Today' s cultural climate, defined by rapid change, heterogeneous lifestyles, and an extended life span, is giving rise to new behavioral patterns that challenge higher education practitioners in numerous ways. Researchers who have focused on eighteen-to twenty-two-year-old students have called into question the traditional outcomes of an undergraduate education while acknowledging the need to reevaluate time-honored methods of determining the impact of college on increasingly diverse student populations (Pascarella and Terenzini, 1998). Age is no longer a reliable determinant of educational behavior, as adult learners behave more like younger students-full-time status, daytime enrollment, degree seeking, on-campus attendance-and more younger students exhibit adult learning characteristics-part-time enrollment, full-time employment, living off-campus, married with children, stopping out for a semester or a year (Aslanian, 2001).Demographic, economic, and technological changes in society are giving rise to observable shifts in the life course, challenging the validity of paradigms grounded in age. At the same time, linear approaches to life and adult development are giving way to cyclical approaches. This chapter explores some of these phenomena and their impact on the design of services for adult learners in higher education.
This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer.The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality o f the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction.In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. ABSTRACT The demographics of aging are stimulating a re-examination of many societal structures as they relate to and impact older adults. By the middle of the 2 1 st century, the demographics of aging, the large percentage of older adults with high school diplomas, and the evolving nature of retirement assure college population growth among those in the third age of life. Commitment of scarce educational resources to retirement aged adults prompts questions about potential benefits to society and exploration of the concept of productive aging. This qualitative study posed several questions: W hat happens to older adult college students after they graduate? Did their collegiate experience include post-graduation planning? If not, what type of planning would have been helpful? The purpose of the study was to identify the post-graduation transition needs of women over the age of 60-in the third age of life-and to offer a proposal for services to meet those needs. Twenty women between 60 and 88 w ere interviewed. Nine of them w ere students at the time of the interview and 11 possessed completed degrees earned after the age of 60. The study reveals that many older students either do not perceive the need for post-graduation planning at the time they are enrolled as students or do not have the energy to devote to it while concentrating on the rigors of ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. coursework. However, during the year of transition following graduation, a significant number experience a desire to discuss life after college with a trusted adviser or professor whom they perceive a s then unavailable to them. Directly related to current research on "the senior ye ar experience," this study recommends further exploration of a "senior year plus one experience." It also reveals older adult interest in post-graduation activities involving creativity, mentoring, research, service to the community, and intergenerational involvement. These data lead to a comprehensive proposal for services to older adults that begin with the ad...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.