Recent research studies on the reasons which individuals have for participating in adult education courses have primarily focused on the development of survey instruments. Little or no data regarding group differences in expressed reasons have been reported. The purpose of this study was to replicate and expand upon an earlier New Zealand study which employed the Education Participation Scale. The EPS was administered to 611 students enrolled in adult education courses at one college in the U. S., and the obtained factor patterns were judged to be similar when compared with those obtained in New Zealand. Mean scores on the derived EPS dimensions for various age-sex groups exhibited noticeable variation and step-wise discriminant analyses produced significant results (p<.01) in determining the parameters of group differences in expressed reasons for participation.

This study examined faculty educational orientations and values in the context of Holland's personality and vocational choice model. Faculty ( N = 237) completed the Faculty Orientations Survey and were assigned to a personality group based on Holland's theory. One-way analyses of variance across Holland-type groups generated significant Fs on each subscale. Tukey's HSD a posteriori comparisons yielded significant group differences on various educational “purpose and process” dimensions of the survey, with individuals in Holland's Social and Artistic groups tending to form one cluster and individuals in the Realistic and Investigative groups forming another. Faculty educational orientations were judged to be generally congruent with the salient personality needs and characteristics of respective Holland groups. Discussion centered on the rationale for assessing faculty attitudes in areas critical to an institution's responsiveness to changing educational conditions, and the importance of theoretical models in these efforts.

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