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| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Lost at the Starting Gate: An Investigation into the Psycho-social Causes of Withdrawal from Access Courses |
| Author: | Waters, June |
| Author: | Gibson, Kenneth |
| Abstract: | In 1997, the University of Derby initiated a longitudinal research project into the experience of mature adult returners who were studying on an Access to Higher Education Course. The research is being undertaken in three stages. The students were interviewed for the first stage while they were in their Access year; the main focus here being their perception of the Access Course provision. However, one of the recommendations which emerged from this phase was that more work be carried out on the question of student withdrawal. This topic, therefore, was included in the discussions with the students during the second stage of the research. In addition we conducted a small scale survey of literature on adult learners’ withdrawal from education courses. This revealed three perspectives from which withdrawal has been discussed: these were psycho-social reasons, interactionist reasons and external constraints. This article focuses on those largely unexplored set of reasons for withdrawal which can best be described as psycho-social - threats to their concept of self: feelings of fear, guilt, a sense of alienation, pressure from family and friends and ageism. The data has been obtained from interviews with 45 adult returners to education - 33 women and 12 men. |
| URL | http://wpll-journal.metapress.com/content/1555971656121863 |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 16-23 |
| Publication | Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning |
| Date | 2001-00-00 2001 |