom discussions. Although none of the participants reported being explicitly silenced during discussions, they seemed to agree that traditional students should have priority in answering questions and expressing their views on class topics. This experience was uniform among all respondents, leading us to believe that it is a signifi-cant consequence of their perceived minority status and isolation. Brian expressed this dynamic:
I consider myself a lot of times in these classrooms a guest. I don’t dominate the conversation; I try to keep my mouth shut. You’ve been to a class where the professor asks a question and nobody has commented, and I won’t say anything until he looks at me.
By describing himself as a “guest,” Brian is implicitly acknowledging his secondary status in the classroom. De-spite being enrolled at the university like any other student, participants were reluctant to see themselves as full members of the learning environment. They saw themselves both as students and not as students. In this sense, old-er learners occupy what Turner (1969) described as “liminal space,” a position in which one is neither here nor there, betwixt and between two social positions. With traditional students and professors perceived as the gatekeep-ers who determine the status of an “authentic” student, senior learners wait for nonverbal cues from the instructor or the rest of the class before they feel comfortable participating. Many did not answer questions until the professor made eye contact with them. Others waited until there was a pause when no one else knew the answer before rais-ing their hand. Jennifer discussed how she tries very hard to be the last person to comment, in order to “give the students a chance to answer first.” Even when she knew the answer to the professor’s question, Jennifer would still let the traditional students speak first. Similarly, when asked to explain why he takes on a secondary role in class discussions, Larry remarked, “The other people in there . . . I guess the feeling is that they’re more of a student than I am.” Danielle further explained this phenomenon:
I don’t, as a rule, take part in the discussions. I don’t know, maybe it’s almost a shyness, like I don’t want to raise attention to myself. If I feel different, I feel like I’m a minority or something in the class. I don’t want people to think, “What is she doing here?”
As this statement makes clear, participants experienced a sense of uncertainty and vulnerability about their place in the classroom. Despite the absence of overt negative responses or discrimination from their classmates, the indifference on the part of traditional students led to feelings of isolation, which cast into doubt their authenticity as students. Avoiding answering questions in class is a strategy used by participants to sidestep possible situations in which their authenticity will be challenged. This fits with Cameron’s statement about feeling self-conscious when asking questions about how to complete homework assignments. Wanting to feel fully accepted into campus life, participants refrained from class participation to avoid the possibility of being regarded as less than equal in the learning environment. Positive faculty interactions Despite feeling isolated from fellow students, participants described mainly positive interactions with faculty mem-bers. Although Cameron reported being teased by his professor for being the only senior student in the class, the
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rest of the participants experienced positive relationships with their professors. Many stated that because the pro-fessors were closer in age to them than to the other students, it was easier for them to relate to one another. Previous work experience also contributed to the positive relationships between senior students and faculty. Prior to retiring, David worked as a professor at the university and Danielle was employed in one of the academic offic-es. Having previous experience in higher education made them feel more comfortable approaching professors. Par-ticipants who did not have work experience in higher education had more difficulty establishing rapport with the professors. However, on the whole, participants reported that their professors were quick to accept them in the classroom and more welcoming of their contributions than other students. Brian observed:
I think, at first, when they see somebody my age or 62 or older in the class, they are a little bit puz-zled, and then they become very accepting. I think they are glad we’re here, because they know we are here to learn. And, we’re always engaged in the class, so we’re always attentive. And, I think that is important to them. And, sometimes it is important too for them to get feedback from us. You know, I’ve seen just about all of them will reach out in some way or another to the geezer stu-dent, the gorilla in the classroom.
Although Brian is aware of his minority status in the classroom, in contrast to his recognition that it hinders inter-actions with other students, he believes his age helps him establish positive relationships with the faculty. Brian believes faculty members value the diversity of perspective older learners bring to the class. This sentiment is ech-oed by several other participants in the study, including Jennifer:
I’ve had at least one professor say that my perspective--being that I’m older and have a lot differ-ent perspective--that a lot of time that adds to a discussion, whereas normal college-age students wouldn’t have the same experiences as I’ve had, and [they have] a different view on certain things.
Larry also identifies the non-degree seeking status of senior students as contributing to positive interactions with faculty:
By and large, we are not going for degrees. We are here just because we want to be there, which is totally opposite from most students. Most students are doing it just to get a grade so they can go along with their life. Everyone in my situation, almost, is there because they want to be there. I think [the faculty] appreciate somebody who is just there because they want to be there, instead of somebody who is texting in class.
Therefore, while minority status may lead to isolation and indifference in relationships with traditional students, it may help older learners build positive relationships with faculty members. It is for this reason that faculty interac-tion with non-traditional students plays a crucial role in enculturating older learners into campus life. Discussion While exploratory in scope, the findings of this study inform adult and higher education practitioners about the per-spectives of older students going back to college at a traditional university. Adult learners continue to be an under-served student population in that they experience challenges negotiating higher education systems clearly geared toward traditional-aged students. (Hagedorn, 2005; Pusser et al., 2007) The success of these older students in seek-ing higher education will ultimately depend upon an institutional understanding of how to fulfill critical support needs (Schaefer, 2009).This phenomenological study provides perspectives from participants within a population previously underrepresented in the scholarly literature surrounding continuing education. These older learners were unique both in that they were exclusively returning students and that they chose to attend a traditional univer-sity. It is for these reasons that the experiences reported and analyzed in this paper are of particular utility to the
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researcher and administrator in understanding and responding to this population’s motivations and challenges in higher education. Other studies have indicated that the primary reasons older students return to higher education settings are career related, (Schaefer, 2009; Freedman, 2005). However, Participants in this study identified a commitment to the val-ue of lifelong learning, which they described as a fundamental aspect of their identity, as their motivation for re-turning to school at a large university. Many interviewees saw lifelong learning as part of their biological nature, while others cited life experiences as triggers for their learning style. All participants reported benefits from return-ing to the classroom, including remaining youthful, maintaining an active lifestyle, and garnering mental health benefits. The decision to enroll in a large traditional university, rather than a community college or technical school, was primarily explained by a preference for the college town atmosphere with its myriad academic and extracurricular benefits. Participants enjoyed having access to the wide variety of cultural events and activities, lectures, restau-rants, musical performances, and sporting events associated with a large university. The diversity of the student body was also cited as an asset of this environment. Finally, all participants valued the array of course offerings available to them at the university, which they felt would not be available at a smaller school. An important question guiding our research was the nature of participants’ interactions with students and faculty. Our inquiry into these interactions allowed us to see the process of enculturation among boomer students as they acclimated to college life after many years of absence. Although participants described a range of positive and neg-ative interactions with students and faculty, most experienced isolation and indifference stemming from their inter-actions with traditional students, at times leading to deep feelings of loneliness. Participants viewed themselves as “guests” in the classroom, spurring the development of a minority conscious-ness. The boomers’ precarious position in the classroom made them feel like second-class students who must defer to traditional-age students in class discussions. However, these feelings were partially offset by high levels of re-ported positive interactions with faculty, whom participants felt could better relate to them because of greater simi-larities in age and experience. Implications Between 1970 and 2000, the numbers of students older than 25 increased by 144 percent while those under 25 in-creased by only 45 percent (Anderson, 2003). In addition, a 2011 National Center of Educational Statistics’ report projects that enrollment of students 35 and over will increase 16 percent by 2020, compared to 9 percent for those between 18 and 24 years old (Hussar & Bailey, 2011). However, despite this significant trend, little policy has been modified to better accommodate and attract this growing segment of higher education (Peterson, 1998). This being the case, we argue that academic institutions would benefit from new policies aimed at supporting older stu-dents and eliminating barriers to these individuals’ successful integration into colleges and universities. One ap-proach frequently used in higher education settings is to develop structures for informal mentoring opportunities that enable older students to both give and receive support on-campus (Schaefer, 2009). In addition, a population specific program with a dedicated staff mentor who is educated about these issues and can support and advocate on behalf of these students may be helpful. This program may be strengthened by forming community groups that communicate both in physical meetings and through virtual listservs. These groups allow these students to discuss shared experiences among their peers and voice collective concerns and needs to administration. It may be most appropriate for the staff mentor to be of similar age to this population so as to create the most comfortable and safe atmosphere possible for participating students. Beyond this program, it is critical that an educational component related to this population be included in faculty orientation sessions in order to increase awareness and teach best practices.
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This study has barely scratched the surface of a number of areas that call for further exploration. The results of this study indicate that some Boomers are taking courses to fill leisure time, a theme unique to the literature given that many studies indicate Boomers returning to college to meet career needs (Schaefer, 2009). More research is need-ed to better understand the differences between these unique populations. An additional perspective to consider that may explain Boomers in traditional classroom settings could be the limited opportunities for lifelong learning in the geographical area. Many institutions now offer education programs designed for people ages 50 and older in a learning community setting (Illeris, 2009). The courses are commonly led by current and retired faculty at a re-duced cost or free to the local community. For institutions without these programs, Boomers may be forced to take advantage of the traditional educational systems. Additionally, the influence of socioeconomic status, gender, and race, for example, were left unexplored in the cur-rent study. All of the participants in our sample were white, and all but two were male. While previous research has explored the role race and gender play in the quality of interactions among traditional students with their peers and faculty, we are unaware of such work relating to older returning students at traditional universities. Since all the participants in our study described themselves as feeling “like minorities” due to their interactions with tradi-tional students, future research could explore how this dynamic plays out among older learners who are members of racial or ethnic minority groups. In addition, because all the participants in this study were relatively well off financially, economic motivations played little role in their decision to return to school. Future research could focus on the possible financial concerns that motivate or inhibit seniors returning to the classroom. Researchers may also find it useful to devise a quantitative scale based on the analytic categories and major themes uncovered here, allowing them to gather data from a statistically representative sample of the senior population using survey methods. This would increase the study’s generalizability and allow for a more broad scale applica-tion of the findings than are possible with the present study. References Anderson, E. L. (2003). Changing demographics and American higher education. New Directions for Higher Edu-
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